As we usher in a new year with all of its challenges and uncertainties, we hold onto hope. עוד לא אבדה תקוותנו. Our fervent prayer as we begin 5785.
Ramah Staff and Young Alumni Missions to Israel
Leading 300 Ramahniks in Israel for Volunteering, Learning, and Connection
May 14–21 and May 22–29, 2024
In May 2024, 300 young adult staff members, primarily college students representing every Ramah camp in North America, gathered in Israel for two powerful back-to-back one-week missions to volunteer, learn, bear witness, and build community. Our North American staff members were joined by shlichim (Israeli staff members) working at camp this summer. Participants spent mornings picking loquat fruit and afternoons in dialogue at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. They walked the streets, talked to Israelis, and witnessed firsthand how Israel is coping and mourning. Through facilitated workshops, participants were taught how to structure environments at camp where teens, staff, and shlichim could continue to dialogue with one another.
Throughout the trip, participants delved into critical discussions on current events in Israel, the rise of antisemitism in America, and their roles as educators in their camps this summer and advocates for Israel upon returning to their college campuses and within their local communities. These conversations fostered a sense of renewed pride in their Jewish and Zionist identities.
“Having spent this year as a first-year college student in the United States, I often felt helpless — not only by being overshadowed by the larger anti-Israel crowds but also by not being able to be in Israel at a time of need. This trip allowed me not only to fulfill my desire to volunteer and learn in the Jewish homeland, but also to create a community of Ramah staff who share a love for Israel. I believe that this trip will follow me throughout my college experience.”
We are deeply grateful to Birthright Israel Onward, Israel Experience, the Shalom Hartman Institute, philanthropists, foundations, donors, and The iCenter, who all contributed to this experience.
“B’Yad Ramah” Winter Break Volunteer Experience for College Students
December 19, 2023–January 3, 2024
B’Yad Ramah, NRC’s winter break volunteer experience in Israel for college students, brought together 28 college-aged Ramahniks representing the Ramah camps for a transformative two-week service trip to Israel.
Participants engaged in a variety of service projects, including agricultural work in Kfar Truman, food packing at Tachlit for Israeli soldiers and displaced families, and volunteering at a farmers market in Jerusalem that sold produce from farms near the Gaza border. These activities were coupled with meaningful interactions with Israeli citizens, including a group of Israeli teens on their Mechina gap year, and visits to significant sites including Kikar Hatufim (Hostages Square).
Throughout the trip, participants delved into critical discussions about current events in Israel, the rise of antisemitism in America, and their roles as advocates for Israel upon returning to their college campuses and local communities. These conversations fostered a sense of renewed pride in their Jewish and Zionist identities.
“It was an incredibly difficult fall semester at NYU. However, going to Israel has absolutely wiped away the burnout I was sitting with and reinvigorated my passion for next semester. I felt healed and am absolutely ready for next semester. I have gained a network of 22 new friends and allies in the fight against antisemitism, and know that whenever I am experiencing my next challenge on campus, I have a sounding board of Ramah family to reach out to.”
Ramah Mishpacha Solidarity and Service Trips
Since December 2023, Ramah Israel Institute has run dozens of solidarity missions. Participants have volunteered in the fields, planted gardens, painted homes, and barbecued for soldiers. We have visited Hostages Square and met with families. We have mourned with other families. We have been active listeners as a traumatized nation tells its story. We have been fully present. As Israel faces perhaps her greatest challenge in 75 years, we are proud of our community’s response and Ramah’s deep and enduring commitment to Am Yisrael. We stand together during these dark days and will be there when the sun rises again.
Mishlachat Training Seminar
In April 2024, more than 20 Ramah professionals from North America gathered in Ma'ale-Hachamisha to lead an intensive training program to prepare over 350 shlichim for their roles at camp. Many of those who joined us had returned directly from the front line in order to attend this seminar. This annual seminar is our first opportunity (of many) to thank our shlichim for their dedication and commitment to Am Yisrael, and for their willingness to serve as ambassadors in our North American camps.
Among the goals of the seminar are to enable camp leadership to begin to form relationships with shlichim, to provide an orientation to Ramah’s core values and best practices in areas such as camper care and supervision, and to encourage these young adults to consider the profound impact of their shlichut. The training program is a collaborative effort with the dedicated staff of the Jewish Agency, fostering a dynamic and enriching experience for all participants.
Israeli Campers
This summer, eight Ramah camps welcomed 99 rising 10th and 11th graders, primarily from the NOAM youth movement in Israel, marking our third consecutive year of this initiative. In addition, Ramah camps hosted 76 Israeli campers through the Campers2Gether initiative of The Jewish Agency for Israel, Mosaic United, and the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism.
Campers were warmly welcomed into their peer groups. Israeli campers were able to share their experiences with their peers, and many expressed gratitude for the opportunity to attend camp after a challenging year in Israel. The campers arrived with an open mind and adapted well, which resulted in a positive and, in many ways, normal camp experience despite the expected emotional challenges related to the war in Israel.
Quotes from campers:
“On a climbing trip we had a night climb. It was very scary and my knees were shaking. In the end I was able to climb with everyone and I feel that this is the experience of success that will stay with me forever from the camp.”
