Weinstein Institute for Counselor Training Held at
Camp Ramah in California, January 4-7, 2010

by Amy Skopp Cooper, National Assistant Director

What I expected to be just a short trip to sunny California with my closest friends ended up being a deeply Jewish experience filled with רוח , Ramah pride and new experiences. I learned new ניגונים to incorporate into תפילות , planned exciting programs for my incoming campers, and saw awe-inspiring scenery that made me stop to say "עושה מעשה בראשית '' (the blessing that is recited upon coming across something beautiful in nature). Weinstein was an exciting and educational trip that amplified my excitement for this upcoming summer.

- Gabrielle Blady, Ramah Berkshires

This terrific Weinstein experience helped me understand that we are a movement of individual camps that really are the same.

- Alan Bukingotts, Ramah Wisconsin

Weinstein incorporates the fundamental values of Ramah: friendship, Jewish living and sharing of knowledge.

- Adina Rubin-Budick, Ramah New England

My experience at Weinstein Institute 2010 was educational, rewarding, reflective, and simply great!

- Molly Williams, Ramah California

These are comments from participants in this month’s Bert B. Weinstein Institute for Counselor Training, a professional development seminar sponsored annually by the National Ramah Commission and designed specifically for returning counselors, primarily college freshmen.

This year, the Weinstein Institute took place at Camp Ramah in Ojai, California, where 53 staff members, representing our seven overnight camps, the Nyack day camp and Ramah Outdoor Adventure in the Rockies, joined together for an enriching experience. Highlights of this year’s program included the following:

• keynote addresses by Rabbis Elliot Dorff and Aaron Alexander of American Jewish University;
• a shomrei adama hike led by Rabbi Eliav Bock, the director of Ramah’s newest overnight specialty camp, Ramah Outdoor Adventure;
• “From Good to Great: Empowering Madrichim to Reach Their Full Potential as Jewish Educators and Role Models,” a presentation by Dr. Zach Lasker, the camp director of Ramah California, based on his doctoral work;
• hadracha (leadership development) workshops, text learning, and a trip to the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.

 

It is always amazing to watch how these young adults from across North America arrive at Weinstein not knowing one another and then come together to create a dynamic and meaningful Ramah learning community, energizing one another in the process. One enthusiastic participant said: “Meeting counselors from the different camps from all across the North America was very inspiring. I left with so many new ideas that were shared and also ideas that have been previously used but with a different twist.”

Participants delivered divrei tefillah, led tefillot, planned their own peulot erev (evening activities), and danced to their favorite Israeli music. The program concluded with a beautiful medurah (camp fire). So many of our participants expressed their desire to have more Ramah gatherings throughout the year; many reflected that they do not have these types of inspiring opportunities on their college campuses. Another participant told us, “I learned a lot about planning and leading fun, effective, and meaningful activities, and the discussions about Conservative Judaism were interesting and thoughtful. I am excited to apply what I learned when I return to camp this summer!”

As always, Weinstein was staffed by a dynamic team of senior Ramah professionals. This year, Rabbi Mitch Cohen, National Ramah Director, and I were joined by Rabbi Eliav Bock (Director, Ramah Outdoor Adventure), Dr. Zach Lasker (Camp Director, Ramah California), Rabbi Paul Resnick (Director, Ramah Berkshires), Michael Wolf (Director, Ramah Canada), Rabbi Marshall Lesack (Assistant Director, Ramah Darom), Michelle Sugarman (Assistant Director, Ramah Poconos), Izzy Gordon (Ramah California), Leora Kimmel (Assistant Program Director, Ramah New England), and Abby Uhrman (Ramah California),

On the last day of the program, Weinstein participant Cynthia Friedman gave a d’var torah, offering an interpretation of how we can make the Torah’s passage about the drowning of the Egyptians in the Red Sea applicable to our lives. The following excerpt from Cynthia’s d’var torah captures the essence of the powerful and transformative communal experience that we know as Ramah:

I’ve been lucky to meet sixty bright, energetic, funny, inspiring Jews this week, and I know that if the young continue to search for meaning in their lives and for small ways to make a difference in another’s life—be they a camper or a friend—every generation, ours included, has the power to drown their enemies in their own metaphorical ocean, whatever it may be. So keep doing what you love, keep looking for yourself, because in the meantime, you’ll find people and experiences that will fill your life with the very Ramah qualities of warmth, friendship, spirituality, and meaning.

 

Weinstein incorporates the fundamental values of Ramah: friendship, Jewish living and sharing of knowledge.

- Adina Rubin-Budick ,
Ramah New England

 

This terrific Weinstein experience helped me understand that we are a movement of individual camps that really are the same.

- Alan Bukingotts,
Ramah Wisconsin