Ramah Marriages

Wisconsin

Burton Cohen & Roberta Cheskis Cohen
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Married: 1953

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Zave Gussin & Judy Gordon Gussin
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1948
Married: 1954
While we were aware of each other in 1948, we began going together in 1949 when I was 15 and Judy was 13. We were both members of the LTF and saw each other at meetings during the ensuing year. We began going steadily with a date at a pre-season Bears game in September 1950. We went to each annual pre-season Bears game for the next 3 years, and were married on the day of the pre-season Bears game in 1954. The rest is history, having just passed our 51st anniversary. In addition to 4 children, we have 10 grandchildren, 5 of whom were born and reside in Israel (children of our oldest son).

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Irving Samuel White & Joan Kornbluth White
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1949
Married: 1951
Yes, romance is key to this one - and it goes a lot deeper and longer than the stories you might find in a Hollywood movie. This romance is now 56 years old!

I’ll start with this one from my perspective, because God knows that men are a bit different in their perceptions than women, though not better of course (check out Vayetzeh in Genesis: When Jacob first laid his eyes on Rachel, he didn't make a coffee date, he didn't put her through a J-date personality inventory. No, he just knew, his soul—or unconscious, if you prefer—being his guide. Of course, you have to throw in a little synchronicity and a lot of chemistry.)

It was at the beginning of the camp season at Ramah in 1949 that I first noticed Joan (Rachel, in Hebrew, honest—my name being Yisrael, having passed the divine test which Jacob was to overcome to become Israel). She was dancing Israeli folk-dances in the Beth Am of that time. It was the way she held her head to the side, with beauty and dignity, and the way she danced, that first hooked me. Of course I joined in the dance. I was in my second year as a madrich— sports counselor—and was a pretty good dancer myself.

Joan Kornbluth White and Irv White
at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin in 1949

Joan and Irv in 2005

I couldn't keep my eyes off of her as we danced and was sure, she couldn't have noticed me. After all, I was going on 22 years old and she was not quite sixteen. There was something about her that was "classy" in a very Jewish and European way—and indeed my own unconscious, which was shaped by my family's shtetl style, reached out to her. Forget the age difference, I said, and took a few shots from my buddies—whose names will not be mentioned—for "robbing the cradle". But, believe me, Joan didn't look like a child nor did she carry herself like a lot of other teen-agers. In other words, she faked me out so well that I was drawn to her no differently than Jacob was drawn to Rachel. And indeed, I kissed her very early on in our relationship. (I'm forever thankful that my good friend, Lillian Orzoff (z'l), sent Joan out, unseen by others, to be with me after "taps." Lillian later married my very dear friend, Ira Glick, whose three daughters all attended Ramah Wisconsin. )

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Herschel Kahn & Jody S. Kahn
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1950
Married: 1956
I was from Minneapolis. Jody was from Chicago. We both had a strong Jewish background and the environment at Ramah clearly nurtured our love for Judaic studies, culture and heritage. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and continued to communicate after camp. Jody went on to study in Israel for a year. Upon her return she enrolled at the University of Minnesota and the rest is history. Fifty-one fabulous years that began at Ramah Wisconsin.

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Martin Bogot & Hadara Skidelsky Bogot
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1953
Married: 1955
Leah Abrams, drama counselor, arranged for the two of us to play in a Tisha B'av night performance as Jeremiah and Bat Yisrael. Marty walked me back to the cabin that night and the rest is history. We were married two years later had four children and in 1971 made aliyah. We, our children and 15 sabra grandchildren are all still here.

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Daniel J. Merritt & Ruth (Booty) Newlander Merritt
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1955
Married: 1958
Immediate attraction on many levels; besides, it was cold at night!

A photo of Booty and Dan taken at
Ramah Wisconsin in 1958

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Rick Malter & Rosalie Moss Malter
Camp Attended: USY High, Wisconsin
Met: 1955
Married: 1961
Rosalie and I met at the USY program at Logan Square Congregation Shaare Zedek in Chicago in 1955. We both were at Ramah Wisconsin in 1956. We continued to date throughout our college undergraduate years and were married at Temple Emanuel in Chicago in June 1961. The Ramah experience in the beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin provided us with an appreciation of Judaism and nature that we continue to experience in the Sedona Red Rock area of northern Arizona where we now reside. The Ramah experience also introduced us to clinical psychology and psychoanalysis that shaped our professional education and life's work. We wrote a book together that describes the psychological model that served as the foundation for our therapy practice. I recently wrote an article "In Every Generation..." that describes my view of the dynamics of anti-semitism in every generation." Our work is on our web site www.malterinstitute.org.

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Gerry Rosenberg & Renee Lifchez Rosenberg
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1955
Married: 1961
Our families knew each other as we attended the same synagogue.
We went out for the first time on New Year's Eve, and the rest is history. We became engaged six months later, married a year later and just celebrated 48 years.

Sharing many Ramah friends in common, when we came back to camp as a married couple, we fit right in with the others. (Submitted 2009)

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Philip P. Spectre & Barbara Lerner Spectre
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1955
Married: 1962
Barbara was reading a book on "the rock'" when I happened by in a canoe. I said something really foolish like, "Are you going my way?" From the moment she came into my canoe we have been sailing together. Ramah was and is a great and powerful influence on us both. It gave us direction in life, in our careers and influenced us to make aliya. Later we returned on Mishlachat with our children.

