In early January, eight of our staff traveled to Camp Ramah in California for the National Ramah Winter Training Institute. Our tzevet participated in a wide array of sessions to strengthen their skills for the summer, and are excited to share what they learned:
Ramah in the Rockies Tzevet at Ramah California for the Winter Training Institute: Eli Horowitz, Nina Murov, Mark Schwartzman, Matt Levitt (Assistant Director), Lexi Marcus, Bri Andersen, Camryn Lieb, and Sarah Schulman (Former Director of Jewish Learning, Current Ramah Northern California Director). Not Pictured: Ari Polsky (Customer Experience Specialist)
It was a great opportunity to attend thoughtful sessions and share ideas with both new people and familiar faces from all throughout the Ramah movement at Weinstein. There are a number of exciting games and invigorating tephilot ideas that can be brought back to Ramah in the Rockies.
-Mark Schwartzman
Weinstein was an awesome experience for me. I learned so much about how to be a stronger leader, how to effectively plan many types of programs, and how to in general, be a better counselor. I think my favorite thing about Weinstein was getting to know other staff from different camps. This past summer was really special to me because it was my first ever at any Ramah camp. Talking to counselors from other camps about their experiences reminded me just how special Camp Ramah really is. I also really enjoyed spending time with the staff from the Rockies, because it made me really excited for this summer. I can’t wait to take everything that I learned at Weinstein, like games, dances, and helpful tips, back to the Rockies.
-Nina Murov
Interacting with colleagues who work in other Ramah camps, both in formal hadracha sessions and socially outside of our meetings was very enriching. It helped strengthen my sense of Ramah as a movement that spans across all our camps; renew and deepen my connection to Conservative Judaism, and increase my confidence as a Jewish educator. I’m looking forward to Kayitz 2015 more than ever and, thanks to my experience at the Weinstein Conference, I know I’ll be able to give my Chalutzim another unforgettable summer.
-Eli Horowitz
I am most excited to bring back a fun dance that we learned from madrichim from Ramah Nyack. Hopefully we can incorporate it into our Rikkud repotoire and it can become a part of our camp tradition. Weinstein was a great opportunity to learn from Ramaniks from around the country and find ways to enrich the ROA experience that we as madrichim will be creating during Kayitz 2015.
-Camryn Lieb
