Profiles of the 2023 Ramah Service Corps Fellows

Ramah Service Corps (RSC) Fellows work with their home camps to create experiential programs, help with local recruitment efforts, develop leadership training programs for older campers, and assist with internal projects.  

Launched as a pilot in 2010, the program continues to impact communities across North America in its twelfth year. National Ramah provides these young leaders with the tools, programmatic support, mentoring and training to help them make a significant difference in Jewish educational outreach in their communities, and guide them in recruitment for camp.

Ilan Brusso | Poconos
Ilan is a lifelong, third generation Ramahnik who is a proud member of Gesher 2021. This past summer, he was a counselor for the Tikvah (special needs inclusion) program and is excited to return next year in the same role. He is a current Freshman at Brown University studying Psychology.

Lucy Cosgrove | California
Lucy is a senior at the University of Michigan, studying both Cognitive Science and Music. When not doing work she loves to play piano, call her siblings, journal or go on runs. Lucy went to Camp Ramah in California her whole life, and TRY in 2017 (which she still thinks about all the time!).

Ellie Ferd | California
Ellie is a recent graduate of University of California San Diego, where she completed a B.S. in Human Biology, and minored in Human Development Sciences and Music. She just completed her 15th summer at Ramah California where she was Rosh Solelim (8th grade). In her spare time, she likes to read, drink coffee, and play Candy Crush.

Liora Finkel | Nyack
Liora has been working at Ramah Nyack in various roles since 2017, including this summer as a shiur teacher. She completed her undergraduate studies at Muhlenberg College in 2022 and, after a year at Pardes, is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Jewish Education at JTS. Her project as a Ramah Service Corps fellow has been reorganizing and enhancing Ramah Nyack’s Shiur curriculum.

Elijah Fraiman | Berkshires
Elijah is currently a First-Year at Tufts University planning on double majoring in Judaic Studies and Psychology. He has been a part of the Ramah community for 14 wonderful summers (5 at Nyack, 8 at Berkshires, and 1 on Seminar.) Hailing from the Upper West Side of New York City, Elijah is looking forward to working with the CRB year-round team ahead of Kayitz 2024!

Paul Horvath | Nyack
Paul currently works as a Technical Account Manager for Linkit! Previously he worked as the Program Coordinator at Ramah Nyack. He has been at Ramah since he was a camper at Nyack, and then as a camper, counselor, and rosh edah at Ramah Berkshires. Paul studied politics and computer science at Princeton and was a fellow on the Nachshon Project.

Alyssa Leventhal | New England
Alyssa is a senior at the University of Maryland, College Park majoring in Special Education and minoring in Human Development. She is from Brookeville, Maryland. Alyssa has spent her past 12 summers at Camp Ramah in New England as a camper, counselor, and rosh edah. In her free time, Alyssa enjoys spending time with her friends, cooking, and working out.

Chana Mayer | Darom
Chana is originally from Israel but she currently lives with her four kids in Atlanta, GA. In the summers, she works at Ramah Darom as their head of Hebrew.

Joshua Mendel | Rockies
Josh has been at Ramah in the Rockies since its inaugural summer in 2010 and is preparing for his eighth summer on staff. Josh is a graduate of Brandeis University where he studied historical linguistics, and currently spends his time mountain biking and snowboarding in Colorado. He is working on the plans and curriculum for the garden, horse, and farm animal programs at Ramah in the Rockies to bolster their sustainability and impact.

Sarah Pollock | Canada
Sarah has grown up at Camp Ramah in Canada as a camper, tzevet members and Rosh Edah. She has worked with campers of all ages, but Shorashim (Grade 2 and 3) stole her heart this summer. As a kindergarten teacher during the school year, Sarah brings her passion for working with campers to the classroom.

Moriah Pretsky | California
Moriah graduated from Northeastern University in 2023 with a degree in Nursing. She has been going to Ramah in California since 2007 and is excited to be returning in June for her 16th summer to be Rosh Machon (the oldest edah). Moriah's favorite things to do at camp are rikkud (dance), omanut (art) and chilling on the givah (hill).

Benjamin Rosen | Rockies
Benj is a freshman at Cornell University studying Engineering Physics. He is from White Plains, New York, and spent several years as a camper at Ramah Nyack, before spending nine years at Ramah Rockies, including two years on staff. On campus, he is very active in Jewish life at the Center for Jewish Living, and is a member of the autonomous airplane engineering team.

Samantha Rosuck | Berkshires
Sam is a freshman at William and Mary who is planning to study marketing. She is from Larchmont, New York and has been part of the Ramah Berkshires community for thirteen years. Sam is an active member of the Hillel at William and Mary and loves to attend Kabbalat Shabbat services. She also takes part in many club sports, including basketball, softball, and tennis. Sam is very excited to work with the Berkshires year round staff in implementing new programming.

Rebecca Safra | Greater DC
Rebecca is a sophomore at the University of Maryland studying marketing and non-profit leadership. She is involved with Hillel on campus and is a leader of Maryland's egalitarian/conservative minyan. She also is a Hebrew school teacher at B'nai Israel in Rockville, MD for Kindergarten, first and second grades. In her free time, Rebecca loves to spend time with friends, go to the gym, and color.

Julia Sclove | Poconos
Julia is a senior at Brandeis University studying American Studies with minors in Journalism, Psychology, and Judaic Studies. She grew up in Princeton, NJ and she has spent eleven summers as a camper at Ramah Poconos, with the most recent as a Rosh Edah. Outside of Ramah, Julia can be found teaching cooking to religious school students at a synagogue in Wellesley, MA. She is so excited to be a Ramah Service Corps Fellow for the third year in a row!

Sheindl Spitzer-Tilchin | Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim
Sheindl is a senior and an incoming masters student at Brandeis University, receiving her bachelors in Jewish Studies and Psychology, and her masters in Jewish Professional Leadership. Sheindl is a TRY 2018 alum and attended Ramah in the Rockies for six summers as a camper, and she recently returned last summer as a Madricha. Sheindl has been involved in various groups on Brandeis's campus including the Masorti Hillel group, the Mandel center Jewish Education Research Lab, Brandeis's hip-hop team, and an A Capella team. Sheindl is a Nachshon fellow and intends on continuing making an impact on the greater American Jewish community after college.

Ronit Stofenmacher | Rockies
Ronit is a junior at CENTRO de Diseño, Cine y Televisión in Mexico City, studying Marketing and Advertising. She was born and raised in Mexico City and has been a part of Ramah Rockies since 2014. She loves art, photography, nature, and Jewish education.