X

Blog

Show Filters

post

Connections, Reflections & Inspirations

Drishat Shalom Summer Edition   On one of our Kayitz BaBayit sessions with Kochavim (7th grade) this past week, I overheard someone say, “I have a bad connection!” It is a common phrase that was familiar to us even before we all adopted Zoom-lifestyles. But I couldn’t help noting how this ordinary utterance, acknowledging poor […]

Avatar Geoff Menkowitz

post

Virtually the Best Week Ever

Drishat Shalom Summer Edition In so many ways, this summer is הָפוּך – upside down. During all other summers, we appreciate disconnecting from technology to form relationships and build community. This year we are leaning into every online tool (Zoom, Band, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and more) to be together during Kayitz BaBayit (Summer at Home). […]

Avatar Geoff Menkowitz

post

I am Inspired

On a Friday in early August 2018, I took my first trip up I-985 to spend Shabbat at Ramah Darom during Camp Yofi – our program for families with children with autism spectrum disorder. If I’m being completely honest, I worried it might be an incredibly awkward weekend since it was effectively a two-way interview: an opportunity for some Ramah Darom Board and staff members to get to know me as the potential future CEO, and the chance for me to decide whether I was really ready to make a substantial career change to come work for Ramah Darom. Fortunately, the weekend turned […]

Avatar Wally Levitt

post

This Summer Counts

My simple message for this week is that this summer counts. In the Zoom meetings we held with each Aidah (age-division) immediately after our cancellation announcement, the question of t-shirts came up in almost every single one – even the meeting with Tzevet (staff). Will there be a t-shirt this summer? Will I still earn my 5-year shirt? Will […]

Avatar Geoff Menkowitz

post

This Week in America: Reflections and Resources

By Eliana Leader and Geoff Menkowitz This week – a week filled with deep grief and anger over the state of racial injustice in the United States – we have also felt the absence of a vital aspect of the Ramah Darom experience. This week we are supposed to be together at Ramah Darom already, working with […]

Avatar Geoff Menkowitz

post

COVID-19 Summer Update

To our Ramah Darom Community: As you know, we have been closely monitoring developments related to COVID-19 since the onset of this global pandemic. We have examined countless possible scenarios and contingency plans. We have engaged multiple task forces and committees and have considered an array of perspectives and guidelines from the medical community, camping community and […]

Avatar Geoff Menkowitz

post

Ramah Darom at Home Through My Eyes 

In the past few weeks, I’ve learned how to make Shakshuka and braid challah. I’ve been part of Ramah movement-wide concerts and taken dance breaks with Rachel. I’ve studied with rabbis, joined in on a panel discussion and taken art classes with both Camp and Retreat specialists. I’ve listened to stories from Chelm and learned about a dozen […]

Avatar Robyn Diamond

post

Next Year at Ramah Darom

Eighteen years ago, when I was a college student, I got a call from Ramah Darom. I had been on Camp staff the summer before and they asked if I would come back and staff climbing at their first Passover Retreat. I checked with my parents to see if it was okay for me to […]

Avatar Ashira Konigsburg

post

The Power of Community in a Time of Crisis

This is not a post about coronavirus. (OK, that’s not entirely true because – let’s face it – everything these days is about coronavirus.) This is a post about the power of community. I’m writing from Toronto where my whole family is back together: Beth, my pediatrician wife who is working on the front lines […]

Avatar Wally Levitt

post

Mazal Tov Rachel Dobbs Schwartz

Five years ago, we welcomed alumna Rachel Dobbs Schwartz back “home” to Camp Ramah Darom as our Assistant Director. It was a testament to how much our Camp has matured over the years that we had hired our very first home-grown Assistant Director. In her tenure, Rachel has been an extraordinary leader bringing passion, energy […]

Avatar Geoff Menkowitz