Reflective of their importance, the Diller Teen Fellows strolled down a red carpet the night of February 5th. After having their picture taken, the teens waited to hear the culture bandit. This self-proclaimed culture bandit is the Hebrew Mamita. Vanessa Hidary, or the Hebrew Mamita, grew up in the Upper West Side of New York City. She was a Jew who thought all non-Jewish minorities were cool. Whenever she could, the Hebrew Mamita would “sample” other cultures, whether it meant eating Puerto Rican food or writing hip-hop music, a style whose artists were usually minorities. To Hidary, it seemed to be cool to be just about every type of person other than Jewish.
After introducing herself to the audience, the Hebrew Mamita described this lack of pride in her heritage by reading her most famous piece, Hebrew Mamita. The poem details the discomfort she experience when telling others that she is Jewish. Until she went to the Kotel, or Wailing Wall, Hidary had even been embarrassed to be Jewish. Afterwards, she proudly declared her Judaism and even wears a Hamsa and Star of David Necklace every day. She told everyone to be proud of who they are and be accepting of others. The audience listened to her stories of both acceptance and hatred, then shared a few of their own. Many people described being told they did or didn’t look Jewish. Everyone agreed that there is no look that makes someone Jewish. Some people even wrote poems about it.
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Each member of the audience had the opportunity to write a poem and present it if they wanted to. The Diller boys, with the exception of Ben Ungar, who chose to fly solo, wrote a poem about how each of them are put into boxes and judged for being Jews. They were the first to present, and their poem was a big hit. Next, the Diller girls presented their powerful poem about inner beauty and society’s poor judgment about outer beauty. Their poem was very well received and followed by Ben Ungar. His poem was about Diller and how much he appreciates the program and all it has done for him. As he said “I love it almost as much as my mom, because Diller really is the bomb!” The other Diller group to present was the staff. Their poem was also about Diller. The poem really was the “dillest” yet.
The rest of the night was spent enjoying snacks and hearing remarkably written poems from other teens in the Jewish community. Diller, the synagogues involved, and education and youth groups involved really outdid themselves. The event was fun, thought-provoking and a complete success.
-David Frisch