The eternal flame that has accompanied our people for so many years is made up of many tiny sparks. In order to produce enough sparks and keep the fire lit, we have to create ongoing meaningful Jewish opportunities. The Israel experience, and especially the encounter with Jewish peers, is one of the most powerful change agents. The Diller Teen Fellows is a program that includes all the necessary ingredients to make sure that the sparks it creates will be forceful and last for the long run.

I will say no more. Allie, a recent Diller graduate, describes it better. She was able to inspire us all when she shared her experience and unveiled her feelings the other night in Rishon Lezion:

"I am Allie Hyans from MetroWest and Diller has changed everything for me.

When the Israeli Dillers were leaving New Jersey at the end of March, I told the group in New Jersey that after visiting Israel with my family last summer I could call Israel home. However, after a week of getting to know my 18 new Israeli friends that house not only had four walls, but four strong walls with a roof and a family to share it with. In the past three weeks that metaphorical home has become a reality. It has an address, a community, and a real family who will always have a place in my heart.

I don 't know if it 's bad luck to share this with you but I think the note I placed in the Western Wall best sums up my Diller experience. When I was here last summer I spent an hour kneeling on the ground of the Kotel staring at a blank piece of paper; I had no idea what to say. Ultimately I think I wound up asking God to keep my family, friends, and loved ones "safe, happy, and healthy " for the next year until I could return with my real prayer. When I stood at the Kotel plaza one year later with my Diller family instead of my immediate family, I knew just what I wanted to ask of God.

Looking around at the 35 kids who surrounded me and thinking about the adventure we were all a part of, I appreciated how far we had come, but wanted to ask God to bless the long journey we still have ahead. Everything in our lives has been the product of various opportunities. Opportunity is everywhere. It 's in the seeds of the tress, in the tips of our fingers, and in every cell in our brains. Each of us is full of potential, and we all use this potential to attract opportunity.

Diller has changed me from a person who waited for opportunities to appear into a person who actively looks for new experiences, relationships, and ways to grow. We began as 36 individuals in the same situation and our individual and communal growth throughout the past year has not been the product of coincidence, rather the effect of willingness to change, contagious laughter, and unyielding support. I can 't help but smile when I look back on our night circles, running off the bus to greet the Israelis in Jerusalem, hiking up Masada and joking around just as much as we were sweating, running around Tel Aviv on a truly "Amazing Race ", and singing Hatikva hand-in-hand as we transcended every cultural, lingual, and geographical boarder dividing us. Together we are at our strongest.

I 'm looking out at all of you and the only word, aside from opportunity, that can do justice to our group is pride. It is because of you that I am proud to say I am a Diller Teen Fellow. Because of you that I am proud to say I am Jewish. Because of every single one of you I am a better person. You all make me proud to say I am your equal. I love you guys!

I wound up writing my prayer for the Wall about all of that. I prayed for all the Dillers, our families, and for everyone in the world to have endless opportunities like the ones I have had and an undeniable desire to chase after them.

As this chapter ends we have new places to explore and new memories to make. Thank you all, my fellow Dillers and the entire Jewish community for changing my life and giving me the opportunity for opportunity. To my 35 new brothers and sisters remember that even when we are apart, the Metro West – Rishon Lezion Diller 2010 family will always be our "Ba-it ".

Drishat Shalom,

Amir

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