Published Articles

Original Article Published On The Camp Ramah In New England

We have been blessed with many visitors to our Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah in New England. Many visitors are educators and professionals in the field of disabilities and inclusion. They came from various communities and represented many denominations. Many came to observe Tikvah in action and to see people seamlessly and meaningfully included in Jewish life. And they came in search of ways to apply what we do at Ramah to their own settings. Below is a roundup of special visitors to Ramah New England this summer.

Daniel Olson is a long time staff member of the Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, and he has served as Rosh Atzmayim, Ramah Wisconsin’s vocational and independent living skills training program. Daniel is currently a PhD student at NYU in Education and Jewish Studies.

Daniel is interested in exploring questions of how Jewish institutions of all stripes can be more inclusive spaces for learners of all backgrounds and experiences. Daniel spent the summer visiting several Jewish summer camps, mainly observing their vocational training programs.

We at CRNE were privileged to have Daniel with us for a week. He spent his time observing, voc ed, our vocational training program for young adults with disabilities. Daniel asked lots of great questions of participants and staff members, and took copious notes! His insights are valuable as we are continuously reflecting on our work and always seeking to be the best we can be!

Seth Young, Associate Head of School for Institutional Advancement at Carmel Academy in Greenwich, CT, spent the day observing and asking many questions about our work with Amitzim and Inclusion, our camping programs for children and adolescents with disabilities. Carmel is a Jewish day school known for many things, including its very unique PALS program, Providing Alternative Learning Strategies. It is always refreshing to speak with colleagues, share stories and consider new ideas.

Several months ago, Shelley Richman Cohen, the founder and program director of the Jewish Inclusion Project, and a member of the Board of Directors of RepectAbility USA, approached me with an idea. Shelley serves as a mentor and trainer for a number of synagogues in the New York area as they seek to become more inclusive. A Manhattan rabbi asked Shelley to suggest a program which is “the best vision of what an inclusive community might look like.” Shelley immediately suggested visiting Camp Ramah in New England as it offers several models of inclusive camping in one place, as well as vocational training, and it is always evolving and adapting. As Shelley wrote to her “fellow travelers,” “We will be seeing a Jewish institutional model that integrates people with disabilities into the fabric of the community.”

We are so grateful to Shelley for organizing a day-long trip to Palmer. Thank you to Aileen Heiman (Park Slope Jewish Center), Mindy Sherry (Union Temple), Bryna Bilanow (Beth Emeth), Rabbi Heidi Hoover (Beth Emeth), Rabbi Charlie Savenor (Park Avenue Synagogue), Meagan Buren (RespectAbility) and Shelley Cohen.

Our most recent visitors included twelve educators from Gateways: Access to Jewish Education in Boston, and Francine Shron, our program officer at the Ruderman Family Foundation. Arlene Remz, the Executive Director of Gateways, is a former camper and Tikvah staff member and a huge supporter of our program. Arlene has been a great partner and always shares information about Tikvah with Gateways families. Other visitors from Gateways included: Rachel Sommer, Sharon Goldstein (former CRNE camper), Sally Wittaker, Natanya Auerbach, Deirdre Munley, Rachel Fadlon, Nancy Mager (former CRNE camper), Rebecca Redner, and Mia Hyman.

We are especially pleased to welcome Francine Shron. The Ruderman Family Foundation has been a longtime supporter of such Ramah initiatives as Shabbat is Calling, vocational training (at four Ramah camps) and of our two newest Tikvah Programs at Ramah Darom and Ramah in the Poconos. What a treat to have Francine see Tikvah in action! I suspect that a highlight for Francine and the Gateways group was seeing our Voc Ed Bakery in action—and sampling some of our wonderful baked goods.

We always enjoy welcoming visitors to Ramah New England and to Tikvah, and we look forward to offering a day-long Yom Iyyun for educators and other Jewish community professionals next summer at Camp Ramah in New England. Stay tuned for details!

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Original Article Published On The Camp Ramah In New England

Many people come each summer to see Tikvah in action—prospective parents, funders, educators, former staff members and friends who want to share a talent or skill. This summer, we have been blessed with three visitors who came to teach.

Chef Paula Shoyer comes each year to share cooking and baking skills at kishronia, a skill-building workshop for older campers. Despite working hard all day long, Paula always has some extra energy for members of voc ed, our vocational training program. Members of our program bake hundreds of cookies, cupcakes, cakes and other treats in our voc ed bakery. Thanks to Paula, we can now add scones to our repertoire!

Local educator, author and storyteller, Amy Meltzer, soon to be presented with the Covenant Award, was kind enough to join Tikvah during our medura, our weekly Thursday night campfire. Campers had read her book, A Mezuzah on the Door, earlier in the summer. What a treat to have her read aloud, present and sign a copy of The Shabbat Princess for our campers.