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Moshe Tutnauer & Margie Weingarden Tutnauer
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1956
Married: 1957
Margie Weingarden and Moshe Tutnauer met at Ramah Wisconsin in 1956. We were both meltzarim! After a year of long distance communication (Moshe was at JTS and Margie at Wayne State in Detroit) we were married AT CAMP on August 25, 1957! Jerry Abrams, Ramah Director was our mesader kedushin. Efry Spectre and Sara Fisher Gillman organized the chuppa and the music. Our wedding was followed by the closing banquet/wedding dinner attended by 500 campers and 200 staff. The singing and dancing in the chadar ochel were not to be believed!

Margie and Moshe's Wedding
at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin in 1957

Our children and three of our grandchildren have been at various Ramah camps. We have been active with Ramah in Israel and Ramah in other countries since our aliya in 1972. We spent the summer of 1983 (in January!) at Ramah Argentina in Rio Ceballos with Marshall Meyer, z"l. We spent the summers of the 1990's teaching at the Ramah camps in Russia and Ukraine. Ramah has been a very important part of our lives for the past 50 years!

Additional note from Jerry Abrams, Ramah Berkshires Director Emeritus: Prof. Shraga Abramson, z"l, the Seminary's professor in residence that year and noted Talmud scholar, was one of the edim.

Additional note from Morton M. Steinberg, National Ramah President: I was at the wedding. It was held on the waterfront, in the early evening, followed by the traditional last night banquet. Bill Lebeau (current dean of The Rabbinical School at JTS) was a head waiter and he held one corner of the chupah. I took several photos of the ceremony with my brownie camera and gave the pictures to Morty (as Moshe was then known) when he was a scholar in residence at Beth El about 10 years ago. I remember it well!

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David Jeremy Lyons & Myrna Wedlan Lyons
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1956
Married: 1961

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Joel Roth & Barbara Kramer Roth
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1956
Married: 1965
Joel was Rosh T'filah at camp when Barbara was a camper, and then a Jr. Counselor. We married when Joel was at the Seminary as a student in 1965. We returned to Ramah Seminar as staff in 1970, and then to Poconos and Berkshires for 20+ years, while Joel was Professor in Residence, so our three children could grow up in the Ramah environment. Since retiring, Joel continues to sit on the National Ramah Commission. Ramah was the most important Jewish experience in our lives. (Submitted 2009)

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Bill (William) Leigh Gross & Lisa Spertus Gross
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1957
Married: 1962
I met Bill in 1957 the first day of camp that summer. Sheila Goldberg noticed the new guy as we piled out of the dining room. His smooth friendly face was covered with patches of gentian violet, but Sheila struck up a conversation with him and we discovered that he was the younger brother of the handsome, Jim Gross whose baby face we used to swoon over the summer before. In fact, I was going with another young man that summer but Bill and I used to meet on the lawn and got to know each other over the summer months. Towards the end of the season Bill declared that he loved me and hoped that I felt the same about him. To my surprise, I did. We kept in contact over the next four years and continued our romance each summer.

Camp Ramah was a very special place for me. Back in Highland Park I did not feel connected with my high school peers, but each summer at camp I blossomed. I could excel in art and dance though my academic interests were less rewarding. Also, the friendships we made over the years of attending camp were very special.

The encounter with religion at camp helped form our personalities and was life-enriching. It was a privilege to have experienced the celebration of Shabbat in the special way it was during our summers there.

We were married in 1962, and lived in Highland Park, Ill. after two years more in Boston. Bill attended Harvard and Harvard Business School. I spent three years at Boston University. After Bill worked as head of the sales department in my family business we decided to make aliyah. We have been living happily in Israel since 1969

Bill worked in many different businesses over the years then as a diamond agent. Finally he retired and spends most of his time doing research on his extensive Judaica collection. He is president of our budding Conservative, progressive, pluralistic synagogue and works closely with Rabbi David Lazar.

I am spending most of my time in my studio where I make sculptures from found objects. In between I try to spend as much time as possible with our grandchildren, three precious little girls. Two out of three of our children live in Israel. Our middle son has lived in the USA for many years.

My younger sister Cathy Spertus Orkibi met her husband at camp as well and moved to Israel two years before we did. My older sister Sue moved here with her family several years after we did. I believe our experiences at camp influenced our choices.

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Hillel Friedman & Betsy Gillman Friedman
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1959
Married: 1963
Betsy and I met in 1959. We were at the time otherwise involved. We re-met in 1961 and were married in 1963. Our two girls were both on staff at Ramah, Sarah in Nyack and Rachel in the Berkshires. Our eldest daughter, Rachel, met her husband, Mark Neustadt, in the Berkshires. This coming summer (2006), Mark is heading the waterfront there. Their two boys, Isaac and Tani, are enrolled in the gan.

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Morton Steinberg & Miriam Bernstein Steinberg
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1959, then again in 1969
Married: 1974

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Alan Silberman & Margaret Auslander Silberman
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1959
The starting date for the relationship between Margaret (Maggie) Auslander and Alan Silberman that became a Ramah Wisconsin marriage is a matter of some confusion.

She says: "It started when I was 12 and you were the camping counselor and took my tzrif on an overnight trip in the woods."

He says: "I do not recall this and if it happened, I deny it."

