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March 6, 2023 | Adar 14 5783


At the end of each summer, we spend weeks calling and emailing our camper families, speaking with our staff, and listening to everyone’s feedback. This past fall, we heard one message loud and clear: tzevet (staff), chalutzim (campers) and parents (helicopters) want more technology, more screens and more connectivity in all areas of camp!

We asked, you spoke, and we listened. Here is the update on where we are at the moment as we plan for kayitz (summer) 2023:


Surveillance Technologies

For years we have hired Israeli staff members who have just completed their service in the Modiin (Israeli intelligence). The past two summers, these post-army officers shared top-secret Israeli intelligence with us: China had developed sophisticated balloon technology that could not only transform the way we do shmira (evening watch) at camp but also enable parents to monitor their children in real-time from high definition cameras mounted on these balloons. For years we have proudly proclaimed that we have the worst pictures in the American Jewish camping industry so our families should not expect much in terms of photo highlights. 2023 was going to change all of this. With the help of a Chinese company, Zhuzhou Rubber, which is known for their high altitude balloons, we could finally give our parents exactly what they’ve wanted all along: real time images of their kids 24/7, without them knowing they were being photographed. 

While we were apprehensive about engaging a Chinese contractor with close ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), we realized that most of our campers already shared their every dance move with the Chinese surveillance state via TikTok, so why not real time video as well? In November, President Xi became directly involved in the negotiations with Ramah after he heard we are a utopian Jewish community that is able to bring together people from disparate backgrounds into a common mission with a shared Ramah language. He wanted to understand how it was that so many families willingly send their kids away from their comfortable suburban lives to create this rural community where they share meals, sleeping accommodations and lovingly volunteer for acts of service. Of course, as you likely have read in the media, our plans clearly went awry. Just last week the Defense Department sent us This video seen above was taken by the cameras on the balloon. Given the international condemnation of this balloon, we too have decided to suspend our contract with Zhuzhou Rubber, and parents will have to once again spend their evenings hitting “refresh” on their browsers to see our rather lackluster photo uploads in the 2023 season.


Madrich GPT

In this overheated labor market, where the unemployment rate is at a 50 year low, we constantly hear how 19/20 year olds need leadership training opportunities to prepare for entering the work force upon graduation. In droves, they are leaving the camping world and accepting “resume building internships”, focused on making copies, entering data into spreadsheets or injecting pipettes with sugar-water. How could being a leader in Ramah, where one is influencing the character development of Jewish youth and is literally in charge of the social-emotional wellbeing of others, possibly compare?!

When Open AI released Chat GPT to the public in December, we knew we had found an answer to our staffing challenges: this summer, we will run camp with NO in-person madrichim (counselors)! Instead, we will rely on a combination of Chat GPT and madrichim interacting with campers in real-time through an iPad connected to a hoverboard type device. Here is our vision:

Each chalutz/a (camper) will receive an Apple watch with the Chat GPT app already installed upon arriving at camp. These watches will automatically connect to a new mesh system installed throughout our ranch and link to our Starlink internet. Chalutzim will speak into their watch to ask their madrich GPT a question, and the madrich GPT will provide a response based on 75 years of Ramah history. We imagine it working like this:

Chalutz: Are we on lightning protocol?

Madrich GPT: This is a great teachable moment. Do you see lightning?

Chalutz: I did 10 seconds ago, but I’m hungry and want to grab a snack at the chadar.

Madrich GPT: Count how long it’s been until you hear thunder. If it’s 30 seconds or less, the thunderstorm is close enough to be dangerous.

Chalutz: So I have 10 second to get to chadar?

Madrich GPT: That’s not what I said.

Chalutz: Gavi, wait for me! I’m coming to get popcorn with you!

Madrich GPT: Lord Usmani just announced we’re on lightning protocol.

When there are issues that the madrich GPT cannot handle, the chalutz/a will press a button on their Apple watch, and a 19/20 year old, who got hoodwinked into doing a fancy internship instead of continuing on their own personal and spiritual journey, will magically appear on Facetime to offer guidance. (Let’s be honest, most interns have plenty of time on their hands and can easily handle a part-time virtual job concurrent with their internships; what better way to have the best of both worlds!) College age students can continue to positively impact the lives of Jewish youth while sitting in an LED lit office, hundreds of miles away, pining away for camp. Of course, we still plan to hire real-live humans to help with food service and maintenance, since current technology still does not allow for robots to do these important jobs.


Two New Masa’ot (Backcountry Excursions)

Not only will technology change our staffing structure, but we also hope it will positively impact our masa program. For too long chalutzim have returned from their masa’ot dirty and tired with bruises and bites. A few even say that they were cold at night or wet during a storm. This sort of discomfort must end! What bsort of personal growth could possibly happen in these situations? We are excited to announce two new masa’ot for this summer:

1. Virtual masa: For our Bogrim Edah, we are committed to diving head-first into the world of virtual reality. We will be running our first ever Himalayan masa with the creature comforts present in Beit Kesher. We’ve invested in virtual reality headsets, full-body haptic feedback suits, and ten omnidirectional treadmills. Each day chalutzim will put on their gear, strap into their treadmill, and spend a day climbing some of the most magnificent 20,000 foot peaks in the world. After a long day of living in their virtual world, they will turn off their technology, shower, eat and sleep comfortably in our hotel style accommodations. The United States Forest Service, with whom we partner to obtain permits for our regular masa’ot, has asked us to report back to them about this program, since there is simply no more room for commercial permits in Colorado, and if successful, this program could be expanded to allow even more people to experience the magic of the Colorado Rockies from the comfort of their own home. (See our 2022 Purim blog for more on the nonsensical USFS rules.)

2.Harley masa: Earlier this year while listening to Harley Davidson’s (HOG) earning call, we were sad to hear about the lackluster sales of their EV motorcycle. Despite heavy marketing, it seems that most Harley riders are not going to embrace the EV revolution when it comes to their bikes. For years, we have been dreaming about putting our JOLI participants, many of them of legal driving age, on motorcycles. We see this as a natural extension of our current biking program. There is such a strong riding culture in Colorado, and we want our chalutzim to experience the magic of the glorious open road, not just of a steep single track. While perhaps not appropriate for their current demographic, Harley Davidson’s pivot to EVs is completely on-brand with Ramah in the Rockies! We reached out to Harley Davidson and asked whether they would donate 12 EV bikes to us. This summer, 10 JOLI participants and 2 madrichim will embark on the first ever Ramah Rally. They will leave our ranch and drive 200 miles a day, staying each night at roadside La Quinta. They will stop at biker restaurants, like our own, Zokas, where they will eat whatever vegetarian food is available. On Thursday night we will be stopping in the first halakhically approved tattoo parlor in Colorado Springs, and each JOLI participant will be able to select one “tat” to be engraved onto their arm or thigh.


We are so excited for all the upcoming changes happening at Ramah this season. We hope that you have a wonderful Purim and that you have enjoyed reading our farcical ideas as much as we enjoyed writing them.

Chag Purim Sameach!

!Rabbi Eliav and the Ramah in the Rockies Team

March 16, 2022 | Adar 14 5782


I write this email from the front porch of my log cabin, gazing out across the frozen kfar. Most of the tents have been removed for the winter. While I have not had any running water since September, due to frozen pipes, I do have electricity. I decided to spend this season, in solitude, up on the ranch living a more “simple” life. Each morning, I break apart ice in the frozen streams for my drinking water, I light a fire to stay warm and connect to my satellite internet. In the fall, as the rest of the world was moving on from the COVID pandemic, I decided the only way to remain truly safe was to head to the mountains and cease in-person contact with anyone. Instead of masking and remaining six feet away from other people, I unmasked and remained thirty miles away from the closest human! I have been capturing my time on the ranch on Instagram and developing a number of new dances that I have uploaded to Tik Tok. Henry David Thoreau waited years to publish his treatise, Walden; my up-to-the-minute blog has already enjoyed a wide audience.  What better way to live a simple life than by posting every moment to social media?!  Tomorrow, Purim, is the day on the calendar when I begin to transition psychologically to pre-summer mode; the quiet that permeates my days is going to be broken by the sounds of joyous children re-entering their home away from home and I, along with the rest of the Ramah  leadership team, had better be prepared! While there are so many exciting developments to our program, in this Purim update I wanted to highlight just three: 


Fracking Masa

Our masa (excursion) program is one of the key elements of our camp experience. We spend untold numbers of hours planning our trips. Most of them take place in the National Forest, which is controlled by the U.S. Department of the Interior. To minimize our impact on the land, we practice LNT (Leave No Trace) camping; this makes us one of the most highly-regulated industries in Colorado. We have been hindered year after year in our efforts to expand our routes because there are almost no more available hiking or camping permits in many parts of the state (all this is actually true). And so, we needed to find a creative solution.