Former camper, Sierra Weiss, shared her love of dance and inclusion through a several day dance workshop some of our peer mentors. Sivan Rose Elefson, a dance and movement psychotherapist, worked with our group throughout the week and taught us a dance which we presented for the entire camp at Tikvah Shabbat, We LOVE the red Dance4Empowerment shirts.

We LOVE having visitors in Tikvah, and it is always fun to learn from so many different teachers. Thanks for sharing your time and talents!

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Original Article Published On The Jewish Telegraphic Agency

CHICAGO (JTA) — What a long, strange trip it’s been for Shu Eliovson.

The American-born resident of Kfar Maimon, a religious moshav in southern Israel, Eliovson is CEO and co-founder of the tech start-up Likeminder, an anonymous social networking site for “authentic conversation” with “likeminded” people. He is also an ordained rabbi, though his colorful pants, fedora and purple T-shirt with the Grateful Dead’s famed dancing bear logo make him unconventional, to say the least.

A father of five, Eliovson is also the founder of JamShalom, a “grassroots movement bringing spiritual connection to music festivals across North America.” Since 2011, he has become a legendary face and somewhat of a pied piper to fellow Jewish travelers on the American jam band scene. Eliovson speaks of music festivals as “a tremendous opportunity to create a spiritual encounter” and looks for places to “throw down a big Shabbos.”

“JamShalom is about celebrating the inherent spiritual joy of music, and its power to bring like-spirited people together and sharing a Jewish experience that is unique,” Eliovson told JTA.

And what better place to have an epic Shabbat “throwdown” than the Grateful Dead’s highly anticipated Fare Thee Well Tour — three nights of shows, Friday through Sunday, at Chicago’s Soldier Field marking the 50th anniversary of the band’s founding (as well as the 20th anniversary of the group’s final show with frontman Jerry Garcia)?

Typically, Grateful Dead shows (along with those of their like-minded brethren, like Phish) occur over several days at venues in which camping becomes an integral part of the experience. But due to strict ordinances against camping in downtown Chicago, Eliovson found himself in a bind in the weeks leading up to the Dead’s final shows: How to create a temporary, intentional community in a space where camping wasn’t allowed. And how would folks keep the spirit of Shabbat if they needed to shlep far distances to the stadium?

“I needed a miracle!” Eliovson quipped, using the familiar Dead lingo.

His “miracle” came in the form of Rabbi Leibel Moscowitz of Chabad of the South Loop. After a few calls, Moscowitz was able to offer use of an undeveloped (but highly visible to concertgoers) lot owned by a Chabad supporter. Eliovson was granted permission to set up several RVs and a Shabbat tent. Along with his 18-year-old daughter and a few members of the JamShalom crew, he set out by van from New York to Chicago, kosher food in tow.

On Thursday evening, the entourage began setting up camp — only to discover, at 9 p.m., that the ban on RV camping was to be strictly enforced, even on a privately owned lot. The JamShalom village was shut down; desperate posts on Facebook informed followers that the group was seeking a new site.

With Shabbat only four hours away, on Friday afternoon the group worked out a deal with a less conspicuous parking lot on South Michigan Avenue, one block from the Chabad HQ at a luxury residential building and just a few blocks from Soldier Field.

Volunteers quickly set up tents, chairs, tables and Grateful Dead-themed decorations. The unexpected move meant canceling some advertised programs, like “Munches and Meditations with Rabbi Shu,” as well as the 3 p.m. “Beer and Blessings.” But fortunately, by the time Shabbat rolled in, the tent, two RVs and a colorfully painted bus with “God is One” and “Na Nach” (for Rabbi Nachman of Bratslov) in Hebrew were set up on the site.

At 6 p.m., some 25 guests — who were encouraged to bring “instruments, voices and dancing shoes” — met for a musical Kabbalat Shabbat service. Rabbi Moshe Shur, the former director of the Queens College Hillel and a longtime member of the Jewish music scene, led the service with an inspiring rendition of “Lecha Dodi” set to the classic Dead songs “Ripple” and “Uncle John’s Band.” Midway through the service, those lucky enough to have tickets for Friday night’s show headed out.

Zach Finkelstein, 22, of Long Island, who drove from New York with the JamShalom caravan, was happy with the scene.

“It is almost like going to Israel,” he said. “You land, you feel it in your heart. You are home. There are no strangers. We are all here for the same reason — peace, music and a good time!”

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The Original Article

  • After three years, the camp director has finally trained the 800 campers to “quiet down” in the chadar ochel (dining room) when he puts his hand in the air. One day, a young man with Down Syndrome grabs the microphone from the director and starts singing a version of “Shalom Rav.” The room erupts in laughter.
  • The head of the agam (lake) blows the whistle and announces into her megaphone, “Everybody out – swimming is over – lake is closed!” Everyone leaves the lake – except for a 14-year-old camper with autism. He is having such a good time that he refuses to leave.
  • It is Friday night and the scholar-in-residence is teaching a staff class to which members of the vocational training program are invited. The most engaged participant is a 25-year-old man with Aspergers. He is so enthusiastic that he keeps interrupting the rabbi with questions and comments.