But then perhaps Rabbi David Mogilner (z"l ) knew what he was doing when he assigned an (almost) 17-year-old junior counselor to take charge of the overnight program and spend 35 nights out of camp. Whatever the "beginning," we found ourselves—in December1959—on an overnight train trip to an LTF kallah in Minneapolis. Margaret was the 15-year-old LTF'er. Alan was the 19-year-old chaperone and staff member. And in the middle of night, he received a visit—in the "lounge" at the end of the train—from Margaret and two of her girlfriends who could not sleep. And then, the two friends disappeared. A crisis! How did we avoid impropriety? The answer is pure Ramah legend: It took only a few moments to remember that Margaret's brother, Ira, was about to become bar mitzvah. The conversation, of course, turned to "What is his haftarah?” And the next hours were spent reviewing and chanting the words of Isaiah, Chapter 66—the haftarah for Shabbat Rosh Hodesh.

Of course, staff-camper relationships cannot be, and were NOT. Indeed, the next summer, when Margaret was en route to camp with the then-mandatory stay at Chicago's Morrison Hotel, the counselor responsible for Margaret and several other young women made sure they were all in bed and—after a quick layla tov and a transfer of responsibility to another staff member, went out on the town with…Alan, of course.

But wait, there's more: Two years later (after Margaret's stint at the first Ramah American seminar in Nyack), she was the staff member! Margaret was starting college at the University of Michigan, and Alan, a 21-year-old "Assistant to the Director," was off to law school in New Haven. So she got to go out on the town—that year, and the next, and the next! And, of course, summer romance faced the age-old question: "Will we still want to be with each other after 8 weeks?" And the answer (at least Alan's) was the equivocal "maybe"—a few visits to Ann Arbor and New Haven, yes, but no plans for any permanent relationship.

Fast forward three more years. Alan is a lawyer in Chicago, beginning to become involved in the Ramah Wisconsin committee. Margaret is pursuing a Masters' Degree in Special Education in Michigan. But old habits are ingrained deeply—when you went to camp, you had to go to Chicago; when you went to an LTF Kallah in the winter, you usually went to or through Chicago. So where else would Margaret pick to spend a couple of days to visit? And if you are going to check up on people from the past, what could be more obvious then your Ramah connections? After some cajoling, Margaret was able to pry Alan's office phone number from Alan's mother, and Alan was smart enough to ask Margaret out that very evening! About 14 months later, with a pile of long distance phone bills between Chicago and Detroit, and a few airplane tickets, the choice was clear: it would either be marriage or mutual bankruptcy. One of Margaret's Ramah friends was getting married, Alan came in for the wedding—and as the long, long, weekend ended the question finally passed from Alan's lips—and it wasn't "What is your brother's haftarah?"

The rest, of course, is history: now nearing 38 years of history. And the Ramah connection has remained one of the focal points—for both Alan and Margaret's involvement in Wisconsin and National Ramah activities, a further role as camper parents for daughter Elena and son Mark, and most recently adjusting to the newest Ramah role, as Bubbe and Saba of the latest generation of Ramah campers, granddaughter Lauren, a happy camper at the Chicago-area Ramah Day Camp!

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Elliot Dorff & Marlynn Wertheimer Dorff
Camp Attended: Mador, Poconos, Wisconsin
Met: 1961
Married: 1966
We were really a mixed marriage because Elliot grew up Milwaukee and the Wisconsin camp and Marlynn grew up in Philadelphia and the Poconos camp. We met in Mador, which at the time was a national program for training counselors. Marlynn's parents had sent her there specifically to meet someone from Philadelphia, but instead she met someone from 1,000 miles away who took her 3,000 miles away to California to live. As the Yiddish has it, man tracht und Gott lacht -- man plans and God laughs! Elliot told his parents as he left them at the airport on his way to camp that summer that he might meet his future wife there because Mador was a place where people came who shared his desire to be both serious about Judaism and part of the modern world -- and who knew how to integrate the two.  We met in the Mador program in 1961, which at the time was a national program. Marlynn followed Elliot back to Wisconsin for the summers of 1962-64 and 1966, with 1965 spent back in Poconos camp on the Bekhir program for training Roshei Aidah. When we moved to California, we spent every summer between 1972-1986 at the California camp except for 1978, when we staffed the Ramah Israel Seminar, and returned in 1991. (Submitted 2009)

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Bernard (Baruch) Gold & Rananah Kliers
Camp: Wisconsin
Met: 1960
Married: 1962
My college roommate, Mike Graetz, knew Rananah from Ramah and suggested we stay at her house before the camp season. Mid-way through the summer we were a couple. Our similar interests in Judaism and Jewish peoplehood united us... We now have nine sabra grandchildren.

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Michael Don Katz & Betsy Dolgin Katz
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Year Met: 1960
Year Married: 1964
We met on the kikar the first day of camp. Michael was holding a tikkun, preparing a Torah reading. We sat back to back at meals because we each were counselors in the oldest cabins. We not only participated in discussions about Jewish text and adolescents in Rabbi Nachum Gordon's JCC class, but also, Rabbi Gordon and his wife took the two of us together to a movie one free evening. Our real first date was in a canoe on Lake Buckatabon. In camp we shared our love of Judaism and of children. We talked about some of the big questions in life, sitting on the rock or on the point or walking on the garbage road. We imagined together the kind of life we wanted to lead. As if introducing us was not enough, Ramah took us on our honeymoon. Two weeks after we were married, we accompanied our campers (who had attended our wedding) on the Ramah Israel Seminar, our first trip to Israel. Jewish living, Jewish learning and Israel remain an important part of our life and that of our children up until today.