We realized that while LNT groups are being banned from federal land, companies focused on LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) are being welcomed AND have the full support of the Federal Court System. With oil prices well above $100 a barrel, we are swapping out the T for a G, and will now gain unfettered access to millions of new acreage. We are updating our motto “challenge by choice” to “drill baby drill.” Afterall, our forests belong to the people! Although the Federal Government is spending time and resources protecting its 21-inch wide hiking trail system, it allows anyone who claims to help Americans achieve oil independence to explore federal lands unencumbered. We can now take our campers to hike anywhere we want on “exploratory” masa’ot. We can totally ignore how our actions will affect the broader environment, as long as we wrap ourselves in the American flag and use words like “freedom,” “liberty,” and “patriots.”


Da’ Bears!

Recent headlines have featured Hank the Tank– an over 500 pound black bear breaking into houses in Lake Tahoe. It seems clear that like so many in California, Hank is not able to find the room he needs to roam and is being priced out of an exploding real estate market. We read these stories and knew we had to help. Thousands of people have been moving from California to Colorado over the past few years. Why not also have them bring their bears to us?! Working closely with the Department of Wildlife in both states, we have offered our ranch as a premier location for black bears. Our campers specialize in leaving trash around the ranch and rarely utilizing the bear bins. Why walk the extra 50 feet to a bin when you can drop a half-eaten orange into a trash can meant for bathroom paper towels knowing that a wild animal will knock it over and eat it later that night!? Our older campers have been flouting the “no food in tents” rule for years, thinking that none of us know they smuggle in food on opening day. We have embraced our identity in the ursine community as THE PLACE to find a good meal. 

Starting this summer, instead of teaching bears to fear humans, we will be welcoming our furry friends with open arms. During the off-season, our local bears have learned to open doors and walk freely in and out of our staff lounge. As seen in this video, one bear, upon exiting our staff lounge, realized that he forgot his keys to his truck, and simply jumped up, opened the door, and headed back in to get what he needed. This sort of independent, problem-based thinking is what we thrive to inculcate in our campers and staff! In preparation for this summer, we are training our bears to provide needed cuddles to campers who want a strong hug. We are also training them to work alongside our maintenance team to lift heavy objects, which will hopefully save us from some worker-comp claims for injured lower backs. We know Hank is going to find a welcoming place and cannot wait to welcome him to our kehillah kedosha.


Summer Skiing

On the one hand, we never want to make our campers feel unsafe by indoctrinating them with the left-wing socialist idea that human actions are causing a climate crisis. On the other hand, it’s hard to argue with the fact that snow is becoming harder and harder to come by these days and that the traditional ski season is getting shorter each year. We recently noticed an upsetting article that Vail Resorts had sold so many Epic Passes (unlimited seasonal ski-passes) that lines at winter ski areas were over 200 people deep on many days. Given all that is going on in the world these days, this is a travesty; we love corporations and are always looking to help out the big guy!

After reaching out to Vail Resorts to see how we could help, we learned that to appease their unhappy customers, they were looking to expand their season into the summer months. We knew just the place for them to do it: Givat Ilanot! Modeled on two two famous indoor ski areas, the Snow Dome in Newark, NJ and the indoor ski slopes of Dubai, we recently broke ground on an incredible 200-acre dome. The dome will cover the entirety of Givat Ilanot and the adjacent hilltops. We have covered the roof with solar panels which will power eight, 200,000 BTU units of air conditioning to ensure that our hill remains at a brisk 30 degrees all summer long. We were so inspired by the winter Olympics in China, which showed us that even arid places can provide world-class slopes and half-pipes, that we too decided to divert much needed water from farmers downstream to fulfill our own vanity project. We have tapped into our remaining historical water-rights and plan to blast our temperature-controlled hill with snow for 19 hours a day until we have eighteen inches of packed powder. We are going to focus on free-style skiing and half-pipe snowboarding, understanding that a dome will never provide the conditions needed for slalom skiing. We hope the snow guns will be installed and blow snow no later than May 15th, just about the time when the last of the mountain resorts in Colorado close for their normal season. Because we are committed to inclusivity, we negotiated with Vail Resorts to allow holders of both an Epic Pass and their rival, the Ikon Pass, to come enjoy the slopes on Sundays throughout the season and any day thereafter once campers leave in August.


We are so excited for all the upcoming changes happening at Ramah this season. We hope that you are having a wonderful Purim and that you have enjoyed reading our farcical ideas as much as we enjoyed writing them.
Chag Purim Sameach!

Rabbi Eliav and the Ramah in the Rockies Team

PS. While 98% of the above is farcical, there are two elements of truth. 

1. We really do spend 100s of hours applying for masa’ot permits, and most trails in Colorado are not accessible to us as commercial outfitters.
2. The video of the bear walking out of our staff lounge is real and was captured on camera in September 2021. The footage was filmed by a game camera set up by the Colorado Department of Parks & Wildlife next to one of their bear traps. Unfortunately, that bear is no longer in the land of the living, having broken into other buildings and caused thousands of dollars in damage. The bear had been captured and tagged in a previous year and likely relocated to our forest, meaning it had already been labeled “a nuisance” and could no longer be retrained. We are partly at fault that the bear became so comfortable around camp. We must do better with disposing of food only in bear bins. When we ask families not to send food to campers to keep in their cabins, and plead with staff and campers to dispose of their waste only in bear-proof garbage cans, this is why!

About a month ago, several of our returning staff members attended the Ramah Weinstein Leadership Institute at Camp Ramah in Ojai. We reunited with each other, learned from various Ramah professionals, connected with staff from different Ramah camps, and participated in fun and engaging peulot (programs) that we will bring home to Ramah in the Rockies. Read our staff’s reflections on their Weinstein experience below. To our current & future staff, keep in mind that you too will have the opportunity to participate in this leadership conference:

Ramah Rockies Staff Reflections

Taly Lehrich:

Weinstein was a great opportunity to connect with leaders from other Ramahs. Between exchanging dances and t’filah rituals, it was so fun to see how the spirit of Ramah exists across the country. Weinstein made me especially grateful for the inclusive, driven, and wacky community we have at Ramah in the Rockies. The unique challenges that our chalutzim embark on together in the backcountry, with the mountains as our classroom, is truly incredible. I am so grateful to have grown up at Ramah in the Rockies and to now get to instill the spirit of Ramah in my chalutzim.

Avi Shapiro:

Weinstein was by account the perfect weekend. The rain was refreshing and brought in a wave of fresh air, Ramah Ojai was green and lush with vegetation. Our fellow Ramahniks were incredible and eager to share about their camp and traditions. Throughout the sessions we learned about how different camps operate, how staff at other camps embrace their camps’ heritage, and how to be better counselors ourselves. In a session led by Rabbi Joe Menashe of Ramah Ojai and Anna Serviansky of Ramah Darom we even learned about the business side of Ramah camps. This session was interesting because it not only helped introduce an alternative way of thinking about camp decisions, but it also showed the importance of fundraising and donations for camps to operate. Another session taught by Dr. Jeff Kress helped teach about the importance of communication between campers and staff and taught us how to create better guidelines for our tents throughout the summer. Overall, the sessions were valuable and will help me on my path to become a better counselor.

In true Rockies fashion, a group of us also went on a hike. We woke up at 5:30am on Shabbat and hiked a six and a half mile loop to an overlook above camp. The views were amazing, and we had the special privilege of watching the sunrise over camp. The best part of the morning wasn’t the amazing trip but getting back in time for breakfast and walking in still dressed in our dirty hiking clothes (we cleaned off and changed right after breakfast). Everyone there was so surprised that we had gone on the hike and even more so that we were able to get back on time. Someone even said that they finally understood Ramah in the Rockies and how “crazy” we are about the outdoors. In all, Weinstein was a delightful weekend that taught me so much, and I’m very glad I went.

Tovi Rose: 

Being at Weinstein is a little like going to a family reunion full of relatives who’ve never met before, but they all seem to have a little more in common with each other than they do with you. Some of these camps have been around for decades, they’ve carved out years-old traditions that we don’t have anything like at Rockies. They seem to have more camp culture, more history to look back at. Their parents sang the same songs and slept in the same bunks that they do now. It’s a little jarring to notice just how new our Ramah still is. Of course, what they don’t have more of than us is crazy stories. You turn more than a few heads in the dining hall when you tell some Nyack or Ojai counselors about “lightning protocol” or third graders climbing Prospector.

When we first got to the conference, the other camps thought our stories were strange, sure, but there seemed to be a sort of consensus that they all came to; “No camp can be that weird.” That was what they thought, until we Rockies folk decided that, at 5:30 one morning, we would go on a seven-mile hike. To us, this just seemed like a fun, relatively easy way to start the day, but to the other camps, when we walked into the dining hall only a few minutes after they had all just woken up, covered in dirt and sweat, talking about how we had just climbed a mountain, that was when they really began to pay attention to us.