What are the camp director, head of waterfront, and camp rabbi to do in such situations? Where can they turn for guidance and advice?

Now, thanks to the new Inclusion Training Guide for Jewish Summer Camps, a co-branded project of the Ramah Camping Movement and the Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC), navigating these situations and similar ones just got easier. The guide became available in May 2015 – in time for the upcoming camping season – for use by everyone in the camping world and beyond.

Here are some ways directors, counselors, department heads, camp rabbis, infirmary staff and others could use the new guide to handle such real-life situations likely to arise at camp. Consider these responses:

  • The director smiles, waits patiently, and joins the camper with Down Syndrome in song – followed by the entire chadar ochel. A counselor in the disabilities inclusion program seamlessly walks up to the front of the dining room and takes the camper to the side to discuss the matter. Counselors from the disabilities program are invited to read a bedtime story and facilitate a discussion in camper bunks to discuss the strengths, weaknesses, and unique needs we all have.
  • The waterfront head is worried about safety at the lake when one person doesn’t follow the rules. The inclusion specialist explains that people with autism are often rigid, have a hard time with transitions, and need frequent reminders of the time remaining. Next time, the waterfront head offers a five-minute warning.
  • The scholar-in-residence doesn’t want to be “mean” and allows the young man with Aspergers to offer his comments. The inclusion specialist works with the rabbi to remind the young man that other people in the class also have valuable perspectives and comments to share. They work out a “deal” where he can offer two comments per class.

Nearly two years ago, just before staff week for the rapidly approaching camp season, I turned to my colleague Lisa Tobin, Director of Disabilities Initiatives at FJC, and asked her if she was aware of any materials for training staff members of inclusion and disability camping programs at Jewish summer camps. Although I had been the director of such a program, the Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah in New England, for fifteen years and had been working in the field of disabilities camping for nearly twenty years, I had not come across any written resources for training and supporting staff. I wondered if perhaps FJC was aware of any such materials.

Lisa began reaching out to colleagues in Jewish camps – across movements, organizations, and geographic regions – and learned that such a training guide did not exist and was badly needed. Colleagues longed for a “soup-to-nuts” guide. FJC secured some generous initial funding from UJA-Federation of New York-Neshamot Fund, and a co-branded partnership between the Ramah Camping Movement and the Foundation for Jewish Camp was born.

This past year, Lisa and I have been writing original content and also collecting and compiling intake forms, templates, mission statements, job descriptions, sensitivity training materials, descriptions of various camp programs, and all kinds of practical guidance and more to be used by counselors, inclusion specialists, camp directors, intake coordinators, camper care specialists, and others. Our project team at Ramah included Tali Cohen, Director of Tikvah Vocational Services at Ramah New England, and Orlee Krass, National Ramah Tikvah Coordinator.

It is our hope that this resource guide will grow, evolve, and be updated regularly. It may grow to one day include training videos, chat rooms, an “ask the expert” section, and a listing of professionals in the field.

Ramah is proud to participate in this project and share its 45 years of experience in the field of disabilities camping. In 1970, visionary special education teachers Herb and Barbara Greenberg took the first steps toward achieving their vision of including children with a range of disabilities in a typical Jewish summer camp. Despite resistance and naysayers who were worried about the cost, lowering the level of Hebrew in Ramah camps, and “normal” campers leaving the camp, their pioneering efforts at Ramah have led to a philosophy of inclusion throughout the Ramah movement such that every residential and day camp in the Ramah network now serves campers with disabilities.

Two new Tikvah programs at Ramah Darom and Ramah Poconos will come to life in the next two years so that as of 2016, all eight Ramah overnight camps will have programs open to hundreds of campers with disabilities, serving Jewish families across the entire North American continent.

Tikvah programs include a wide array of camping opportunities, including targeted programs for specific populations, family programs and retreats for families with children with disabilities, Israel programs, and a growing initiative in vocational education whereby Tikvah alumni come back to camp as young adults to learn job skills and work in neighboring communities while enjoying the socialization and Jewish experiences of camp life.

Ramah strives to continue to innovate and to identify new ways of collaborating with our colleagues in the field of disabilities camping. As I write this, National Ramah is holding its annual spring leadership training program that for the third year in a row includes a specialized track for staff members who work with campers with disabilities and participants in vocational training programs. Of the 21 participants this year, two-thirds are from camps outside the Ramah movement. The new Inclusion Training Guide for Jewish Summer Camps represents yet another important step forward in the critical work of including young people with disabilities in Jewish camping.

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