Ramah at Disneyland 2019

This year, for the second year, a group of participants at the Bert B. Weinstein Institute, Ramah’s winter leadership conference, wrapped up their time in California with a unique Ramah experience - at Disneyland! Our program included nearly 50 participants, with representatives from almost all of our camps, including “vatikim” (college sophomores), Ramah College Network Fellows, Ramah Service Corps Fellows, and rashei edah (division heads).Our incredible four-hour Ramah Disneyland leadership training on “Impactful Leadership” was designed for Ramah’s college and post-college participants, focusing on articulating core values and leveraging Disney’s proven customer service strategies to respond to the needs of campers.Disney cast members shared their own crisis management experiences in their role at Disneyland. As our facilitator discussed the balance of staying in character while reassuring a disappointed child who is too late to meet Mickey Mouse, it was inspiring to watch our Ramah madrichim and rashei edah connect the dots, integrating Disney’s wisdom into their vision for the coming summer at Ramah.

The following are excerpts of participant reflections from the Ramah Disneyland experience:

Disney provided our staff leaders with wonderful insight into the importance of understanding the essential history and core messaging of the organization. Disney trainers then modeled how to be fully on and present for customers. I was struck by the strong focus on all Disney employees at all levels being “on stage”, engaging customers with a smile and with great respect when in any public area. Many important lessons have a direct correlation to what we do at camp.

- Jay Reisbaum, Senior Vice President, National Ramah Commission

The trip to Disneyland during the Weinstein seminar was transformative for me. In addition to seeing some of the inner workings of one the biggest corporations in the world, I learned the importance of thorough training, quick thinking and creativity. Maximizing creativity and acting as what they call at Disney “an Imagineer” is the most efficient and successful way to create the most memorable summer experience for campers and counselors alike. I would say the most important lesson I learned from my experience at Disney was to bring those outside of the story into the story, because that is when the magic truly happens. The ultimate goal both at Disney and Ramah is to make the connection to the guests and campers and have them feel as if it is their own magical story unfolding before their very eyes.

- Sammy Fishman, Ramah Nyack

Disneyland’s story-oriented model shares much in common with Ramah’s cultural ethos. While our machanot operate on a smaller scale, we too aim to create a magical escapade every kayitz. Madrichim are trained to solve logistical problems and address camper issues in a non-disruptive manner. Just like at Disneyland, the show must go on. Every little detail of camp is intentional and purposeful. Our story is paying forward a proud religious tradition to the next generation of Jewish leaders.

- Daniel Minden, Ramah Canada

The Disney training emphasized the importance of balancing tradition and change. Like the Disney brand, Ramah has existed for decades. Pictures/peulot from a Ramah camp in the 1970s would be noticeably different from our Ramah camps today; however, there are still elements of Conservative Jewish values and traditions that remain. Like Disney, each summer we have to balance wanting to make experiences new and exciting for our returning campers, while keeping the core aspects of Ramah the same. As we learned at the leadership training, this balance is only possible when you carefully think about what your core values are, and how you want to translate them into your space. 

- Maya Albin, Ramah Canada; Ramah College Network Fellow, Queen’s University

We were greeted by cast members, both in costume and in corporate attire, who so believed in the mission and magic of Disney. We learned of cast members who met their spouses through Disney, and formed a relationship grounded in their shared belief in the value of Disney. We saw the contrast between the magical onstage and the less magical backstage.

Similarly, the magic of Ramah each kayitz happens because of the work of the incredible tzevet who believe in the power of a Ramah experience and who see the positive potential in each and every chanich/a. We do not view our work at camp as a mere summer job, we see it as avodat lev, as the work of the heart. Whether our chanichim begin the kayitz having counted down the days until they would return home to camp, or whether our chanichim enter camp nervous about the new journey that awaits them, it is our backstage, magical work that enables the experiences that our chanichim cherish each kayitz.

- Annie Cannon, Ramah Berkshires; Ramah College Network Fellow, Muhlenberg College

The concept I found most interesting is the way they deal with crises and emergencies without disrupting the Disney experience. Staff members there stay in character even when helping customers in need. This is a very useful tactic for our jobs at camp. It’s no secret that things go wrong at Ramah sometimes, but campers very rarely notice when they do.

- Sam Donsky, Ramah Poconos

One thing both Disney cast members and Ramah tzevet have to think about is how we are welcoming our guests or chanichim into an environment away from home created for pure joy and growth.

- Shayna Goldstein, Ramah California

We discussed how each employee of Disney – “cast members” as they are called – is expected to enhance the guests’ experience. We saw this lesson in action when we attended a show. Not only was “Mickey & The Magical Map” an extraordinary production, but we also observed how each actor, dancer, usher, and sign language interpreter worked in their own roles to create the full experience. This is similar to camp, because each staff member plays a unique role in developing a meaningful experience for the chanichim. 

- Emily Farbman, Ramah New England; Ramah Service Corps Fellow, Brookline, MA

As a Ramah staff member and educator, the Disney training inspired me to think critically and deeply about the stories we tell in camp. What story do we wish to tell and are we doing everything that we can to stay true to that story and vision?

- Noam Kornsgold, Ramah Berkshires