Dear Ramah Darom Community,
Over the last two weeks, our amazing Facilities Team has been busy adding hundreds of new plants around the Program Center at the heart of our campus. While the new greenery is already enhancing the landscape, we know its full beauty will emerge in the months and years ahead as it takes root, grows, blossoms, and reveals its full array of colors.
As we begin a new Jewish year this week, I am struck by how fitting this image of growth is. In the words of the prophet Jeremiah (31:12), which we read on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, וְהָיְתָ֤ה נַפְשָׁם֙ כְּגַ֣ן רָוֶ֔ה — “Their life shall be like a watered garden.” Just like the new plants on our campus, our own growth doesn’t happen all at once. It requires strong roots, continued nourishment, and the time and space to flourish.
At Ramah Darom, we nurture this kind of growth every day. It happens when a camper reaches the top of the climbing tower for the first time, when an alum returns to campus with their own children, when families create new Jewish traditions together, and when people of all ages find deeper connections to Judaism and to one another. These moments may begin as small seeds, but with the care of a strong community, they take root and continue growing long after someone leaves our campus.
This is why growth is so central to what we do. We intentionally create experiences that nurture a love of Jewish values, traditions, and community because we believe these connections are essential to ensuring a vibrant Jewish future for ourselves, our children, and generations to come.
As we enter 5787, my hope is that Ramah Darom will continue to be our shared “watered garden,” a place where we come together, deepen our roots, and reach our full potential. Just as we look forward to seeing what these new plants become, I look forward to seeing what we will cultivate together through the many immersive Jewish experiences we create in the year ahead.
Shanah tovah u’metukah.
May this be a sweet new year of growth, connection, and possibility for us all.