Over the years, our kids have done their best to explain how they spend their days at Camp. But as someone who never had the chance to attend Ramah as a camper, I admit I’ve never fully been able to appreciate the experience from their perspective – or why they spend the first few days after Camp depressed at home, declaring at least once hourly that “I want to be back at Camp! I had the best summer EVER!”
I would love to just be a fly on the wall, seeing my kids in action with their friends enjoying everything Camp Ramah has to offer.
In my new role with Ramah Darom, I now have the great fortune to spend most of the summer at our stunning campus in the North Georgia mountains. We are lucky to have a very experienced Camp staff who keep the program running smoothly. Most mornings, after Birkat Hamazon (blessing after a meal) has been said and the kids head off to their bunks for nikayon (cleaning), I typically stop for some staff updates and – after ensuring everything is ready for the day – head to our business office in the Welcome Center to deal with business-y type stuff.
This past Sunday after breakfast, I decided to ditch my laptop (and, if I’m being totally honest, a call with our Board President) to spend the morning just wandering around Camp. This was finally my chance to live out my secret wish to be a fly on the (Camp) wall.
I crossed over the bridge and immediately came across a group of kids starting a volleyball game. Just beyond them, I could see campers by the pool taking swim lessons. And just past them, our Israeli tennis specialist was beginning instruction with her small group.
I made a U-turn and headed up the path towards the area of Camp we call lower roads. On my immediate left, Ukelele lessons were in full swing: about half a dozen campers were perched on our “spider web”, instruments in hand, learning chords to a modern Israeli song.
Walking a bit further, I came across an early rehearsal for our camper production of The Wizard of Oz, all in Hebrew. When I reached lower roads, Garinim (our youngest campers) were sitting in a circle in the gazebo listening to the story of Jacob as told by their costumed Yahadut (Jewish studies) teacher. A few steps further, campers from Nivonim (rising 10th graders) were in hevruta (study pairs) discussing a biblical text they had just studied with one of our Rabbis-in-Residence. Looking up just past them, I could see about a dozen campers on the high ropes working together to get through an obstacle course in the sky. In the distance, I could hear the joyous screams of kids in the lake jumping onto the famous Ramah Darom blob.
Everywhere I walked that morning, I saw happy kids. Smiling kids. Engaged kids. Campers taking part in Jewish learning and experiencing Joyful Judaism. Kids playing sports led by members of our 30+ strong Mishlachat (Israeli staff). Young Jews seeing that it’s possible to incorporate a love of Judaism and Israel into their daily lives, and realizing that it’s cool to be Jewish. Kids who, I have no doubt, will remain connected to their heritage for a long time to come.
I will never have the experience of being a Ramah camper myself; my walk around Camp on Sunday was likely as close as I will ever get. But those morning hours reinforced what I already knew: sending our kids to Camp Ramah was one of the best parenting decisions we’ve ever made.