NRC Leaders Solidarity Trip to Israel, March 2025
Last week's NRC Leaders Solidarity Trip to Israel, led by Ramah Israel Institute, was a powerful experience for the National Ramah officers, camp board members, and supporters of Ramah who participated. In addition to opportunities to bear witness to the tragedy of October 7 and its aftermath, to learn about rebuilding efforts, to volunteer, and to meet with President Isaac Herzog, participants spent a magical Shabbat at the training seminar for new shlichim sponsored by The Jewish Agency. We were deeply affected by our experiences--we learned, we mourned, and we were inspired.
Day 1 - 3/25 - Ramat Hanadiv and Shlomi
On the first day of our mission, our group traveled north to the town of Shlomi, a town of 8,500 residents located directly on the border with Lebanon. We are among the first North American groups to visit this town, whose residents were evacuated from their homes after October 7 and split into three groups and relocated to Haifa, Tiberias, and Jerusalem.
This month, residents are returning to their homes, and we met several people who are working to ease their transition back to Shlomi. The top priorities of these dedicated individuals are to ensure the safety and security of the community and provide education to the town's children. Wissam, who is from the Druze community, is the IDF reservist in charge of overseeing the return of residents to their homes in Northern Israel. He took us to an observation point that overlooks the ridge line where the IDF is now stationed to protect future attacks by Hezbollah, and introduced us to Tal, Shlomi's security officer.
Limor, the coordinator of education-related affairs in a large area of Northern Israel, first worked after October 7 to place children in other schools, and now is coordinating the effort to have children return to their home schools. Meir is the director of the town's community and cultural center, which was struck by rockets six months ago and suffered extensive smoke damage; each of the library's 5,000 books will need to be cleaned and repaired. They all acknowledged that there is a great deal of rebuilding to be done, and it will be challenging to address the effects of the transitions that the residents have undergone. But their message was: "We are optimistic, and we are not willing to give up." It gave us all hope.
Day 2 - 3/26 - Strawberry Picking, Be'eri, and Nova
We began the second day of our mission by picking strawberries at Moshav Geulim, located in Central Israel. Getting our hands dirty strengthened our connection to the land and supported the moshav that has depended on volunteers since October 7. We then traveled south to Tzomet Shuva in the Gaza envelope, where immediately after October 7, three brothers from a nearby moshav set up a “pop-up” rest spot, refreshment point, and supply depot for soldiers serving in and around Gaza. We were fortunate to hear the story directly from Dror, one of the three brothers who established this small but impactful operation.
While there, we were thrilled to encounter three soldiers who had served as shlichim at Ramah camps–Yoel and Eilon at Ramah Nyack in 2003 and 2023 respectively, and David at Ramah California. Next, at Kibbutz Beeri, our group bore witness to the horror and tragedy of October 7 and spent time with kibbutz member Lotan Pinyan, who had served as a shaliach at Ramah Darom. Lotan shared his family’s unimaginably painful and tragic story of the events and aftermath of October 7.
We ended our day at the Nova Music Festival Victims Memorial Site, where we saw the moving and heartbreaking memorials to those murdered on October 7 and met with Atir Vinnikov and Yunis Alkrenawi. Atir told us the story of how Yunis, a farmworker from the Bedouin community, risked his own life to save Atir and other young Israelis who were fleeing the massacre at the Nova Festival. The bond between Atir and Yunis helped us to end our day on a note of hope and optimism.
Day 3 - 3/27 - President Herzog - WZO - Graffiti Tour
On the third day of our mission, our group was privileged to meet with Israel’s President יצחק הרצוג - Isaac Herzog at Beit Ha’Nasi, the President’s House.
President Herzog is himself a Ramah alumnus, and has said that his experience as a shaliach working in the Tikvah program at Camp Ramah New England was an important influence on his decision to serve others. We also met with Dr. Yizhar Hess, vice chairman of the World Zionist Organization - ההסתדרות הציונית העולמית, to learn about the origins and importance of the World Zionist Congress.
Later in the day, we were energized and inspired as we observed the opening of the training program for the 350 young Israeli adults who, through the The Summer Shlichim Program of The Jewish Agency for Israel, will bring their love of Israel with them to Ramah camps in North America this summer! At the end of this meaningful and inspiring day, Mayan at גרפיטיול Grafitiyul then took us on a graffiti tour of Tel Aviv that showed us artists’ responses to October 7.
Day 4 - 3/28 - Hamal Shel Revital - ANU Museum - Hostages Square
We started our day by assembling “packages of joy” with Revital and Les of Hamal Shel Revital. A “regular citizen” of Tel Aviv, as she calls herself, Revital has been partnering with local organizations—synagogues, youth groups, schools, and community members—since October 7 to send meals, baked goods, and candy to soldiers on the front lines. Along with our food packages, we sent notes of love and support to let our soldiers know that they are in our hearts and thoughts.
At the ANU - Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, we met with Michal, the curator of the October 7 Exhibition. The exhibit, which includes music, artwork, and a collection of images from photojournalists, captures the pain, agony, and horror that began on October 7 and continues to this day. We ended this emotional day with a visit to Kikar HaChatufim (Hostages Square), where we saw memorials to the many whom we have lost and messages of love to the hostages for whose return we all still long.
ANU Resources: Artwork | Music | Photojournalism
Mishlachat Training
We returned to Kfar Maccabiah to spend Shabbat with the more than 450 young Israeli adults who will spend the summer at Ramah camps. It is impossible to capture in words the hope and inspiration we felt as we heard returning shlichim speak about their life-changing experiences at Ramah, and saw the eagerness and energy of those who will come to Ramah for the first time.
We are grateful to our partners at The Summer Shlichim Program of The Jewish Agency for Israel for planning this extraordinary educational seminar and for welcoming us to this unforgettable magical Shabbat, and to our Ramah professionals, who so skillfully facilitated creative and practical training sessions for their 2025 shlichim.