We were inundated with questions, a lot of disbelief, and more than a little bit of awe. I guess, before then, I’d never really realized how different our camp was. Or how special. A few of the other counselors heard our stories and seemed to really resonate with them. Like they’d just learned about the most incredible place in the world, somewhere they’d maybe like to check out someday. And I even talked to people who wanted to bring some of our programs over to their camps. Of course, some of them were talking our ears off but would still never dream of spending their summers in a place with bears and infrequent showers, and that’s okay.

It’s humbling, really, to realize all over again something I take for granted too often. We go to an incredibly special camp, but that also comes with an entirely new realization: our camp is part of a huge network of other camps, places that would gladly host us for an off-season weekend, or even take us on for a summer, something we’d also gladly do for them. I came to see that we’re part of a giant family that spans across the country and even other parts of the world, and also see now just how special our little branch of the family really is.

Jeremy Rosenwald:

Attending the Weinstein Leadership Institute was a great experience in a variety of ways. The first piece of understanding that I received was  finding out the goals and objectives of Camp Ramah. I realized how the education parallels camper experiences as they grow up. As a camper and even as a first year staff this was not something made apparent to me until I attended Rabbi Joel Seltzer’s session at Weinstein. This is where he spoke about Rabbi David Mogilner’s influence on Ramah and how he now interpreted the same role of directing a Ramah summer camp.

Another great part about attending the conference was connecting with many other peers. When I arrived at the airport, I recognized multiple people that I went on Ramah Seminar with but had not been very close to while in Israel. This weekend was a chance for me to get to know those friends much better in a more professional setting. Separated from the routine of summer, being at Weinstein, allowed me to interact with staff that have held positions at camp for multiple summers all the way up to members of the NRC. Those conversations enabled me to process new ideas about how I can leave my impact on Ramah.

Petra Zucker:

Weinstein was a very impactful conference and I learned so much from it! Before I share some takeaways from this experience, I would just like to mention how amazing it is to spend a Shabbat with friends in a beautiful place. It’s easy to get back into a routine and keep summertime activities in the summer, but spending Shabbat at Ramah Ojai reminded me that we can take time out of our schedules to be with a vibrant Jewish community yet again. My first takeaway had less to do with the actual material we were learning, and is more focused on the environment. Simply being in the same place as so many other people who care about their camps as much as I do was really powerful. It was clear that all of the staff on Weinstein wanted to be there to learn more about Ramah as a whole, and build new skills. A second thing that was awesome about Weinstein was learning about the other Ramah camps, especially the Ramah-adjacent camps in South America. It was really cool to be able to compare and contrast my own Ramah camp with others, and it helped me to further recognize how lucky we are that we get to go to a Ramah camp! Not only did this conference make me feel so grateful for our camp itself, but the entire Ramah community that comes with it. I am so happy I had the opportunity to go on Weinstein, and I would definitely recommend it to other Ramahniks!

Learn more about the Ramah Weinstein Leadership Institute here.

Over the past six weeks, our year-round team listened to hundreds of parents, chalutzim (campers), and tzevet (staff) about their experiences at Ramah in the Rockies. We appreciate the honest feedback offered by all. Below are a few highlights of lessons learned from kayitz 2022, along with some areas for growth, as we begin planning for 2023.

TWO THUMBS UP: OUR SUCCESSES

Our Approach to COVID

We approached this summer knowing that we were living in a new normal. COVID is a fact of life, and our goal was to keep our community as healthy as possible while also maintaining normal camp functions. Throughout the spring our COVID medical committee emphasized there were only two options: lock down camp, pod & mask, and screen weekly (our 2021 approach) or the route we chose. We heard from SO many parents how much they appreciated our vaccine requirements, pre-camp testing, and handling COVID like any other respiratory disease, treating symptoms as needed and only testing when there was a medical reason to do so. In total, approximately five campers spent more than two consecutive nights in the infirmary due to a respiratory disease (or COVID). Many campers felt cold-like symptoms for a few days, but the camp program continued as planned and few were ever isolated from their peers. We wished we had sent a communication at the end of Session I to families saying to test their children upon arriving home if they were concerned their child contracted COVID at camp. Based on feedback from Session I parents, we did this at the end of Session II. While we do not know what our COVID policies will be for 2023, and likely will not make a decision until January, we assume this new normal is here to stay.

Radical Inclusion

At our core we are a radically inclusive Jewish community. We live this value from the very beginning with camper intakes, staff hiring, and modeling throughout staff training as we renorm our community each summer. We want people to come to camp and be their true selves, celebrate their differences, and explore their Jewish identities. Parents raising their children in large and small Jewish communities shared how camp helped their children explore their relationship to Judaism and made them proud to be Jewish. Parents shared stories about their children struggling in school, being judged for their reading, writing, or math skills, and how camp increased their confidence as they reached new heights on masa or learned to jump from boulder to boulder at base camp. Parents of teenagers shared how they loved and appreciated our emphasis on developing strong group kesharim (connections), both in the ohel (bunk) and edah (age group), without social and academic pressures often found in their schools. One camper returned home and told their parent (who happens to be a rabbi) that “camp was a Jewish community who finally got me”, and another camper said, “at Ramah for the first time ever, I felt like I BELONGED.”

Singing and Dancing

After a 2021 season with limited communal singing and dancing, it was incredible to reinfuse our kehillah (community) with these powerful modalities of community building, spiritual strengthening and pure simcha (joy)! It is hard to overstate the power of our shira (song) team when they led t’filot (prayers), our morning Torah Tidbit ritual, shira sessions in the chadar ochel (dining hall), chuggim (activities), and Havdalah. Campers (and staff) learned their voices were welcomed whether they could sing on key or off, loud or soft. Similarly, anytime there was a moment to dance, be it during chuggim, before/after a meal, at Havdalah or a silent disco, we jumped at the opportunity. The sounds, rhythms, and dance steps have remained with campers and staff almost two months after leaving our ranch. We also received MANY requests for links to our songs and dances. Click here for our music and here for our Spotify rikkud playlist.

MIXED REVIEWS: ROOM FOR GROWTH

Mail, Packing List, & Lost and Found

These three are grouped together because they are all relatively small items with a big impact on the camp program and need to be improved. 

Mail:
  • While we cannot control the USPS delivery schedule, we need to do better with sending outgoing mail and distributing incoming mail to chalutzim daily. This is a right every child deserves. We also were lax with our flat package policy (only accepting flat packages), and the lack of uniform enforcement caused friction in the ohalim where most parents abided by this policy and others did not. 
Packing Lists:
  • We have three packing lists in different locations for people to access; however, none of these lists correspond to the other. All are too technical and overcomplicated. We will consolidate these versions into one, simplify language, and be more specific on what to bring and what camp will provide. We are happy to share that our experiment with weekly laundry worked to limit the amount of clothes needed, and we hope to continue this service next year.
Lost and Found:
  • There are WAY too many items in lost and found. This contributes to a culture where campers go “shopping” for lost items instead of returning them to their rightful owner. Parents shared how their child lost a rain jacket or sweatshirt and then “borrowed” one from lost and found or their child came home without expensive gear or only a portion of their clothing. Untold numbers of water bottles were lost this summer, and too many were “borrowed” from the lost and found! While we will work on a better redistribution system, we also will continue to emphasize to families that every item must be labeled clearly, which will help us perform the mitzvah of hashavat aveida–returning a lost item.
More Choice Chuggim

To enable chalutzim to bond with their ohalim, we tried an experiment this summer where Ilanot-Bogrim rotated by ohel to different chuggim for the first week of camp. Only after their first masa did older chalutzim level into chuggim. Families voiced that, yes, while campers enjoyed being with their bunkmates, their child would prefer to choose their activities because they often felt either under or over challenged by their peers in a specific chug or they did not enjoy doing a particular chug. For next summer, Sollelim and Bogrim will rotate by ohel on the first full day of camp and then level into chuggim for all additional program days at base camp. Ilanot and Metaylim will continue to have a hybrid model of rotating by ohel and leveling individually. 

Masa

On the one hand, chalutzim and tzevet continued to tell us that masa was the highlight of their camp experience. On the other hand, we heard so much feedback about different aspects of the masa program that can improve:

Routes & Trips:
  • This off-season we will continue to expand the routes available for our trips, develop our wildcraft masa program for older chalutzim, and revamp art masa. We will apply for additional special use permits, with the goal of running additional trips in the National Forest. A select group of Bogrim chalutzim first session participated in a wildcraft masa, which got rave reviews, and we hope to expand our wilderness survival program based on that experience. By 2023 it is our hope for there to be a masa program aspirational arc, so our chalutzim and tzevet understand which routes are available each year of camp, what the goals are for each edah, and how trips differ from year to year. If anyone has ideas of private lands within a three hour drive of camp where we can run trips, we welcome those suggestions too! 
Accommodations:
  • We pride ourselves on being a radically inclusive Jewish community and are able to provide extra resources for chalutzim who need additional support, especially with socioemotional needs. One area of masa we will work on is developing protocols for reasonable accommodations that we can make for campers who can not complete our full backpacking or hiking trips. Similarly, for campers with dietary restrictions, especially our gluten-free friends, we will create a new labeling and packing system so there is no confusion about which foods contain gluten and which do not and we ensure all special diet food goes on the right trip.

