A Summer–and Year–Like No Other
Amy Skopp Cooper, CEO, National Ramah Commission, Inc.
This may have been the most important year in Ramah's history. I am grateful to have spent the summer visiting 17 Ramah overnight and day camps and Ramah Israel Seminar. Each visit afforded me the opportunity to speak with our young adult staff members and listen as they shared reflections from the past year. I heard from North American college students–many of whom have experienced antisemitism for the first time in their lives–and shlichim, many of whom left Gaza just days before arriving at camp. Their stories were filled with determination and hope and watching them experience joyful Judaism at Ramah camps has been proudly uplifting.
I arrived in Israel to spend time with Ramah Israel Seminar and visit our Jerusalem Day Camp, which is always bustling. It was a pleasure joining campers for their spirited pre-Shabbat programming. Our Israel overnight camp had already concluded its second season, doubling the number of campers it had previously welcomed and providing solace and joy to Israeli children from across the country, including those who have been displaced from their homes.
Spending the final Shabbat with Ramah Israel Seminar participants, I shared with them how proud we are of their leadership and devotion to Medinat Yisrael. In addition to traveling the land (albeit a modified itinerary) and forming a beautiful community, this cohort of young adults volunteered, met with Rachel Polin-Goldberg, discussed geopolitical issues, mourned at Nova, met families at Hostage Square, and joined a grieving yet resilient Israel. It will undoubtedly be the formative summer of their young adult lives. I was with them when Jonathan Madoff, director of Seminar, tearfully informed them that their trip would be cut short by four days due to security concerns. One teen sitting next to me started to cry, saying, "I just need to know now when I am returning....I can't leave without knowing." We pray that all of our young people will have multiple opportunities to return to Israel nurtured by our Ramah community.
As we prepare for Elul, Ramah is poised and ready to address the joys and uncertainties that the coming year will bring.