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Harvey Medress & Judy Yanowitz Medress
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1965
Married: 1969
We crossed kikar paths a few times as campers but "met" as junior counselors. We formed an amazing friendship, which grew into a meaningful relationship through our college years, then a 40+ year wonderful marriage.

Harvey's brother Mark met his wife Marjorie (Satz, MN) at Ramah in WI also. (Submitted 2009)

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Ira Newlander & Ronna Schary
Camp: Wisconsin
Met: 1965
Married: 1969
We met on the train to camp....and what else can I say!

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Martin B. Sherman & Linda Diane Wallen
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Year Met: 1966
Year Married: 1977
We met at Ramah as campers and had many mutual friends although we were never a couple. We continued to write each other occasionally after Ramah, and Marty once visited me in New Orleans. When I decided to go to the University of Michigan, Marty was one of two people who I knew there. I called him the day I arrived on campus; we went out to dinner, and 40 years later we are sending our kids off to college, and looking forward to the next stage of our lives.

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Martin Jeffrey Berman & Marylin Gottlieb Berman
Met at Israel Seminar
Programs Attended: Mador, Wisconsin
Met: 1967
Married: 1971
On our way up to Mt. Carmel, Marylin was saying how she could not stand Southern accents and Danny Berger, an old friend from Ramah Wisconsin said meet Marty Berman from Jacksonville, Florida. Marylin said would you believe - a strong Southern accent? We went to Mador and then Wisconsin for two more years and then got married.

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Stephen (Steve) Weiss & Anne (Chana) Weinstein Weiss
Camp: Wisconsin
Met: 1968
Married: 1970
I met Steve on the staff train up to camp in 1968 (I was 17 1/2.) when I sat on the arm of his chair to have a discussion with others around him. It was love at first sight, all the better because my other job at camp was as a swimming teacher, so we worked together daily. We saw each other in the best of conditions (Shabbat, etc.) and the worst of conditions (cold and wet, coming out of the water). This gave our courtship and union a healthy, realistic beginning.

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Joseph Vander Walde & Joan Gimpel Vander Walde
Camp: Wisconsin
Met: 1968
Married: 1974
The first time we met I was in Nivonim and Joey was a junior counselor in Bogrim. I had permission to miss the peulat erev and was sitting in my favorite tree overlooking Lake Buckatabon near the library. He was looking for one of his campers and when he saw me in the tree, told me to get down. I refused, telling him that I had permission to be there and although he was somewhat taken aback, he continued on his hunt for his missing camper. We met again two summers later when he was a counselor and I was a junior counselor. We became good friends over the summer and the friendship continued at the University of Wisconsin during his senior year and my freshman year of college. We didn't start dating until he had moved on to medical school in Philadelphia and I had transferred to Brandeis in Boston. It was through Ramah, both the camper's camp and the staff's camp - the shared work, play, discussions and problem solving that we were able to develop the close friendship and mutual respect that grew into love.

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Howard L. Bach & Wendy Ziman Bach
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Year Met: 1968
Year Married: 1975
We initially met through the Minneapolis LTF programs in the late 60's. It was the best source of both Ramah connections and reunions during the off camp months, but also connected us with the rabbis. The summer camp months allowed us to develop a similar group of friends, many of whom we still keep up with today! Camp brought out the best in each of us. It was the oasis where we could be ourselves, have fun and stretch to try new adventures and even relationships!!! This has worked for 32 years!!

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Morris J. Allen & Phyllis S. Gorin
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1969
Married: 1979
We were in Bogrim in 1969 and hardly spoke to one another. In 1970, we became fast friends at the start of camp and maintained a friendship through most of college. From 1970 until 1976 we sent each other over 500 letters--which we still have to this day. Ours was a real friendship; we each dated other people along the way. It was not until the summer of 1976 that we decided to see if our friendship was meant to be something more. The rest is history as they say.

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Ronnie & Minda Garr
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1970
Married: 1971
Ronnie moved to Ramah Wisconsin from Ramah California the summer before we met at the urging of his friends from JTS. I was living in Israel after many years in Wisconsin, and came back to camp after a break of several years at the urging of Rabbi Burton Cohen - who was then the director in Wisconsin.

Minda & Ronnie Garr at
Camp Ramah in Wisconsin

I came to camp in the middle of staff week as a first-year rosh edah. Burt gave Ronnie the task of teaching me how to do my job. We spent a few hours together right after we met and were married the following summer. Camp was and still is very much a part of our lives to this very day. We both grew up in Ramah and our four children have grown up in Ramah. When we met we were living in two different worlds - and we still live in two different worlds, but together - camp in the summer and Israel during the rest of the year.

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Joe Freedman & Sue Schwartz Freedman
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1970
Married: 1972
Before camp in 1970 Ronnie Garr had been in Minneapolis and wound up at Sue's house for dinner. He tried to get her to come to camp but she said she had become more religious. Ronnie said not to worry, "even the rosh rikud dances with his tzitzit out." We met on one of the first days of staff week and rest was bashert!

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Toby (Daniel) Marwil & Ivy Elinoff Marwil
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Year Met: 1970
Year Married: 1972
We met the first night of camp after Kabbalat Shabbat Services and we married each other two years later. Ramah has been a big part of our lives since we have been children. We loved our years as campers, as staff and then as parents enjoying our two sons' experiences as campers and staff. For all of us, the best part of Ramah has been our long lasting friendships that were cultivated at camp.

