JCC Boston Diller Teen Fellowship

The Diller Teen Fellows Program focuses on three outcomes. Throughout the yearlong Fellowship, participants will:

• Become EMPOWERED TEENS, equipped to discover their own journeys and guide others.
• Form STRONGER JEWISH IDENTITIES and continue a lifelong exploration of their culture, history and heritage.
• Become ACTIVATED LEADERS OF TIKKUN OLAM/SOCIAL ACTION, viewing it as their responsibility and opportunity to make the world a better place.

Diller Fellows commit to:

• Twelve Sunday afternoon workshops of five hours each
• A locally-based, social action project
• Three weekend retreats
• Two full-day experiences
• Three-week Israel Seminar, which provides an opportunity to both explore Israel and do meaningful community service in Haifa, Boston’s sister city
• A ten-day hosting exchange with a Haifa Diller Fellow

Diller Fellows come from different backgrounds but are joined together by the desire to:

• Make friendships that will last a lifetime
• Gain significant leadership skills
• Question, search, and expand insights into Jewish identity and unity
• Experience a cultural exchange with Israeli teens during a three-week Israel Seminar and 10-day Boston Mifgash (encounter)
• Create and lead others in service learning projects
• Learn and grow during a transformative experience

If you share these desires then the Fellowship may be for you!

Diller Fellows are challenged to develop and refine their relationship to Israel through many parts of the programming, including experiential learning, friendships with Haifa Diller Teen Fellows, a three-week Israel trip and hosting Haifa counterparts at home. On the Israel trip, participants have the opportunity to come together with 640 other teen fellows from around the world during International Congress.

The Israel trip is unique in that it gives Fellows an opportunity to tour Israel while sharing perspectives with teens from around the world. Fellows spend one week of their stay living with their Israeli peers exploring Haifa, learning about current events, and engaging in community service. They also spend part of their trip getting to know other Diller Fellows from around the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, Argentina, and Israel.

Health and safety will always be the force leading our decision-making. We will continue to follow accepted best practices protocols. Whenever possible, Cohort experiences will be conducted in-person. If circumstances prevent that from happening safely, in-person workshops will be supplemented by interactive virtual experiences, including cross-cultural workshops and meetups with international Cohorts. As guidelines may change throughout the year, all experiences are designed to be engaging and fun either in-person or virtually. While we don’t yet know what will be possible in terms of travel and group gatherings, Diller International is planning and hopeful that by 2022, international group travel will resume. Regardless of how the program year will shape out, our local staff and the International Diller staff is committed to our participants to provide a rich Fellowship experience.

Applications for the 2024–2025 Cohort 16 are now live!

Fill out this application form and feel free to attend one of our info sessions on March 13 or March 18.

Fee for participation is $3,975, which covers all participation including the Israel trip. Financial aid is available to help with the fee. Every fellow is subsidized by the Helen Diller Family Foundation, the Boston-Haifa Steering Committee of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies and individual donors to JCC Greater Boston.