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Camp Ramah has been serving campers with special needs for over forty years. These include Ramah camps in Massachusetts, Canada, Wisconsin, New York, Georgia, California, Pennsylvania and Illinois, which offer programs for campers with a range of special needs. Some offer overnight camping experiences for three, four or eight weeks; some are day camps; others offer a Camp Yofi family camp model for one week. Over the past 40 years, more than 2,000 campers have been served by Ramah special needs programs. Ramah’s newest camp, Camp Ramah in the Rockies, is currently exploring possibilities for setting up a program to serve a special needs camper population…

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Why would a group of Jewish educators spend half a day with a leading Israeli venture capitalist firm? I would like to suggest that educators can learn a great deal from venture capitalists especially if the firm is Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), founded in 1993 by Erel Margalit. The firm, currently with $820 million under management, is dedicated to building world class media strategy companies, and also to bringing together “profit and social profit, innovation and creativity, technology and leadership, in one place.

Our JJFF (Jim Joseph Foundation Fellowship) tour began with a tour of JVPs Lab (Ha’Maabada), a performing arts incubator for graduates of Jerusalem’s arts academies. We then learned about Bakehila, an educational empowerment program in four of Jerusalem’s underprivileged neighborhoods (including 15schools and 10 learning centers).

But the main purpose of the visit, in the words of JJFF Israel Seminar Coordinator, Rabbi Zvi Grumet, (Associate Educational Director of the Lookstein Center of Bar Ilan University and editor of Jewish Education News) was to look outside of our own world (of Jewish education) and view models of innovations in the business world to see people who do creative things and think creatively.

Meeting Gavin from the Animation Lab and viewing some of his high quality/high resolution animation, seeing Maor’s work on the soon to be released Anyclip.com project, and learning about Veoh, which just may be the solution to our platform problems, was invigorating.

They cynical part of me things such a visit makes us question why we are in Jewish education when there is so much excitement and life (an maybe even compensation!) in a place like JVP. But maybe a business like JVP is precisely where Jewish educators should look for inspiration and ideas. This will give us the chizuk (reinforcement) we need to stay in Jewish education!

In our short visit, I observed:

1. excited, enthusiastic and super intelligent workers

2. physical space organized for collaboration and sharing (well let work rooms with tables meant for working together; doors, even of bosses, which were literally transparent and inviting, sending the message to come in and share an idea

3. an environment consciously sending the message we are here to take care of you so you can use your professional skills to produce an amazing product (they provide food, administrative support, legal and accounting work, etc to people involved with the projects they support.

4. super cool, innovative products. For example, anyclip.com, now in beta, will be released in a month, allowing people (including Jewish educators) to access that perfect movie clip.

Today, fourteen Jewish educators went from learning about innovation at JVP, to learning about an innovative king, King David (via our afternoon at Ir David, the City of David). May we continued to learn from models of inspiration and bring this excitement back to our various Jewish educational settings.

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Thank you to Marcia Yellin, mother of long time Amitzimer and Voc Eder, Jacob Yellin, to Rhonda Parker and to all of the attendees at this summer’s amazing “Tikvah at 40” celebration. As part of the festivities, we painted squares which were made in to a beautiful quilt, likely to be around when we celebrate “Tikvah at 100!” We look forward to properly dedicating the quilt this summer.

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Shabbat Shalom and Happy Chanukah.

Often on Shabbat Chanukah, Chanukah gets a disproportionate share of attention, and Shabbat is in the background. I wouldn’t want this Shabbat’s parshat of Miketz, which has so much to do with DREAMs, to be overlooked. 

Forty one years ago, Herb and Barbara Greenberg, two special educators from Long Island, dreamed big. They dreamed of creating a program for campers with special needs, as PART, of the Camp Ramah community. Today, graduates of our Amitzim camping program, who comprise our Tochnit Avodah, Voc Ed Program, and our Post Voc Ed Program, and staff members, are privileged to spend Shabbat with two wonderfully supportive West Hartford Conservative Movement shuls. 

On behalf of the Tikvah Program and the entire CRNE community, I would like to extend a hearty Todah Rabbah, to the Emanuel Synagogue, to Beth El, and to the entire WH Jewish community for the warm reception we always receive.

This is a community where rabbinic leadership teaches by example. Your rabbis and their families actually come to camp and WORK. Several generations of Smalls, Rosens and Rosenbaums proudly work at Ramah New England. And so many in your community with illustrious names like Elfenbaum, Fiedler, Glickman, Stanger, Checknoff, Gold and more are actively involved in our Tikvah Program. And so many in your community attend Ramah.

We have had tremendous representation from your community in all 4 parts of our tikvah program our amitzim camping program, voc ed, post voc ed, and our 8 year old, inclusion program. And your community always helps out when asked-whether it is the JCC letting us rent out the pool and gym for our day after Thanksgiving reunion, which we have done in the past; the Crown having just enough pizza dough for a crazy voc ed cooking project; or Rabbi Rosen agreeing to teach as part of our Tikvah at 40 Yom Iyun.

In return, we hope the representatives of our program have helped enhance your Shabbat with singing, ruach, and more. Since today is also Chanukah, we added Hallel. There is a very well known line which reasons: even maasu habonim haytah rosh pina: The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

While people with special needs don’t always feel accepted and included, we at Ramah very much feel that Tikvah IS the cornerstone of the community. Having Tikvah at camp is as natural and essential as having Shabbat and swimming at camp!

Thank you to our generous host families, to the shuls, kiddush and concert sponsors, the Mens Clubs, and more. Shabbat Shalom and Happy Chanukah.

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