 

A ONE TIME SUCCESS

JOLI

This was a tough one! In 2022, due to a variety of reasons, mostly related to a smaller than normal rising 11th grade class, we piloted our first ever six week JOLI program. It was a resounding success, and feedback from the participants and parents was incredible! So many participants shared that their JOLI summer was among the best weeks of their life, and they LOVED being part of this experiment. At the same time, for those of us running camp, having chalutzim at camp who were not on the four week session schedule caused significant challenges around logistics, staffing, and program planning. For the next few years, we foresee having too many rising 11th graders to have all eligible chalutzim return for the same six weeks. Therefore, we plan to return to our “normal” four week JOLI program that combines the best of our base camp and masa programs with specific leadership training opportunities. In the coming weeks, we will be publishing a day-by-day schedule of our anticipated 2023 JOLI program and expect to fill both sessions to our capacity of 18 chalutzim in each.


Thank you!

We feel incredibly privileged that so many families entrust their children to our care each summer. We know the awesome responsibility this entails and are aware that a child’s experience at camp can have a profound impact throughout life. We constantly seek to improve and fully realize the values that guide us throughout our summer. We also know that there will be times when we fall short of expectations and cannot thank our parents, chalutzim, and tzevet enough for continuing to push us to make our camp better and stronger! If you have not had a chance to share feedback or you have additional thoughts in the future, please be in touch with us. Our improvement is a continuous process, and we would love to hear from you as we plan for 2023.

We are two months into our 10 month masa away from camp, and we look forward to welcoming 550+ Jewish youth back to our ranch in eight more months. Early registration is open! Our dates and rates are here. Anyone who registers before the end of October receives a Ramah in the Rockies embroidered fleece. We hope to see everyone back at camp for kayitz 2023!

Thank You,

The Ramah in the Rockies Team

Since returning to the office after Rosh Hashanah, our year-round team has heard from hundreds of parents, chalutzim (campers), and tzevet (staff) about their experiences at Ramah in the Rockies. We appreciate the honest feedback offered by all. Below are a few highlights of lessons learned from Kayitz 2021, along with some areas for growth as we begin planning for 2022.

TWO THUMBS UP: OUR SUCCESSES

Kesharim (Connections)

A core value of our camp is to create kesharim between young Jews. After almost sixteen months of social isolation, chalutzim and tzevet came to camp eager to be in community. Our camp program enabled them to form new friendships with campers from across the country and Israel. We heard time and again about the importance of informal conversations between tzevet and chalutzim and how they shaped the summer experience. We also heard from many of our older chalutzim how much they enjoyed living in the upper tent circle, hanging out together and staying up later than in years past. Having a higher percentage of four-week chalutzim than in previous years also deepened the connections within the edot (age groups). Upon returning home, a few of our youngest chalutzim informed their parents that they too would one day be staff members at Ramah in the Rockies. It is amazing that so many chalutzim see themselves continuing on the aspirational arc of the camp program, and we certainly hope that returning to camp as tzevet enables their growth for years to come.

Masa (Excursions)

A core part of camp is built around the masa program and the transformational aspect of going on a journey into the Colorado wilderness. This summer we better articulated the goals of the masa program to our tzevet, which allowed masa’ot to serve as profound leadership training experiences. We trained our staff to focus on key elements of a masa, such preparation, outdoors skills, and spiritual development, among others. Chalutzim bonded as a group on the trail and returned more aware of their own strength and character. Campers appreciated improved masa meals, increased quantities of food packed out, and newly purchased gear such as improved sleeping pads, youth-sized internal frame backpacks, and tents. We will continue to invest in quality gear next year. We will likely discontinue using tarps altogether until perhaps early August, as climate change has made mosquitos a reality even in the high Rocky Mountains. We will continue to refine our backcountry menus based on the feedback we’ve received.

Joyous Judaism

Perhaps the most frequent comment across the feedback was the joy of Jewish living at camp. The camp educational experience is so powerful because we create a plausibility structure in which living in an observant community committed to prayer, ritual, and mitzvot is the norm. We play Hebrew music in the chadar ochel (dining hall), dance to Israeli songs after Havdalah, and engage in prayer experiences ranging from solitary conversations with The Divine to exuberant communal singing accompanied by musical instruments of all shapes and sizes. We celebrated B’nai Mitzvah as well as a staff member’s conversion to Judaism; we stood in solidarity with those in our community reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish. Parents shared how their children came home singing camp melodies and dancing to camp music. So many parents, chalutzim, and tzevet commented on the sheer joy of celebrating Shabbat together and wondered how to recreate that feeling back home. As Jewish educators, it is hard to overstate how uplifting it is to know that campers eagerly anticipate the magic of Shabbat each week. Along the same lines, a wonderful critique to hear was that some younger chalutzim did not appreciate having to go to bed earlier than those in older edot on Saturday night as they wished they could stay longer to dance after Havdalah.

MIXED REVIEWS: ROOM FOR GROWTH

Travel Days–Opening Day

We changed our opening-day procedures this year to allow for distancing and outdoor gathering at the airport. We encouraged more families to drive to camp but requested that parents stay in their cars. While most understood why we made these decisions, we should have better communicated before opening day what to expect at both camp and the airport. We heard feedback about our airport procedures and are committed to improving them so that wait times for camp buses are shortened, new campers receive extra care and attention, and that all snacks and lunches are abundant. We hope we can return to using vans to transport chalutzim to camp and plan to implement a better airport check-in system which will include the distribution of name tags and edah bracelets. We will coordinate with the Denver Airport authorities about setting a better meeting place and will also work with our programming staff to ensure that chalutzim meet and bond with each other while waiting to board vans. We expect to announce more details by March of 2022.

Environmental Programs

We are a nature-based camp, and chalutzim certainly leave our camp with a love of the outdoors and an appreciation for the natural world around them. However, we have an opportunity to improve our environmental science education throughout camp. We need to better use our ranch to teach earth sciences, conservation, and nature stewardship. We did not compost this summer and were not able to emphasize waste reduction in the chadar ochel the way we usually do. While we had hoped to implement a new earth science program, including setting up a weather station, adding observation areas, and measuring water flows, ultimately we had to prioritize other programs. In the off-season, we will work to create a set of educational objectives for our nature-based programs, and will hire at least two tzevet members next summer to turn those objectives into concrete programs that will integrate environmental science into our curriculum.

Mental Health and Inclusion

We pride ourselves on being a radically inclusive Jewish community. This past summer we encountered increased mental health issues among our tzevet and chalutzim. For years, we have run a small inclusion program in which we provide extra resources for those chalutzim who need additional help, especially with social-emotional health. While many parents of inclusion campers reach out for help in developing individualized plans ahead of time, we learned that some parents of those campers requiring support do not ask for it. This might be because parents expect the camp environment to be less stressful than school, or because certain needs only emerge after campers arrive. While camp is a fun and informal environment, being away from home and living in community with peers can present its own challenges. While we keep some spaces open in our inclusion program for those campers for whose needs only become manifest at camp, we were not prepared to handle the volume or intensity of the needs that existed this summer.

We have already refined our camper application to better assess social-emotional health, understand school-year supports, and anticipate needs for all campers. We reworked our intake process to increase communication with families about individual needs, and plan to better define our inclusion program and better articulate whom we can and can not support. We plan to hire a new Director of Inclusion who will work as part of the Camp Wellness Team and oversee the individualized plans of each camper in the inclusion program. We also plan to provide more training sessions about mental health for our tzevet, clearer instructions on who to turn to for help and when to ask for assistance.


Thank you!

We feel incredibly privileged that so many families entrust their children to our care each summer. We know the awesome responsibility that this entails and are aware that a child’s experience at camp can have a profound impact throughout life. We constantly seek to improve and fully realize the values that guide us throughout our summer. We also know that there will be times when we fall short of expectations, and cannot thank our parents, chalutzim, and tzevet enough for continuing to push us to make our camp better and stronger! If you have not had a chance to share feedback, or you have additional thoughts in the future, please be in touch with us. Our improvement is a continuous process, and we would love to hear from you as we plan for 2022.

We are two months into our 10 month masa away from camp, and we look forward to welcoming 550+ Jewish youth back to our ranch in eight more months. Early registration is open and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to camp in June 2022!

