Camp Ramah


Bike Ride (www.ramahbikeride.org).  Three riders have deep connections to the Nutmeg State:  Dr. Cliff Nerwen of Riverdale, N.Y. grew up in West Hartford;  Rami Schwartzer, a recent graduate of Columbia University/Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) List College Joint Program and incoming JTS rabbinical student, is a West Hartford resident.  And the author has been a long-time resident of the New Haven Jewish community.  The following is an excerpt from a diary I kept of this once-in-a-lifetime ride:

SUNDAY, MAY 15
I am standing in the El Al line at JFK airport, behind hundreds of Birthright Israel participants, waiting for my purple suitcase to return from being x-rayed.  The packed plane is a welcome sign that no one is scared away by Nakba Day, commemorated today in Israel.  The tall, dark glasses-wearing Israeli security guard looks at me and says in a serious voice, “I know you!”  I look confused and he says, “Amir-Camp Ramah New England 2004 — I was on the mishlochot (Israeli delegation) and worked in Nivonim (the oldest division).”  I knew we were in for a safe flight.

MONDAY, MAY 16
We land and claim our luggage.  The only person to have a problem clearing customs, ironically, is a Manhattan assistant DA.  They suspect his bike is new and force him to open his bike box and take his bike apart.  We are soon on the road to Kibbutz Ein Gev, where we arrive in time for a delicious dinner and sunrise over the Kinneret, the Sea of Galilee which we will ride all the way around in exactly seven days.  We meet Oded and his staff from Gal Galil, a tour company specializing in Israel bike rides, receive our ride shirts and two water bottles.  This is starting to feel real!

TUESDAY, MAY 17
Riders who brought bikes assemble them; the rest of us are fitted for our rental bikes. Our name signs are attached to the front and to our helmets.  Some members take their bikes on a short spin around the kibbutz. Shawna, a rider from Montreal, befriends Eric, a kibbutz member, who offers to take our group on a tour of the 200 acres of banana plants.  Who knew plants only give fruit once, and that the blue plastic bags often seen covering bananas in Israel are there to protect the fruit from the huge leaves smacking against and bruising the fruit?!  We left for a tour of Gamla, sometimes called “The Masada of the North,” and saw vultures soaring above. Then, the ride became a little more real with our first “evening briefing,” a nightly activity required for all riders, where we reviewed course routes and elevation maps

WEDNESDAY, MAY 18
The bus brought us to Katzrin in the Golan Heights where we had a beautiful pre-ride ceremony, consisting of psalms, songs, and readings in the ancient Katzrin synagogue.  Then, on our bikes!   The first hills heading south to Hispin and Ramat Hamagshimim reminded us Connecticut riders that the familiar rolling hills and even the elevations of Woodbridge, Bethany and West Hartford, and our training rides in Central Park and up the Palisades of New Jersey were no match for the Golan Heights!  What makes a ride like this so special — other than the great cause — special needs camping programs, and the camaraderie — 40 riders — ages 13 through 70 — is riding through Jewish and Israeli history.  Today, we ascended to Tel Saki, famous site of a battle during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, where the Nahal Brigade and the armored Brigades 7 and 188 fought against a whole Syrian division!
We ended the day with a steep ascent to Har Bental, overlooking Israel’s tallest mountain, Mount Hermon, which some brave riders would climb tomorrow.

THURSDAY, MAY 19
Perhaps the most interesting day of all—biking through the Druse village of Mass’adeh, a climb up the Hermon by some brave riders.  The first to make the climb to the top was Matthew Goldstein, the youngest rider who had celebrated his bar mitzvah at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires five days before!  All riders descended from Mount  Hermon (cool seeing Israel’s one and only ski area, in the summer!), ate an amazing soup and sandwich lunch at Hurshat Tal Park, and biked on to Agamon Hahulah Reserve—famous for the half billion birds which pass through each year on their way from Russia to Africa.  A particular highlight of our night at Kibbutz Kfar Giladi was the tour of the sleek, an underground arsenal of guns and ammunition.

FRIDAY, MAY 20
Imagine riding along the Lebanese border for so many miles—just days after tensions in the area related to Nakbah Day. You wouldn’t know it — except for the fact the road we just traveled on was closed when we attempted to get back on, following our tour of the Galil Mountain Winery.  Oh, well, what’s a few extra mountainous kilometers for the sake of our safety!  The beautiful descent through an Arab village, followed by a huge climb to our beautiful C Hacienda Forestview Hotel in Maalot was worth it!  The riders spent Shabbat together—swimming, playing miniature golf and ping pong, and eating like royalty.  All riders had the opportunity to hear from Tikvah Program founders, Herb and Barbara Greenberg, founders and directors for 29 years of this visionary program for campers with special needs.  I felt honored to be on a panel with my mentors, who moved to Israel 12 years ago. The riders truly felt connected to the cause they were raising money for—and they were treated to stories about campers with special needs–from forty plus years ago!