“It was challenging but fun to experience something else. It gives you the place to breathe without being worried about the war. It’s different from home and I had a lot of fun.”
“I learned so much about different kinds of Jews in our world. We are more the same than we are different.”
Quotes from rashei edot (division heads):
“The impact that this group of Israeli teens had on us was profound. Between the educational impact that they left on us, teaching us about their culture and life at home, the Jewish impact they had on us, teaching us about the traditions and customs back at home, and the impact they had on us as friends, playing games and enjoying the silly parts of camp all helped make this community strong.”
“Having both our Israeli and American chanichim (campers) together this summer was very healing. You could feel that both sides were eager to connect as Jews and as teens to be able to talk, share, and listen to one another’s stories, and just have fun. It was really beautiful to watch them form relationships and bridge cultural gaps in such an open, friendly, and intuitive way. Both groups gained so much from the experience, and the impact of the connections they made in such a short time is immeasurable.”
“The Ramah Camp experience gave the Noam participants the opportunity to be immersed in a supportive environment of Jewish values, traditions and culture. Especially this year, they felt the solidarity and support of their North American counterparts, who were anxious to be there in friendship and support after the year of horror, violence and uncertainty. The campers had the opportunity to “just be kids,” to play and sing, dance, and even cry - helping them to begin the process of healing.”
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Dear Ramah Friends,
I hope this email finds you well and winding down after an incredible summer.
I think you may still be stateside, but wanted to reach out to you in any case, just to say thanks. Maayan is still in the states, visiting with my family in California, so we have yet to sit with her in person and hear even more about her experience at Ramah Galim. But till she returns later in the month, I simply could not wait any longer to write to you, and to everyone at Ramah who contributed to this incredible program in partnership with Noam, and thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Maayan’s experience at Ramah Galim this summer was nothing short of life-changing. I know that may sound over-the-top, but it could not be more true. She’s on the phone with her newfound friends every day, both from Israel and from the U.S., and continues to reminisce about every tiny, magnificent little detail that contributed to, and I quote, “the best summer of her entire life.”
Especially after such a painful, terrifying year for teens here in Israel, what Ramah and Noam have offered them is a tremendous breath of fresh air, a reminder of all that is good and fun and meaningful in life, a transformative experience that they will carry with them into their adulthood and always look back upon with the hugest of smiles and with bursting hearts. What a gift.
So, from all of us Rosenbluhs, thank you Ramah, and thank you Noam, and thank you Ramah Galim specifically, for giving our daughter what she needed most this summer. You do a fantastic job, and you literally make dreams come true.
With tremendous appreciation,
Keri and Chaggai Rosenbluh, and most importantly, Maayan
P.S. Please do pass this on to all who are relevant!
Overnight Camp in Israel
After Camp Ramah Israel's successful first summer in 2023 at the Ben Shemen Youth Village in Central Israel, Ramah ran a winter camp for teens who were impacted by the October 7th attack. Fifty-five teens from the city of Ofakim spent five magical and fun days in the Hodayot Youth Village. For some, it was their first time leaving Ofakim in the months after October 7th. One of the parents said, "You gave me back a new child... I was very emotional and cried; this time it was tears of joy."
In 2024, its second summer season, Camp Ramah Israel served 120 campers, twice the number who participated in the inaugural season. The camp provided solace and joy to Israeli teens from across the country, including many who had been displaced from their homes. Participants returned home having formed new friendships, and feeling more mature and empowered.
Israel Education at Ramah
National Ramah Israel Curriculum
Leading up to Kayitz 2024, as the situation in Israel, college campuses, and around the world was evolving, we recognized the need for our camps to have access to age-appropriate, up-to-date Israel educational resources. . The National Ramah Israel Curriculum was designed specifically for staff seeking to incorporate Israeli culture, history, politics, and more into their curriculum. This curated online collection offers simple yet impactful programs to enhance understanding and engagement with diverse aspects of Israeli society.
Staff members and educators can browse by target age group and topic or follow the suggested program sequence by age cohort. Each program includes a digital page and printable version to allow for ease of use.
NRC-Sponsored Research: “The Stories of Israel at Ramah, Kayitz 2024”
The goal of our post-summer research for 2024 was to be able to tell the stories of how Israel showed up at Ramah camps this summer. To do this work, we surveyed all program/education staff, North American and Israeli. We received over 300 responses. We also conducted 30 interviews with directors, rashei mishlachat, senior Israel educators, and staff members who participated in the NRC May volunteer trips to Israel.
The key takeaway from our study: “We found that across Ramah camps there was a shared, primary story about Israel. It’s a story of providing a safe and supportive environment to Israelis and North Americans alike. It’s a story of memorializing various aspects of the past year in deeply moving ways. It’s a story about sensitivity to the emotional readiness of different parts of the camp population, due to age or personal experience, to encounter potentially difficult material related to Israel.”
View full report here, including detailed quotes and tables of survey responses.
Zionism and Pedagogy: Teaching During Difficult Times
Amy Skopp Cooper and Dr. Daniel Olson participated in a JTS panel that examined the opportunities and challenges that North Americans face when teaching about Zionism.