Thank You
The Ramah in the Rockies Team

August 17, 2021

Another summer at Ramah in the Rockies has come to an end.

Kayitz 2021 will go into the history books as the first ever held on this ranch amidst a global pandemic. Everyone who came made sacrifices to be here; families self-isolated and campers took PCR tests in the weeks before camp. Staff agreed to remain on the property and in the surrounding mountains for over nine consecutive weeks, only once venturing into town on an organized day off. We built a number of temporary dwellings and spent considerable funds on COVID-related upgrades. Campers adjusted to a new schedule and program changes, with social distancing between cohorts and masking the norm. COVID screening became a new Sunday morning ritual. And yet, despite all of these changes, the summer ran more smoothly than we could have ever imagined. After over a year of isolation and disruption, campers and staff were joyously living together in community. Like past summers, new peaks were climbed and new trails were blazed, but this year, it was perhaps the interpersonal connections,friendships, and time spent together that made this summer especially sweet for all.

Many of us have been on-site since May 30, and it is impossible to capture here all that has transpired over the past ten weeks. Instead, I share the following highlights to give you a taste of our amazing 2021 season.

Masa’ot (Backcountry Excursions)

A sound that never grows old is that of groups returning from their masa’ot cheering and singing. Every other Friday, groups roll into camp on bikes, in vans, and on foot, with each group having had their own unique experience. Many chalutzim huddled under tarps during powerful storms, scraped themselves on rocks and branches while attempting difficult trails, and had to be cajoled out of their tents in the early morning hours when temperatures were in the upper 40s at higher elevations. These same chalutzim experienced the joy of reaching the top of a peak, have a new understanding of what it means to work as a team, and have confidence in their ability to overcome obstacles. They enjoyed the deep sense of accomplishment that can only be achieved through intense experiences in the outdoors. In total, we sent out 70 masa’ot this summer, as far away as Rocky Mountain National Park and as close as the corners of our ranch. For those of us who remained back at camp, we vicariously experienced these masa’ot through the stories of our madrichim and chalutzim. It is masa that makes our camp unique.

Shabbat in Community

Most of us arrived at camp after having spent months living in a socially-distanced fashion. Few had attended in-person celebrations or services in over fifteen months. While Shabbat is a special time at camp every year, this summer, it was even more powerful to gather together in our Pardes Tefilah for Kabbalat Shabbat. The fact that we wore masks when singing and twice danced in a rainstorm did not dampen our collective spirit. Shabbat was a time for us to reflect on what had happened in the previous week and to set goals for the week ahead. Havdalah, which we moved to our main road, had a festive atmosphere as we set up a sound system on the steps of our new wellness center, with each edah (age group) standing in its own circle, followed by a raucous dance party with hundreds of people dancing to Israeli music. Most weeks, we had fire-spinning (poi) first by our own tzevet member, Akiva Jackson, and then by chalutzim who had learned the skill during the previous week in his circus chug (class). While all parties eventually come to and end, the dances from this year’s havdalah will hopefully stay with us for months to come. 

K’sharim (connections)

When the book is written about this summer, it will go down as one of our strongest in years. Our tzevet simply went above and beyond to provide an incredible experience for our chalutzim. Because we needed to have strict cohorts in the initial days of each session, chalutzim spent more time than ever getting to know their madrichim and fellow ohel-mates. Chalutzim from Ilanot through Bogrim experienced all their chugim together with their ohel, which allowed additional opportunities for the groups to bond. A huge highlight was the ohel-based masa’ot during our ‘A’ sessions, in which every ohel went backpacking together as a group. This allowed ohalim to experience all the magic of masa together and to see each other grow in the backcountry.
From the youngest chalutz to the oldest tzevet member, we fostered a wonderfully supportive environment at camp this summer. So many chalutzim commented to me over the past eight weeks just how nice and genuine everyone was at camp. This is perhaps one of the greatest hallmarks of our unique community: we are a place that respects differences and celebrates diversity within our Jewish community. We are, and will always be, a place of radical inclusion for all Jewish youth.


The final day of camp is bittersweet. It is sweet because so much planning and work goes into making each day of the summer a success, and when it is over, there are immense feelings of satisfaction. It is sad, however, because it is hard to see a season end. I sit here overflowing with gratitude to all who enabled us to operate this summer – donors who believed in our mission and provided the resources for us to purchase whatever was needed to run camp; parents who entrusted their children to us even though there were so many unknowns; chalutzim who joined our community and challenged themselves each day, physically, spiritually and intellectually; and the staff who agreed to live in our bubble for over two months and worked for countless hours to ensure that camp was a fun, safe and nurturing place. In a few hours, I too return to the “real world,” uncertain of what this year will bring. What I do know is that the past ten weeks have run more smoothly and been more impactful than anything I could have imagined back in early May after our final pre-camp Zoom meeting. I leave our ranch feeling grateful for our time together, and hopeful about our future.
Thank you for helping us have an incredible summer!

Shana Tova-R’ Eliav

By Rabbi Eliav

Late last month I returned to the Ramah in the Rockies Ranch for the first time since February 24, 2020. Driving through the gates, I was overcome with a sense of relief and excitement thinking about the reopening of our camp community in only six more weeks. 
This time last year, as we were facing the possibility of a closed camp season, we also were in danger of losing our camp. Staring down the possibility of returning over $1.5 million in camper tuition, with major construction projects already underway, and monthly bills that needed to be paid with or without a camp season, we were not sure whether we would survive the pandemic with our camp intact. Due to the incredible work of our year round team, the enormous generosity of hundreds of donors and a lot of good luck, we are in a strong place to welcome back our community to an updated ranch.

During my visit I had a chance, for the first time, to tour our new: waste water system, infirmary, bathrooms, dining hall and administrative center. I walked the property with our year round team who will be erecting over $75,000 in new tents, picnic tables and other items that will enable us to run camp this summer while allowing for social distancing and reduced capacity in most areas.

One of my favorite sections from Tanach are the verses from the third chapter of Kohelet: that there is a time for everything: a time to be born, a time to die; a time to sow and a time to reap; a time to destroy and a time to build up. My return visit reminded me of this powerful message. Last year was the time to shut down our camp given all the unknowns. It is now time to reopen and do whatever we need to do to enable over 500+ Jewish youth to have a joyous and transformative Jewish summer camp experience.
Click below to watch a time-lapse video of the construction of our new Chadar Ochel (dining hall). I can just imagine the laughter, song, and friendship that will fill this space for years to come.

See you soon on the Chava!

This year, as we prepare for our seders, we are thinking about numbers: eight days of Passover, four cups of wine, three matzot, and one Elijah’s cup. We think about the year that has passed since we last gathered around the  seder table. We remember the hundreds of thousands who have died, the millions of students who have had to adjust to limited or remote  schooling and the untold numbers of people who were ill with COVID. Thankfully, we can now think about the millions more who have been vaccinated and the tens of thousands of children preparing to return to their Jewish summer camps. Here is a look at some of our own numbers at Ramah in the Rockies: 


Solar panels on our new Mirpa’ah

15,674 Pounds of CO2 saved due to the highly efficient solar arrays on our new Mirpa’ah (Health Center). We hope to raise funds to build two more arrays in the coming years.

14,000 Gallons of waste water we can process and return to the Denver water drinking supply each day in our expanded wastewater treatment plant

The front entrance of our new Chadar Ochel

4,953  Square footage of the  new dining hall we are ready to open this summer 

1,071  Square footage of our new covered dining patio

200  Maximum number of campers on site at any one time during the summer 

84  Days until we welcome our first chalutzim back to the chava (ranch)

60  Number of new Kelty  backpacks we plan to purchase for 2021

One of the chicks at DJDS

26 Chicks incubated and raised by The Denver Jewish Day School until they move to camp in June to lay eggs for our community all summer (Only the hens are invited to camp, the roosters will likely end up on someone’s dinner plate; how many of each is TBD)

20 Number of picnic tables we are purchasing for 2021 to allow for more outdoor meetings and activities.

16 horses coming to Ramah in the Rockies 

4 Additional camper tents we will construct to enable us to accommodate our community this summer

3 Raised beds we will build to begin our new kitchen garden (ultimately growing to 10+ over the next few years)

2 Additional space for campers in kayitz 2021

1 New garden and nature center opening this summer

0 Dogs currently planning to be with us at camp for the whole summer (help us “adopt” a calm kid-friendly camp dog this summer!)

By Rabbi Eliav Bock

This blog post was originally featured as part of the Rabbinical Assembly’s #HeshbonHodesh: Nisan monthly newsletter. 

