Harmony (noun): the combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce chords and chord progressions having a pleasing effect. If I could describe my past week with one word, it would be harmony. It was not only the harmony of the musical notes that covered my skin with goose bumps and filled my heart with joy, but the harmony of the URJ (Union of Reform Judaism) and Ramah camps working as one.
Read MoreWalking through Ramah New England, basketball hoops are being netted, tents are being structured, and it’s clear that the first day of camp is truly in sight. It’s sad to see the National Ramah Spring Staff Training Institute come to an end, but the excitement for the reality of summer is evident.
Read MoreThe 2015 National Ramah Spring Staff Training Institute kicked off yesterday in high gear. Eighty-five eager staff members have gathered at Ramah New England, representing ten Ramah camps (including the new Ramah Day Camp in Greater Washington, DC!), six URJ Camps and one Young Judaea camp. As always, it’s an incredibly moving sight to have so many talented Jewish educators in one space, learning from each other and preparing for the summer.
Read MoreBemoaning the future of the American Jewry has become a rite-of-passage. One cannot, it seems, be a serious Jewish thinker, without predicting the next would-be calamity that will undermine the Jewish people. Optimism is rogue, and pessimism is vogue. While I do not reject the gravity of particular trends, this paradigm simply does not work for me. The incessant lamenting of our volatility seem to ultimately promulgate apathy, and perpetuate the very instability it seeks to remedy. Imagine, for a moment, an optimistic Judaism; one that quietly deals with real threats, while loudly celebrating the beautiful fruits of our collective labor.
Read MoreWe have all felt exclusion at some points of our lives, but each of us likely forgot about it as quickly as it happened. Such is not the case for the numerous children and young adults with various different disabilities who attend Ramah camps across our network each summer. For them, isolation and exclusion may be the norm. Hopefully their summers at Ramah are different, and regardless of whether they are attending camp as part of a Ramah Tikvah program or an informal program set up to further our goal of inclusion, all staff members at every Ramah have an obligation to make it so.
Read MoreIt was our absolute pleasure to gather Ramah Service Corps Fellows together last week at Ramah California. During our four days, we enjoyed getting to know one another, studying together, program
sharing, and reflecting on the past few months of work. Emphasis was placed on the most effective ways of encouraging more families to send their kids to Ramah. “I really appreciated the chance to sit down and just talk with some of the other Fellows,” said Hannah Glickman of Ramah New England. “I know that they are doing work similar to mine, but getting to actually spend time together and share what we’re doing brings the experience to a much more tangible level.
Amy Skopp Cooper knows young adults have magic. “They’re cool. They have charisma,” she gushes. “They’re passionate, and kids respond to them.”
She’s not just talking about any young adults; in this case, Skopp Cooper’s talking about the special group of fellows in the Ramah Service Corps (RSC). “They’re future rabbis, or Jewish educators, or maybe they’re on their way to medical school,” she says. “These are well-rounded young people. They are so grateful for what they’ve gotten from their own Ramah experiences, they want to give back.”
Read MoreOver the past few weeks, National Ramah has sponsored several leadership training programs designed to educate, nurture, and cultivate young Ramah leaders. It has been an extraordinary few weeks for more than 150 Ramah staff members and those of us who have had the opportunity to work with them.
Read MoreWhen you’re a counselor working with campers who have disabilities, you’re always on the lookout for new ways and activities to help engage the campers under your charge. There is no better way to pick up these new tips and tricks than to spend time exchanging information and experiences with other counselors who work with the same population. This is precisely what I did during the last week of May at the National Ramah Spring Leadership Training Conference at Ramah Darom in Clayton, Georgia. I spent the week collaborating with and learning from counselors from other camps all over the country who also work with campers with disabilities.
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