Saturday May 21 – Monday May 23:
After Shabbat, the riders were joined by members of the singing group, The Shuk, for a Lag B’Omer kumsitz (marshmallows, bon fire, and great singing).  Sunday two part ride—Upper Galil to Lower Galil (with lunch and a tour of Kibbutz Hannaton), and mountain biking on the Israel Trail, starting in Tiberias, offered breathtaking views of the Kineret, the Sea of Galilee.  On Monday, we set out from Tiberias and rode around the entire Kineret. About half the group did the optional hour and a half climb up the Golan Heights for a final look over the breathtaking Galilee and Golan Heights — which we had just proudly experienced by bike over the past five days.  We covered approximately 250 miles, and climbed 15,000 feet.  We leave with the wise words of Ramah Israel director Dr. Joe Freedman in our ears;  “Israel is a smorgasbord — you can’t have everything at once, so you have to keep coming back!”  See you soon, Israel!

(Source: http://www.jewishledger.com)

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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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Helping to give special needs kids a fun summer

By Cindy Mindell

For several years, the New England Region of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs has raised money to support the Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah in New England, one of the first summer programs for Jewish campers with special needs.

Now in its 40th year, the pioneering Tikvah has inspired many off-shoots, both within the Camp Ramah system and elsewhere. The program offers three tracks: a full Ramah camping experience for 13- to 18-year-olds; vocational training, socialization, and group-living experience for graduates of the camping program; and inclusion of younger campers in typical Ramah bunks. Many vocational-training graduates have been hired to operate the on-site guesthouse.

Three years ago, the men’s club at Temple Aliyah in Needham, Mass. decided to take its fundraising efforts further. Several members, all avid cyclists, had participated in charity bike-a-thons and saw the model as a way to bring together congregations throughout the area for community-building and tikkun olam.

Tour de Shuls debuted in 2008, involving synagogues throughout the Boston suburbs. The event raised more than $5,000 for Tikvah, says program director Howard Blas, who lives in Woodbridge.

The 2009 Tour de Shuls did the same. That’s when David Diamond of West Hartford learned about the benefit bike ride. Diamond, then president of the men’s club of Beth El Temple in West Hartford, was attending a regional Jewish men’s retreat at Camp Ramah, “and I thought Tour de Shuls would be a phenomenal thing for our community,” he says. Diamond shared the idea with fellow Beth El congregant Bruce Stanger of West Hartford, who serves on the Camp Ramah of New England board and as co-chair of the Israel Ride, an annual 350-mile Jerusalem-to-Eilat bike ride. He has also ridden in the Massachusetts Tour de Shuls. By December, a committee was in place, co-chaired by Diamond and Lisa Sue Levin, also of West Hartford.

“I’m passionate about biking and tikkun olam,” says Levin, a past co-chairof Beth El’s mitzvah day. “I’m excited and honored to co-chair the first Tour de Shuls in Connecticut.”

Levin recently attended the bar mitzvah of a boy with autism, held at a summer camp. “Reading the Torah in the woods in an outdoor sanctuary made me think about our event,” she says, “and how important it is to provide special-needs kids with the opportunity to go to camp, learn about their Jewish background, and help establish their Jewish identity.”

The Connecticut event is sponsored by the Connecticut Valley Region of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, with nine area synagogues providing volunteers and supplies.

Tour de Shuls kicks off at 8am at The Emanuel Synagogue, 160 Mohegan Drive in West Hartford with a pre-ride breakfast. Cyclists of all levels are welcome. There are four rides of varying lengths available. All routes end at The Emanuel with a community celebration including music and light refreshments. Snacks and water will be provided along the routes. Pre-registrants will receive a t-shirt and a water bottle. For more information and to register: www.tourdeshuls.org, or David Diamond at daviddiamond2@comcast.net / (860) 673-6885 or Lisa Levin at lisasuelevin@aol.com / (860) 675-7400.

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The Original Article published On The Camp Ramah In New England

My camp, Camp Ramah in New England, has asked campers and staff to participate in the blog series, Impact of Ramah-The 100 Day Countdown. Members of the camp community are asked to share what they are most excited about, most looking forward to, or most miss about camp that you can’t wait to experience again?

Though I have been working at camp for sixteen years and directing the Tikvah Program for ten years. As we are in the final stretch in preparing for Kayitz, 2010, I admit to feeling a bit nervous. Will camp be as great as last year? Will the staff work well together? Will the campers and staff members grow?

I take comfort in the words of the late Professor Nechama Leibowitz, as shared by her student, Dr. Joe Freedman, Director of Ramah Programs in Israel. Joe always tells his staff of the time he approached Professor Leibowitz at the start of one of her famous Parshat Hashavua (Torah Portion of the Week) classes. She politely asked him, “Can you please come to me after class, kee yesh lee parparim b’beten—I have butterflies in my stomach.”

If such a gadol hador (giant of the generation) has butterflies in her stomach, it is okay for all of us to have butterflies in our stomachs! 
I share this story with my staff each summer and take comfort in the fact that I am not alone.


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