This past Shabbat morning, I suited up my baby daughter in her winter gear, put on my own jacket and gloves, put her in the hiking backpack and headed out the door for my Shabbat teffilot. It is a ritual we have practiced almost every shabbat over the past year, so long as the temperature is above 20 degrees, and it is not raining. Walking around my suburban neighborhood I sing, out loud, often clapping and dancing to the words of the morning prayers. It is a practice started last March when I thought I would be gone from shul for only a few weeks. I watched the early spring turn to the hot summer, to the vibrant fall, to this past snowy winter. I watched the brook, where I often stop to recite the Amidah, go from a thawing stream, to a small trickle in the late summer, to a frozen slide the past few months. 

I connect most deeply with the Divine when I am outdoors. I experience radical amazement when looking at flowers and trees. I understand what it means to become I and Thou when I am staring at a hillside about to burst with green leaves and turning brilliant hues in the fall. The sun, the breeze and even the bitter cold allow me to feel the Divine energy in my daily life. 

Pre-pandemic, the only place I consistently prayed outside is at Ramah in the Rockies. My ten weeks at camp, davening in the high mountains, are usually the highlight of my spiritual year. I am often able to coast on that spiritual nourishment when I return to my indoor suburban synagogue for a few months, only to crave a healthy dose of outdoor teffilot by late winter. A gift of this pandemic has been to give me a reason to pray outside, almost every shabbat for an entire year.

I miss seeing other people on Shabbat morning. I miss my elementary age boys coming to shul and having friends to play with while I sit in the service; but I do not miss sitting in a sanctuary. I hope that we can once again gather for in-person communal prayer, but I also know that walking and davening, even in a cookie cutter suburban neighborhood, can provide an enriching and sustaining teffilah experience.

Dave Yedid is a long time tzevet member, former Bamidbar staff member, and 4th year Rabbinical School student at JTS. He is currently the Cooperberg-Rittmaster Rabbinical Intern at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York. He shared this d’var torah two weeks ago for Parshat Terumah, and we are excited to share it with our community.


By Dave Yedid

The center camp was a small building called the lodge. It was built by the Girl Scout Camp that was based on the ranch before us. It was brown painted wood on the outside, light grey on the inside, the paint worn away through countless footsteps revealing the bare floorboards. There were a pair of antlers hung out in the front above three concrete steps. 

The lodge was the nucleus of camp, the center of it all. Everything came back to the lodge. 

Dave & chalutzim in front of the lodge before a Masa in 2012.

On the first floor was the director’s office, the second floor the education and camper care offices. In 2012, it was a spare bedroom for Matt and Sarah Levitt. We built our kitchen and hadar ochel (dining hall) off of the main floor, with a shitfat kelim (dish pit) in which all community members and guests were expected to help out. There was a beautiful wrap-around porch with views of the valley below where horses graze. We painted plaques in the first summers of camp with the names of the chalutzim and tzevet, which we hung on the walls of the original hadar ochel. For three years, we had a cement basement that served as our staff lounge. It was also the mail center, the administrative office, the center for staging, cleaning, and unpacking gear before and after wilderness expeditions.

I helped construct the chadar ochel in 2012 assembling the metal frame, stretching plasticky canvas over it, and raising it with a team of thirty onto metal poles….an extremely haphazard endeavor, looking back. It stood from year to year but was by no means a perfect structure; it would often flood when it rained, was acoustically extremely loud and, after a while, too crowded.

The lodge was a palimpsest; a building we just kept adding on to. As camp grew, we built more structures. What was once the food storage and prep room was repurposed as a dining hall for younger chalutzim so we could fit everyone. The kitchen was expanded with a bakery room and walk-in fridge and freezer. The purpose of the upstairs rooms changed every year. Even as we built Beit Kesher and set up portable office trailers, the lodge was still the center of camp.

Summer 2017, a year in which I only visited camp for two weeks as a guest, an electrical fire burned down that lodge. Thank God, no people were injured. But the center of our camp was gone. Camp could not exist without this space; we had no food, no main office. All that was left was rubble and those three concrete steps. 

Hearing this news while in New York was devastating. I felt deep grief and a desire to make it better. Mostly, I felt helpless. I thought back to the old hadar ochel, which I had helped build with my own hands. I thought of all of the campers and tzevet assembling in the early morning cold, knowing the center of camp was burned. 

The next summer, camp rebuilt a new structure, this time built by a trained construction crew (which was much safer) but the center of our camp was gone. My first days back in 2018, I felt disoriented not returning to the site of the lodge. 

I thought of the lodge as I read Parashat Terumah, which is about a community of people in the wilderness building a small structure. This time, it was not for camp, but for God. Parashat Terumah details how the Israelites built the tabernacle that would house God’s presence.

We see the verse, [Exodus 25:8]

וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.

If God is everywhere, in our homes and on mountaintops, why does God need a little box? It seems both impossible and unnecessary. Looking at the verse as a whole, we would think that because the word mishkan is a singular male noun, last word should read “betocho”–I will dwell in “it,” referring to the physical structure. But the plural ending, betocham, “dwell in/among them,” suggests that God won’t actually dwell in the structure, but among the people who build it. God is the creator of our bodies but also exists in our souls, in the prayers that come out of our mouths. So why did the Israelites build this structure and why does the Torah care so much about the process by which it was built?

I want to suggest three reasons for why building the Mishkan is important: 

  1. It required us to be invested in something.

In order to be in community with one another and with God, the Israelites must give something up.

I wonder what it felt like for the Israelites to give their treasured possessions–of the few things they were able to take out of Egypt–their yarns, precious metals, cloth, and tanned skins, jewels, wood. I wonder what it felt like to contribute toward something that was not ordered by slave masters, not going to be inhabited by the people who rule over you. I wonder what it felt like to see these earthly objects become a sacred space for God.

In donating these objects toward the construction of this small masterpiece, the Israelites become invested in bringing God’s presence into their midst. They value the mishkan because they participated in creating it.  The second verse of the Parashah explicitly states that this investment is not a tax for all people or even a commandment. Instead, people should give that they brought with them out of Egypt, אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִדְּבֶ֣נּוּ לִבּ֔ם–asher yadbeinu libam, out of the generosity of their hearts. 

To be invested, we are asked to give something up and put it towards a greater purpose.

  1. We value the things we make. 

Even if it is a frustrating process or isn’t actually worth something monetarily, at the end of the day we take pride in the work of our hands. The effort that we put into something does not just change the object. It changes us and the way we evaluate that object; the challenge of creating fosters responsibility. And the greater the labor, the greater the love for what we have made.

Think of a piece of origami, which before folding is just a piece of colored paper. But when it is folded in specific sequences to create a new shape, it has new value. 

The Mishkan was such a project. The labor was about valuing God and about valuing holiness through contribution of prized possessions, time, and careful labor. The fact that the Torah dedicates several chapters to the dimensions, materials and steps of construction communicates to us that the process is just as important as the product itself. We learn the process and understand the labor in order to understand–and to love–what the Israelites made. The project required them to show their love for God. 

  1. It marks a shift in the Israelites’ freedom.

For most of Exodus, the Israelites had been recipients of God’s powers and creations; everything they experienced was God-given; plagues, the splitting of the red sea, manna, water springing from rocks, being led by a pillar through the wilderness. We get the sense, at times, that they were ungrateful or whiny; “the Torah isn’t coming down the mountain soon enough!” “the Manna is too repetitive” “we want to go back to the foods we had in Egypt.”

This changes when the Israelites are required to be actors for the first time as they begin to build the Mishkan. It forced them to come together by co-creating amidst the chaos of wandering in the desert. They were free from slavery, but what were they free for? Rabbi Jonathan Sacks ז״ל answers this question: “God gave them the opportunity to give.”

Giving the Israelites this opportunity gave them the chance to give back to God some of what God gave them. They did creative, detailed work as a gift to God and a commitment to holiness. Building the mishkan allowed the Israelites to grow up, become partners in creation and take hold of holiness, rather than waiting for miracles to happen. This is so important in their formation of a nation of people, as it was in the cultural and moral DNA of camp.

~

In modern Hebrew, when we speak about tzedakah or donating to an organization, we use the verb Litrom. It is the basis for the name of this week’s parsha: Terumah. We can translate the word terumah as “a contribution” but it actually has a different meaning without an easy translation. Some linguists and biblical scholars think it means “something you lift up” by dedicating it to a sacred cause.

In 2012, when we built the hadar ochel section of the lodge, a team of staff literally lifted up a giant steel frame under which hundreds of campers and counselors would gather three times a day to eat. We would sing Birkat Hamazon and dance after meals and on Friday nights. That space, at times, felt like the closest space to a mishkan that I have known on this earth. It was a holy place, a place that invited God’s presence and generated holiness. And it was temporary.
The mishkan was also temporary. The Tabernacle was long ago replaced by the Temple, and the Temple by the synagogue. But our task remains unchanged: the responsibility to give and bring God’s presence into the world. This is the secret of giving: when we lift something to give to another, it is we ourselves who are lifted. May this parsha inspire us to build together and give together, so that we may uplift God and uplift one another.

