If I had to summarize my Ramah experience this summer, the first word that comes to mind is “amazing.”

During my visit to Ramah New England, which came during my second week as Chancellor, I had the privilege of meeting campers ranging from Ta’am, getting their first “taste” of Ramah, to intellectually curious rising 11th graders wrestling with deep fears about their own futures, as well as the future of humanity.

This summer, I had the profound privilege of visiting all nine of our overnight Ramah camps, and Ramah Day Camp in Nyack—an experience that carried me from the lakes of Canada, Wisconsin, Poconos, Berkshires, and Palmer to the peaks of the Rockies, from the heart of the South to the shores of California, and back home again to the Ojai Valley, where I worked for eighteen years. It was a summer of movement, but also, in a deeper sense, a summer of stillness: the chance to slow down and simply witness the Ramah ruach (spirit) as it lives and breathes in each of its distinct communities.

A letter to Ramah Israel Seminar 2026 participants. You left home, and you are returning home. For the past six weeks, you have lived a life of verbs—fully immersed in building a Ramah community in Israel. You have experienced pure joy alongside deep complexity: hiking, volunteering, tilling, painting, davening, studying, and celebrating.

This summer, I spent time at two Ramah camps: Ramah Day Camp in Nyack, New York and Camp Ramah in the Poconos. A major highlight of these visits is catching up with our JTS cantorial and rabbinical students, and it was wonderful to see so many of them in action in a variety of roles at camp. Each of these future clergy brings their unique talents and energy to their jobs on tzevet/staff, and they serve as wonderful role models to fellow staff members and campers alike.