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Alan Kaell & Diana Schachter Kaell
Met at Israel Seminar
Programs Attended: Wisconsin, Poconos
Met: 1970
Married: 1975
Alan was from Wisconsin Ramah, Diana was from Poconos Ramah. We met during the wonderful Israel Seminar program. We also worked as counselors at Wisconsin Ramah during the summer of 1972. Rabbi Burton Cohen of Wisconsin Ramah married us in 1975.

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Paul S. Drazen & Susie Alpert Drazen
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1972
Married: 1977
We initially met BECAUSE we were both at Ramah. Then, three years later, we worked together in an 8x8 office...and we were married two years after that. If we survived that office, marriage was going to be a snap.

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Jeff Kopin & Beth Ginsburg Kopin
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1973
Married: 1981
We were 15 year-old Machon campers on our edah yitziah to Hodag Park. Somehow we managed to spend the entire day together watching the water ski show and the sun setting over Rhinelander, WI. It was magical and remains the most romantic moment of our lives.

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Jonathan Petuchowksi & Leslie Yenkin
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1973
Married: 1992
Our Ramah romance story is a "classic" and serves as an example of how several years together at Ramah can help build a foundation for a relationship many years later. We attended Ramah in Wisconsin together in 1973 through 1975. We stayed in touch as friends with visits, telephone calls, and letters through 1982. Then we lost touch for 9 years. But, then on April 14, 1991, purely coincidentally, we ended up attending the same party in Washington DC. It turned out that we were living just a few blocks away from each other in DuPont Circle. Nine months later we were married. We had both moved from Ohio upon high school graduation in 1977, but 20 years later we moved back and are now living with our twelve-year-old daughter, Abigail, in Columbus. We often think about our special times together with dear friends at Ramah in Wisconsin and are grateful that the camp brought us together.

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Larry Pepper & Dana Beth Yugend-Pepper
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1974
Married: 1983
Dana and I knew each other for two summers before we started dating during our Nivonim summer. She likes to say that we've known each other since Bogrim, but have been kissing since Nivonim. Different then getting to know someone outside of camp, we were with each other for many hours each day for eight weeks. We had a chance to see each other in many situations and we obviously liked what we saw. It was also a great opportunity for our parents to meet each other over a few summers before things got serious. Dana and I had our favorite spots around camp where we would walk & talk. There was a tree on Nivonim hill that had a hollowed out spot in it where we used to leave love notes for each other. Israel seminar and our staff year gave us the additional time together so that we knew it was meant to be. Now, going back to camp as parents, and seeing our daughter so happy there, where we were so happy, is very powerful.

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Larry Mishkin & Judy Teibloom-Mishkin
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1975
Married: 1988

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Josh Barash & Devorah Lissek
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1976
Married: 1991

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Jon Gutstein & Susan Mack Gutstein
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Year Met: 1976
Year Married: 1992
We first met in our Shoafim year and were again at camp together the next year in Bogrim. We were friendly but never more than acquaintances. We met up again in high school when we went to Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago together. Again we weren't anything more than friends. After college we both wound up back in Chicago and our two groups of friends started hanging out together and we became best friends. We actually would fix each other up on dates, which luckily never worked out and we've been married now for 15 years so far.

Ramah has always held a special place in our hearts and the fact that we can say that we originally met there makes it even more special. We have two kids who have been going to the Ramah Day Camp and now my son is in his first summer at Ramah in Wisconsin. Hopefully next summer my daughter will enjoy her first summer there. Another very special fact is that my son is now a third-generation camper at Ramah in Wisconsin as my Dad went there as a camper the first year the camp started.

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David Andrew Sherman & Julie Fishman Sherman
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1977
Married: 1980
We met in Minneapolis (Rabbi Sylvan Kamens' front yard) where all the staff was gathering prior to our caravan drive to camp. We began dating later that summer. Ramah was very important to our relationship as we attended schools in different cities - camp was our time together. Camp Ramah in Wisconsin continues to be our place (that we now share with our 4 sons) as we have returned as senior staff for two weeks each summer for the past 10 years.

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David N. Kantor & Lynnsie Balk Kantor
Camp Attended: Wisconsin (Lynnsie mid-'70s through early '80s, David mid-'60s)
It's a Ramah marriage, but his name was probably on a bunk wall in Conover by the time I got to be a camper there! We met at B'nai Amoona in St. Louis, MO over a plastic cup of Manishevitz wine in 1986 and married in 1987, AFTER David was a camper 1965 and 1966, and AFTER I was a camper 1975-77 and staff for 5+ years. What has been wonderful is that he has served as a camp doctor since our kids were young (8 years now!), so we've enjoyed reliving our Ramah experiences together and through our kids. We'll have one on Seminar this year, and 2 back in Conover.

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Steve Kane & Judy Thaler Kane
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1980
Married: 1983
Judy was a counselor in my Edah (Solelim) in Wisconsin, and I was the Rosh Edah (would this even be legal today?!). She had actually heard about me from a mutual friend before camp, and has said that she knew even prior to camp that we would have a relationship! I showed up in camp with this goofy wing-hat, and in spite of that we were "together" by the end of staff week. She returned to New York after the summer, and I went on to Rabbinical School at the UJ. After numerous visits during the year, we decided that we would both go to Nyack the next summer where her father was the director. She became Rosh Rikkud (which she still is 26 years later) and I a Rosh Edah for the next 8 years! We got engaged the following year in Israel (at the Kotel on Erev Shabbat/New Year's Eve) and got married in October 1983. Ramah has continued to be an important part of our lives, and now the lives of our children. Our oldest is currently a staff member in the Berkshires, and we are certain our other two will eventually follow.