With each passing week, we are becoming more excited about the reopening of our ranch. You have likely read so much from us about our reopening COVID protocols that you have wondered whether we are also thinking about how to improve the actual camp experience. Rest assured that we have been hard at work planning the daily schedule for this summer, and in the following Purim blog, we highlight some of our upcoming programmatic changes.


Lions and Tigers and Bears

As the world was moving into lockdown last spring, we heard from so many about Netflix’s Tiger King. You called and emailed to express dismay that we had not used our wide open space to cage exotic animals. If there was one positive side to closing camp last summer, it was that we were able to realize  a long-held dream and finally had the time to erect the twelve-foot fencing needed to house big cats at Ramah in the Rockies. Over the past few years, we have been continually improving our farm and animal program; we have become adept at milking goats, collecting eggs from chickens, and caring for horses. African Cats were clearly the next step. Shortly after we finished our ten-acre enclosure around the “Shabbat Pasture,” we learned that Joe Exotic’s zoo was being shut down by the State of Oklahoma.  Given our longtime connection with the Jewish communities in the Sooner State, we were quickly able to make the necessary arrangements to offer refuge to five of their cats. 

The past few months of running our cat sanctuary have not gone exactly as planned (but then again, what has?) . Nonetheless, we have learned how to source cheap meat, both from a local hunting lodge and the Jefferson County roadkill department. From a programmatic standpoint, we see the addition of these cats as the ultimate “Challenge by Choice” activity. We know that some chalutzim will find even viewing the animals from afar challenging. Others might feel comfortable petting their wet noses through the chain-link fence. Others might be confident enough to walk into the enclosure and play with the animals. The Colorado Department of Human Services, which grants us our annual child care operating license, has given us a one-year reprieve to demonstrate that we can safely house big cats and small campers at the same time. In the months ahead, we hope to trap a few of the local black bears and add them to the enclosure too!

G.O.A.T

Big cats will not be the only new addition to our community. Ramah is also delighted to welcome the G.O.A.T (Greatest of All Time), Tom Brady, to camp this summer. After leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a crushing win in this year’s Super Bowl, one might think that Brady has nothing more to prove to solidify his title. As it turns out, however, he has never won a Super Bowl playing above sea-level. Next year’s Super Bowl will be played at the Denver Broncos’ Mile High Stadium where there is way less oxygen than New England or Tampa Bay. Brady is eager to be in shape for the big game, and has been looking for a summer retreat even higher than Denver where he can run, climb and throw at elevation. Last week, we received a call from Brady’s agent asking whether we would be willing to offer him a quiet place  to workout most of the day in exchange for a few hours training each week with our chalutzim. While he could easily rent a house in Denver to begin acclimating, he is looking for a more secluded place to set up shop, free from the paparazzi who follow him so much of the time in urban areas. The fact that we serve a mainly vegetarian diet, and always have a vegan option at meals, is an added bonus to one of the world most famous, and unlikely, vegans. 

While the exact schedule remains in preparation, we expect Brady to spend his mornings in Ramah Valley running and throwing. He will also spend two hours per day training his core muscles on our bouldering wall. We imagine him setting up some more challenging practice courses  using the protruding rocks of Prospector Mountain. We have guaranteed him a spectator-free day until 2:00pm, sha’at menucha, at which time he will lead optional clinics for a few chalutzim each day. (Chalutzim who disrespect the Buccaneers, Patriots, or any of the Boston Sports teams for that matter, need not register). While Ramah in the Rockies has never had a team sports program, we also know that we should never pass up an opportunity to stray far from our mission. If this summer is a success, we can imagine one day laying an astro-turf field throughout Ramah Valley, erecting two goals posts, and creating the country’s first Jewish football camp!

A New Masa

It is not just Brady who is looking for new heights. After a year of being cooped up inside, so many in our kehillah kedosha (holy community) are eager for new adventures. After a chance online meeting with Sir Richard Branson, our newest masa (excursion) was born. As it turns out, his space company, Virgin Intergalactic (NYSE: SPCE), was looking for a PR opportunity that showcased its desire to become an “every person’s” space company. In the hopes of justifying their wild valuation in the public markets, the corporation wanted to launch a group of teenagers into suborbital flight to prove the efficacy of their SpaceShipTwo aircraft. With their hangars just a few hours south of our ranch on the Colorado/ New Mexico border, we signed up! What better way to show off our own commitment to addressing the urgent demands of the climate crisis than burning untold quantities of fossil fuels and participating in a new space race!?  

Given the details involved in space flight, there is little room for error in our schedule: chalutzim will leave our ranch on the Tuesday, of the masa-week of each b-session, for the drive to New Mexico. They will spend a day camping on the desert plains alongside the runway. After another day of training in emergency procedures and fitting of flight suits, they will lift off on Thursday for the journey of a lifetime. Virgin Galactic has further agreed to help with our travel needs, ferrying campers from California and New York to Colorado in future summers. 


A year ago, around Purim, America was waking up to the reality of a burgeoning pandemic.  Unfortunately, the line between science and fiction was blurred for too long, leading to untold suffering and hardship, putting deep strains on the physical and mental health of so many in our community and costing over 500,000 lives. We had considered forgoing our Purim update this year since the past 12 months would have once seemed outlandish enough. Yet, here we are: able to reflect, to hope, and to plan. Know that while almost nothing in the above update is true, our commitment to running a safe program, guided by passion, values and science, remains as real as ever. 

This reflection from Rabbi Eliav was also shared in eJewishPhilanthropy.

With a call going out on our emergency walkie-talkie channel, in early morning hours of August 7, 2017, I awoke to the horrifying news that our main lodge was on fire, billowing flames that could easily start a massive forest fire! With flames shooting three stories high, and heat that could be felt from hundreds of feet away, we faced what I thought was going to be the biggest leadership challenge of my career as a camp director of Ramah in the Rockies.

As a community, we had trained for this moment when we had held fire drills every other week. Much went according to plan including, summoning the fire and sheriff’s department, who arrived within an hour to save the surrounding trees and to shepherd us all to safety.

What we had not planned for, however, was the following hours, days and weeks when we needed to keep our community together and informed about how we would continue camp at an alternate site, cooperate with all investigations and eventually rebuild our ranch over the following years. The tone we set with our staff during our first 4:30am meeting, with the building still smoldering in the distance, was the same we followed throughout the evacuation, relocation and rebuilding process: be transparent with everyone regardless of where the facts lead, listen to peoples ideas and emphasize our collective responsibility in creating our destiny.

It is for this reason that two weeks ago we were one of the first Jewish Overnight camps to release the draft of our 2021 operations plan. No one knows where the pandemic will be in the late Spring when we usually open camp. No one knows what precautions we will be required to implement. Nor can we sit around and just hope for the best. Rather, we must begin to plan, knowing that by understanding scenarios we will be ready to adjust as facts become clear.

The COVID-19 crisis does not have the same level of urgency as a fire, but the lessons learned during that emergency have influenced how we have communicated throughout this pandemic. From our first communications in the Spring of 2020, which indicated the unlikelihood of us operating in the summer, to giving definitive dates for informing our community of our plans and defining the process by which we were making decisions, we were able to build further trust with our community.

For those of us running Jewish institutions it is imperative that we continue to be transparent with our community; we must continue to communicate what metrics we are following, to whom we are turning for advice and why we are deciding one thing and not the other. In a typical year, the early winter is the time of year that many families begin to think about camping plans for the next summer. Indeed, for overnight camps like Ramah in the Rockies, we usually end the year about 75% of our way towards our summer camper enrollment. We know that this winter will be different than most, and parents will be making decisions much later into the Spring. Our hope is that by being transparent and engaging with our families throughout, even more will entrust us with the awesome responsibility of accepting care of their children amidst an ongoing pandemic.

After each communication last spring, we held open town hall meetings, and received numerous emails and phone calls with questions and suggestions. When we did make the decision to close for the 2020 season, many families decided to donate part of their tuition to camp in large part because we had been forthcoming with our existential reality and how we hoped to find a path forward.

If there was an enduring lesson from that scary experience in 2017 it is that transparency keeps a community together in challenging times and builds trust between all parties who can work together to envision a better future. Now, with the COVID pandemic enveloping us into the 2021 camping season, we are moving forward with this same principle.

Along with releasing our draft plan, we included a form for our community to ask questions or to make comments/ suggestions. We held our first town hall meeting with parents, campers, staff and donors on November 30, 2020 and heard even more feedback. Over the coming weeks our year-round team and our COVID taskforce will review all comments and determine what needs to change in the plan. We intend to update the draft plan, monthly through the Spring based on changing data, scientific understanding and best practices.

As we set into the winter month, families are facing months of unknowns. Will their children stay in virtual school, or return to in person learning? When will they next see grandparents and cousins? What will the summer look like? No one has all the answers.

