Original Article Published On Facebook
In three days at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires, I witnessed both a continuation and a wonderful evolution of a long Tikvah tradition. Tikvah’s founders, Herb and Barbara Greenberg, persevered as so many objected to a program providing inclusive overnight camping to children and young adults with disabilities. As the Greenbergs recount, people worried that “normal” campers would leave Ramah, the level of Hebrew—and the camps finances—would decline, and the overall structure of camp would suffer. Luckily, one director realized that including people with disabilities was very much in line with Ramah and Judaism’s values. Tikvah was born in 1970 at Camp Ramah in Glen Spey, NY and soon moved to Camp Ramah in New England in Palmer, MA.
I was lucky enough to begin my tenure with Tikvah and the Greenbergs in 1984. I have essentially never left. After decades working as a counselor, rosh edah and Tikvah director at Ramah New England, I have been privileged to direct our National Ramah Tikvah Network. In that capacity, I convene our Tikvah directors to share best practices and support each other. I also visit many camps each summer to see inclusion in action.
Coming to Ramah Berkshires this week was extra special. Our newest Tikvah program is now underway at Ramah Berkshires. Five boys with disabilities lived in bunk B3—next to neurotypical peers—where they participated in swimming, boating, zip lining, Jewish studies classes, cooking, rock wall climbing, sports and tons of socializing with peers.
As I watched staff members and campers of all ages interact with our campers— including with one who uses an augmented communication device–in the dining room, at tefillot and on the kikar—so many thoughts went through my mind. Interacting with and including people with disabilities seemed so natural. I felt hopeful for the future expansion of Tikvah and for the inclusion of campers and staff with a range of support needs and differences.Of course it helps that our Tikvah director, Elisheva Layman Salant, is also the Director of Community Care and Inclusion. Elisheva heads a large team charged with helping campers and staff receive the supports and accommodations they need to succeed. On a personal level, I felt like a proud parent watching Elisheva and her assistant, Elizabeth Chipkin, former head of the Breira inclusion program at work. The three of us have deep roots in Tikvah gong back decades.
When I arrived in Tikvah in the mid-1980s, I worked with Elisheva’s mother, a respected Jewish special educator in the Washington, DC area. Many years later, Elisheva was a counselor in my Tikvah Program. She then became a rosh edah, where my son worked for her in Tikvah. Elisheva has also had siblings work for me in Tikvah at Ramah New England.
Elizabeth Chipkin was our long time inclusion specialist at Ramah New England—arriving there in 2005. It is a great feeling of naches to watch them in action at Ramah Berkshires!
Elisheva has been working closely with Ramah Berkshires leadership to start our newest Tikvah Program. This year’s 12-day program will likely grow in to a one-month program for returning campers and will offer another short-term program for new campers. In the near future, a Tikvah building will support even more campers as they build friendships with peers from throughout the Ramah community.
The word is already getting out! In two days, we welcomed Jewish educators and funders who were excited to see Tikvah in action and spread the word. Another Tikvah counselor of mine from the late 1980s, Rebecca Wanatick, director of Disability Inclusion and Belonging for the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ came to visit—she attributes her decades long professional involvement in the Jewish disabilities inclusion world to her years working with Tikvah.
As we helped the Tikvah campers pack to go home, make memory books and share beautiful good byes with new friends—within Tikvah and throughout camp—I am envisioning a day in the not too distant future where Berkshires campers return to camp to work on Tikvah staff. It won’t be long before they launch careers as rabbis, therapists, business owners and funders—all dedicated to a more inclusive world!