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Jeffrey Sosland & Mindy Weisenberg Sosland
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1980
Married: 1993

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David Dropkin & Marcy Dicker
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1981
Married: 1983
We were both working in the Tikvah program during the summer of 1981.The rest is history. We came back to camp as staff members in 1987 with an 18-month-old child and a 6-day-old child. She was the youngest child ever to be at camp.

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Ron Less & Elyse Levine Less
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1981, then again in 1991
Married: 1994
We were at camp at different edot in 1981 and basically did not know each other. (She would never talk to a boy in a younger edah!) Ten years later, we met a party hosted by a Ramah alumnus and we have been together since.

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Michael Weiner & Lisa Shiner Weiner
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1982
Married: 1988

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Marc Swatez and Elise Rice Swatez
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1983
Married: 1987
We first met at USY International Convention and started dating on Tisha B'Av that summer at camp when we were both counselors for Solelim. After another summer at camp and a year at Hebrew University together, we were married just after graduation.

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Loren Sykes & Rebecca Kaplan Sykes
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1983
Married: 1993
Loren was the great older brother of my friend Vicki, and also a counselor when we were in Nivonim. He and Scott Moses convinced several of us to attend the Joint Program at JTS, and we became friends there and when I was on staff at camp. When I was a Nivonim counselor, and he was the program director, we became closer, and started dating that fall. The next summer, Minda Garr and Emily Soloff took Loren into the back room of the director’s house and kindly suggested he propose to me at camp. He is such a good listener. We were married in New York, then spent our honeymoon at Wisconsin (the next summer) with 450 of our favorite campers. True love, no?

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Andrew Feig & Julie Flapan
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1983
Married: 1998
Julie and I met our Machon year, but did not become friendly until Nivonim and then Ramah Seminar in Israel. Still, we did not date until Julie and I found ourselves in Chicago during the mid-90s. We both had maintained close friends from Ramah who encouraged us to re-connect. We finally started dating and a few years later, we got married. We moved to Los Angeles in 1998 and have two children, Ella and Ezra. Ramah will always have an incredibly special place in our hearts.

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Brad Hirschfield & Becky Klawans Hirschfield
Wisconsin
Met: 1983
Married: 1989

Although we are both from Beth El in Highland Park, we didn't get to know each other until we were both on staff in the Northwoods.  I was a JC in Bogrim, and Brad was a counselor in Nivonim. Our first date was at the Vilas County Cinema, a triple date with two other couples who also eventually married, Michael and Sheila Small and Danny and Becky (Nathan) Blumenthal. (Submitted 2010)

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Michael Joseph Small & Sheila Berk Small
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Year Met: 1985
Year Married: 1989
Thanks to a Fourth of July talent show, we met as counselors in 1985 at Wisconsin. Being at camp let us discover that we had similar values, interests and a love for Jewish life. Together, we saw the moon set and sun rise many times that summer. Three years after we met, we became engaged on the mirpeset of the Sifriah, looking at the stars reflected on the mirror-smooth surface of Lake Buckatabon. We are fortunate to have maintained a group of mutual Ramah friends, some of whom now have children at camp, as do we.

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Steve Golden & Shira Sky Golden
Camp Attended:Wisconsin
Met: 1986
Married: 1988
We were both on staff the summer of 1986. Steve worked as a counselor in the Tikvah program and Shira was a counselor for a Bogrim girls' cabin. Although we both confided in someone else that we were interested in one another at the beginning of the summer, we didn't get together until the end. We dated long distance (Kansas City to New York) for two long years and got married a month after Shira graduated from college.

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Giora Shimoni & Lisa Katz Shimoni
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1986
Married: 1988
Lisa (Columbus, Ohio) spent the summer working at camp before going to Israel to study at the Schechter Institute and Hebrew University. Giora (Nir Galim, Israel) spent the summer working at camp between finishing his army service and beginning to study at Beit Berl. The romance began instantly at camp (1986) and continued in Israel, where the knot was officially tied (1988). The camp atmosphere contributed to our union -- it enabled us to get to know the real person in each of us without all the exterior trappings and it provided, via the beautiful Wisconsin woods and lake, the perfect backdrop for romance. Today Lisa and Giora live (happily ever after) in Modiin, Israel with their four children (Maytal, Noam, Gilad, Yael).

The Shimoni Family in Modiin, Israel 2005

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Seth Greenberg & Ilene Spark Greenberg
Camps Attended: New England, Wisconsin, Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim
Met: 1986
Married: 1990
My wife of nearly 15 years, Ilene Spark-Greenberg, was a camper at Wisconsin and a counselor at New England. I was a staff brat, a camper, a counselor and a rosh edah at New England. Although we met on our junior year program at Hebrew University, we went back as staff to Ramah in New England together. (Ilene was Tikvah staff, I was Rosh Solelim) We got married in 1990, then moved to Israel in 1992. Beginning in 1992, Ilene and I were madrichim for two semesters at TRY, one of the Ramah Israel programs in Jerusalem. The program started at the end of August 1992, and Calev was born in June 1993. Ilene's last hike was up Massada with the Ramah students in March 1993 - 6 MONTHS PREGNANT! Now that's dedication to Ramah. So, in a sense (do the math), Calev is a Ramah baby.

