Young Leaders, Deep Conversations, and the Beauty of Ramah

I traveled to Ramah in the Rockies and Ramah Day Camp in Nyack this past week, concluding a North American trek that has taken me to our 15 overnight and day camps. These are powerful visits and while I only have a glimpse of the magic unfolding, I am grateful for the opportunity I have at each site to form relationships, soak in joyful Judaism, and marvel at programmatic and educational innovation. There is so much to be proud of.

Ramah in the Rockies is a place of awe, wonder, and pristine beauty. Rockies chalutzim (campers)—all coated in a film of dust—had just returned from their masaot (multi-day outdoor challenges), and the mood in camp was a combination of pride and exuberance over their personal accomplishments mixed with the joy of reuniting with the community over Shabbat. I participated in a post-Musaf teaching session on Martin Buber’s I and Thou, walked through a theology garden in memory of Rabbi Neil Gillman z"l, joined a beautiful tisch, taught on Shabbat afternoon, and enjoyed Yom Sport breakout. 

Returning to Ramah Day Camp in Nyack is always a homecoming for me, and this summer I had the opportunity to be at camp for several visits. The camp is flourishing and in recent years has added another edah (now welcoming 4 year olds to camp!). I had the opportunity to visit ParkMada, Nyack’s interactive science park, where children were creating Judaica objects on 3D printers! Nyack hosted the NRC board for our summer meetings and this past week, I joined the community for its summer gala, honoring four extraordinary Jewish leaders whom I have known since their young adult staff years at camp: what a privilege to be there with them.

Dr. Daniel Olson, Assistant National Director, has been on a North American Ramah journey of his own, including a recent visit to Ramah Nyack. He adds, “During the NRC board Shabbaton at Ramah Nyack, we heard from ten staff members, who all spoke about the profound impact working at camp has had on their lives, especially in this difficult chapter of Jewish history. For these rising high school seniors, college students, and young Israelis, camp has been a place of refuge in a world that has not been all that friendly recently to strong expressions of Jewishness, or connection to Israel. For these young people, camp has been a place where discussion, even hard discussion, can happen, but in a way that respects each person’s identity and unique life experience. We plan to conduct research at the end of the summer to more fully capture these stories of all of the Ramah camps as refuges this summer.”

Over a glorious Shabbat at Camp Ramah in California, I had ample opportunity to speak with many young adult leaders, offer divrei Torah, lead question and answer sessions, and share a story with the youngest edah. Each year I eagerly look forward to the Amitzim Yasher Koach awards, held at the end of Shabbat. Each Amitzim (Tikvah) camper and staff member is recognized for a weekly accomplishment—it is profoundly beautiful. So many Ramah Ojai staff members participate in our leadership programs (Israel trips, Weinstein, Winer, Ramah College Network) and it was a pleasure catching up with them and discussing how these programs have impacted their student years and career trajectories.  

While my North American Ramah visits may be complete for this summer, my Ramah journey certainly is not. I’ve arrived in Israel in time to spend time with our future leaders, the Ramah Seminar cohort. I’ll be speaking with them tomorrow evening as we usher in Tisha B’Av,urging them to hold onto Jewish history while charting our collective Jewish future.