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Matt Plofsky & Brooke Morrison Plofsky
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1987
Married: 1992
We met the summer of 1987 as Solelim counselors. Matt was a senior counselor and I was a junior counselor. We started our summer romance after cutting out early from a staff meeting in baytoh. "Wanna go outside and get a little air?" Matt said. After that it was history. Four years of a torturous long-distance relationship between Champaign and Cincinnati. We were engaged in November of 1991 and married a year later. Our ketubah was even designed with an overlay of the Ramah logo!

Matt has gone back to be the camp doctor. By strengthening our spiritual lives, Ramah will always hold a special place in our hearts. It all still seems like yesterday.

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Joshua Cohen & Sarah Bierman
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1988
Married: 1999
Josh and I always joke that we first met when I was in Sollelim and he in Nivonim when he was a CIT for the boys in my aidah. Over the years, he was a counselor in my aidah and I was on his staff when he was a rosh aidah. In truth, we didn't start dating until after all of that when I was in college and he was in rabbinical school. Ramah was always a part of us and remained a real part of our lives (and even our daughter's) as Josh worked for the organization. Now that we have moved on, we remember Ramah as a light in both of our lives and love that it's that connection that brought us together.

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Scott Forester & Betsy Brown Forester
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1989
Married: 1990
Betsy was in graduate school after serving two years as a rosh edah at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. I was on the Ramah Wisconsin Executive Board. During Pesach, Emily Soloff invited Betsy for a meal and Rabbi Soloff invited me too. Betsy and I met at the Soloff's home and although it was not a "fix up," we started dating. We were soon engaged and then married. We owe it all to Ramah and the Soloffs!

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Joshua Greenstein & Carol Goldklang
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Year Met: 1989
Year Married: 1995

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Shalom (Steven) Bochner & Orli Loewenberg
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Year Met: 1989
Year Married: 1995

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Bradley C. Tecktiel & Susan Fay (Mayer) Tecktiel
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1990
Married: 1993
It was a typical Ramah summer romance that we continued during the year, despite being 1,000 miles apart. Ramah continues to be an important part of our lives. For the past eight summers we have been on staff at Ramah Darom.

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Pelleg Graupe & Elizabeth (Betsy) Davis Graupe
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1991
Married: 1996
Technically, we met as campers, but really we met and became friends on Tzevet Solelim. Distractions such as television were not an issue. We had one another's undivided attention. The tranquil setting, with beautiful sunsets, peaceful nature and screaming campers helped us get to know each other very well. After hundreds of dollars of phone calls during our freshman year at college, and another summer together (again on Tzevet Solelim), we knew that it was more than a summer romance. We married four years later. Another four years later, we were happy that Rabbi Soloff was able to come to our first son's brit milah.

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Andrew Shulkind & Sarah Zimbler Shulkind
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1992
Married: 2001

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Ronen Glimer & Amy Abrams
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1992
Married: 2004
We met during staff week in 1992. We dated the entire summer and broke up when we went back to school. We were in touch from time to time during college but when I moved to NYC (he went to college in NYC) we became close friends again. Everyone always thought we should get back together but we just thought of each other as a best friend. Six years later we decided to go on vacation together. We have been together ever since and we married in September 2004. Our wedding weekend was at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center - it was like being up at camp! I always dreamed of getting married at camp so it was really amazing.

Amy and Ronen in 1992

Amy and Ronen in 2004

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Charles Cohen & Jennifer (Jen) Neufeld Cohen
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1992
Married: 2004

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Jon Hoffenberg & Sara Behr Hoffenberg
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1993
Married: 2003

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Dan Gottstein & Amy Schein Gottstein
Camp Attended: Berkshires, Wisconsin
Year Met: 1994
Year Married: 1999
I attended Berkshires but Dan is actually a Ramah Wisconsin alumni. We met at college through Wisconsin friends I had met on my Seminar trip. We live in Chicago now but I still plan on sending our two sons Owen (3 1/2) and Micah (2 months) to Berkshires.

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Scott "Lefty" Rosen & Ann Lesley Hamvas Rosen
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1996
Married: 2003
We met during our Nivo summer as campers, but didn't start our relationship until we were on staff as JCs in 1998. Because we were from different states, our summers at Ramah were the only times we were able to be together, so Ramah will always be special for us because it was the place where our love was able to grow. We got engaged by Lake Buckatabon during staff week 2001 and put the foundation of the new Kopin staff center to the test as everyone danced around to celebrate our good news.

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Ari Derman & Talia Goldblatt Derman
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1996
Married: 2010
We met in 1996, our Solelim summer at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. We were placed in the same Hebrew and text classes and would trade off buying each other cans of Cherry Coke from the camp vending machines to bring to class. We became friends that summer and our friendship grew over the years. Then during our Nivonim summer in 2000, we began our romantic relationship. It was not always easy, as we lived in different states and attended different colleges, but we made it work and Camp Ramah played an important role in bringing us together every summer. (Submitted 2010)

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Michael Rothmann Siegel & Marisa Ehrlich Siegel
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1997
Married: 2003
We met in 1997 as Solelim counselors. We continued to date from that point until 2003 when we married. We spent almost every summer at camp throughout the whole time we were dating, whether it was as staff or coming to visit for a week. Ramah is very dear in our hearts and is a great environment to find that one special person.

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Noah Garfinkel & Dina Goldman Garfinkel
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1998
Married: 1999
We met in the Rikudiah Band, where he played bass and I played drums. Being a rosh kept me very busy, so we made time in the wee hours of the night to go for walks and hang out.

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Benji Bearman & Faye Hammer Bearman
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1998
Married: 2002

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Loren Bach & Naomi Hoffman
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1998
Married: 2009
We met during Bogrim summer in 1998 but didn’t start dating until we were junior counselors in 2002 (Loren was on waterfront, Naomi was on Machon staff). We went to different colleges so coming back to be on staff for a second summer really allowed our relationship to grow. After college, we lived together in New York City where every day was a Ramah reunion—we frequently got together with friends and cousins who had attended Ramah and reminisced about our time as campers and staff. Under the chuppah, Rabbi Bernard Lipnick (who went to Camp Ramah in the 40´s) joked that our wedding was one big Ramah reunion. Both our parents met and started dating at Camp Ramah. We obviously know where we’re sending our future children for summer camp! (Submitted 2009)

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Steven Carl Schoenberger & Louise Malamud Schoenberger
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 1999
Married: 2005
We simply met at camp and became very close friends. Although I was interested in her we did not start dating for nearly three years, until the summer of 2002. We do, however, owe our entire relationship and its success to Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. We are currently spending our first year of marriage in Israel.

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Alan Frankel & Kim Frankel
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 2000
Married: 2002
I was always envious of Ramah love stories, as I never had the chance to attend. Then one day I met the love of my life when each of us was visiting our campers during visitors weekend! It's never too late to let Ramah work its magic!

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Amir Cohen & Alysa Gerstley Cohen
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 2000
Married: 2001
I came late to camp that year (it was my 4th year) because I had to take summer courses for grad school. My second day back at camp was Amir's birthday, and he had been out celebrating with other mishlachat. We met at Bauer's-- he thought I was a loud American, I thought he was a rude Israeli. We joked around, and he later told his friends how very annoying he thought I was. But back at camp we talked more, and not long after, I sprained my ankle on my way out of camp one evening. He returned from his night out and came straight to my room in the marp. He helped me ice my leg all night, and we talked and got to know each other. After camp, we continued dating in NY, until he had to go back to Israel at the end of October. He came back a month later, and in January 2001 we were engaged. We married in August 2001. Whenever people ask how we met, they are surprised to hear "Ramah," but then even more to hear "Wisconsin!" He's from Israel; I am from NJ. But my good friend from college and his neighbor from Israel were long time Wisconsin-ers, and thanks to each of them, we ended up in the best camp around!

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Micah Joshua Peltz & Rachel Miriam Zivic
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 2000
Married: 2003
As the sun set over Lake Buckatabon and the campers eventually went to sleep, the exciting part of our day began. We would stay up much too late shmoozing on the merpeset of Tzrif 21. We talked about camp and ourselves, our lives and our Judaism. By the end of the summer, Ramah had worked its magic, and we were on our way. We continued to come back to camp as roshei edot, revisiting the places and the moments at camp that first brought us together. The most exciting part of getting married for us was going back to camp and being able to sleep in the same room without getting into trouble. The first memories of our relationship are inextricably linked to the programs, people, and places in Conover. Ramah brought us together, and it will always have a special place in our hearts.

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Gigi Fried & Wendi Alana Portman
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Year Met: 2001
Year Married: 2007
My first summer at Ramah Wisconsin, Gigi and I met on the bus to camp and kept bumping into each other during the first few days of staff week. Although at first we didn't like each other, our feelings soon changed and we were together before the kids came. He was on the mishlachat and so, after a wonderful summer, he had to return home to Israel after camp. However, having stayed together all summer, we both agreed that we needed to try and make it work...6 years later, here we are! We thank Ramah for the wonderful, encouraging, loving atmosphere that helped our relationship develop and brought us together for those couple summers... which certainly helped with the airfare Ramah gave us a great foundation for learning about each other and growing together! Thank you for giving us the opportunity that really changed both of our lives forever!

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Jacob Benjamin Millner & Jaclyn Shoshana (Saad) Millner
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Year Met: 2002
Year Married: 2008
We met at Ramah in Wisconsin as counselors during the summer of 2002. Jacob's sister was a camper in Jaclyn's cabin and thought her brother was being especially nice by coming to her cabin to say goodnight every day...little did she know this was just a cover up to come see Jaclyn!

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Ari Applbaum & Na'ama Levitz Applbaum
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 2002
Married: 2004
Ari was a mishlachat member in the summer of 2001. He returned in 2002, Na'ama's first time on mishlachat. Na'ama called Ari for advice and they spoke about camp and met during the mishlachat training in the spring of 2002. They spent the summer of 2002 at camp but did not date. They kept meeting at mishlachat events and reunions in 2003. They began going out in late 2003 and got married in August of 2004. They are married happily and live with their two sons, Yuval and Roni, in Jerusalem.

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Sam Caplan & Sarah Ettinger Caplan
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 2003
Married: 2008

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Barak Lanes & Vered Lanes
Camp Attended: Wisconsin
Met: 2008
Married: 2009
We had to go all the way to Wisconsin to meet each other...and when Barak planned to propose, he forgot the ring at camp! (Submitted 2011)

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