Stanford Economist, Paul Romer, stated in 2004, “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste.” None of us would ever wish upon ourselves a fire or a pandemic. When emergencies arise, however, it is an opportunity for us, as leaders, to not only get past the immediate crisis, but to build a community that is stronger, more transparent, and more cohesive than it was before the emergency arose.

Chaverim, 

Ramah in the Rockies will open its doors during summer 2021 for in-person programming. 
With your partnership, we remain steadfast in our commitment to create a safe operating environment for both campers and staff, while continuing to deliver on our mission to create a laboratory for joyful Jewish living and learning. Since early July 2020, a dedicated and well-qualified group of lay leaders and staff have been following the science, evaluating camps that did operate during summer 2020, and researching best practices to ensure we can deliver on this commitment. 

Before a typical summer we prepare for a variety of scenarios. Scenario planning is key to running a safe community. We are taking a similar approach to preparing for kayitz 2021; we are considering a multitude of scenarios and coming up with plans for each. Our Roadmap to Summer 2021 is the first step in this scenario planning, and we are excited to share it with our community. 

This document is dynamic, posted on our website, for all to see our latest thinking and plans. You will see a 6 word version (Keep COVID out. Contain COVID spread), a two minute overview, and the full ten minute read version. This document is NOT our final operations manual for 2021. Rather is a snapshot of our thinking if we were to open camp next month, based on what we know now. In it, we outline our core assumptions and various operating procedures, including sections about community structure, health & safety, travel, program, food service, facility, and communication strategies. 

Please visit ramahoutdoors.org/covid-19 to read our Roadmap. On the same page, you will see a form inviting you to share feedback and questions. We will be holding a town hall meeting on Monday, November 30th at 7pm MST to answer your questions and hear additional feedback. You will also see the link to register for the Zoom call on that page.


Finally, we appreciate your trust and your patience. Ten months ago we could not have imagined the possibility of a ‘canceled summer’ let alone the notion that this pandemic will impact this coming camp season too. As we turn towards the Winter months, we sit here imagining the feeling of opening day in summer 2021. We imagine giving our chalutzim a joyfully Jewish experience next summer, and we all know that what our kids need and deserve most of all right now is camp! Please do not hesitate to reach out, connect with us if you have any questions or just to say hi too. 


With gratitude, 
Rabbi Eliav, Julia, and the Ramah in the Rockies team 

August 25, 2020

Dear Families:

As most of our Colorado families return to school this week, it is hard to believe that Summer 2020 has come to a close. We are so grateful to everyone who has joined us virtually to bring our Kehillah Kedosha together – from the nearly 100 Chalutzim who joined us for virtual camp, to the faces we saw at Kabbalat Shabbat, and the families that shared how much simcha our Ramah music or challah recipe brought to their homes.

Today, we turn the page and focus our attention towards the “next normal,”– reopening our camp for the 2021 season and ensuring that we have the resources to make this happen!

We plan to operate our camp in person in kayitz 2021 with the same unique blend of outdoor education, open-air environmental living, and joyful Jewish expression that has been the hallmark of our community.

Registration for 2021 will open on September 1st. All campers who enroll before October 31 will receive a limited edition Ramah in the Rockies hoodie sweatshirt. If you rolled over your child’s tuition from 2020 to 2021, then of course they will receive a hoodie too!
You can see our 2021 Dates & Rates on our website. We are freezing tuition at our 2020 Rates!

None of us know what our world will look like in 2021. We have convened a planning group of experts in public health, medicine, education, and risk assessment to examine trends and data and to advise our board and staff on the safest way to reopen camp in-person next summer. This group will base its recommendations on the latest science, government regulations and best practices implemented across the Ramah movement, the broader summer camp community, and schools that are reopening for in-person activities.

As we plan for the summer over the next ten months, we make the following promises to you:

Full transparency and regular communications. While we plan for a full reopening next summer, we are also realistic and know that this pandemic is rapidly evolving. We know we will have to adapt aspects of our program based on new information. We will keep you informed of any decisions that will materially affect the camp experience. We are also happy to speak via phone, video or email. Just be in touch.

Full Refunds. All deposits and tuition will be 100% refundable for ANY REASON until March 1, 2021. Entrusting your child to us is an awesome responsibility that we do not take for granted. We are in relationship with each family who registers for camp, and want to ensure that money is not a driving factor.

Additional Assistance. In the eleven years our camp has been in operation, we have never turned away a child who applies before March 1 for financial reasons. We know that many of our families are struggling financially due to the economic instability of the past few months. We are committed to raising additional scholarship dollars to ensure that we can help support any Jewish child who would like to come to our camp.

The health and safety of our community is always our #1 concern. We will not make any decisions that would imperil the health of our campers, staff, or families.

A THANK YOU. . .
We have been blown away by the love we felt from our community this summer. Over 100 campers participated in our virtual programs, and were joined by over 25 tzevet members who took the leap with them. Over 175 families (or 57%) donated portions of their 2020 tuition to camp and 115 families (or 42%) rolled over their tuition to next summer. Many donors have already invested in our “Next Normal” campaign too. Thank you to all who have already come along on our journey.

Two Requests
Over the coming months, we hope that you will help us pivot to the Next Normal. Here’s how you can help:

For those who know families that would benefit from sending their children to Ramah in the Rockies, please tell them about our community and encourage them to be in touch. If you would like to host a virtual information session, we will help arrange logistics. We are continuing with our refer-a-friend program this year too. Word of mouth is our best recruitment strategy.

For those in the position to help us financially, we welcome any and all support. We have a long journey ahead. We continue to take on financial risk as we prepare our camp for next summer but are confident that with the help of our dedicated community, we will emerge stronger at the end of the trail.

covid19, 2021, enrollment, registration, summer camp

Thank you for believing in our mission and we look forward to continuing this journey together.

The Ramah in the Rockies Team

Rabbi Eliav Bock, Executive Director
Julia Chatinover, Assistant Director
Gil Rosenthal, Board Chair

To our Ramah in the Rockies kehillah kedosha,

I write this email having just returned from a week of winter camping on the chava (ranch) where the Ramah year-round team met to work on some preparations for Kayitz 2020. We are having a fantastically snowy winter (30 feet and counting), which we hope will make for a very wet and green spring. With camp right around the corner, we are pleased to finally be able to announce a few major changes to our camp program.

Exciting Changes to our Masa Program.

Let’s face it – for many kids, Ramah in the Rockies is too rustic! We hear from so many parents that they love the values of Ramah in the Rockies, but wish their children were more pampered. This summer we are pleased to announce our very first glamping masa (backcountry excursions). Inspired by the five days our senior staff recently spent in Tulum, Mexico in an overpriced yurt – where warm bathing water was brought to our doors each morning and our days were filled with yoga and fine vegetarian raw meals – we decided that we need to expose our chalutzim (campers) to this sort of luxury camping. After some research, we partnered with a private outdoors camping company called Less Rocky: Rockies Camping Inc. (LRRC). LRRC has designed an incredibly unique glamping experience for our campers: chalutzim will experience the magic of the Rocky Mountains during the day, and enjoy the comfort of high-count Egyptian cotton sheets by night! 

On our masa’ot this summer, chalutzim will be treated to long meals, featuring some of the best vegan food available West of the Mississippi. One of the most significant reasons for partnering with this specific backcountry company, beyond the array of LRRC’s dietary options, was their beverage service. Each masa group will have a company employee who will carry 45 liters of crisp Fiji water insulated by a top-of-the-line YETI cooler backpack. Breakfast will include a variety of cold brew coffee options, while at lunch and dinner chalutzim can choose from two types of kombucha and San Pellegrino. 

After Kayitz 2019, we heard that a particular source of contention for our campers was the uncomfortable camping mats they slept on during masa. Well, at the request of our camp kehillah kedosha (holy community), we have made sure that LRRC provides individual memory foam cots that sit at least 18 inches off the ground to everyone on masa

In addition to the food and sleeping arrangements, the company has assured us that every desire or need our campers may have during masa will be met. No requests will be declined. For Kayitz 2020, our hope is that chalutzim realize that to experience nature means to find a place that costs more than a five-star hotel where one has the views and smells of the great outdoors without having to deal with the annoying elements like dirt, rain, or bugs.

Unveiling Our New Chadar Ochel and New Food Options!

For ten summers, we focused our attention on serving sustainable and healthy food. This kayitz, however, we have decided that while the healthy diet was fun in theory, in reality, our chalutzim and tzevet (staff) just want pizza, hamburgers, and diet soda. And so, I am excited to share our new camp motto – “Frozen is the new fresh.” 

While we will continue to cook meals in our main kitchen, we have decided to outfit our new Chadar Ochel (Dining Hall) with a bank of microwaves and three glassdoor freezers. This new addition will house a wide selection of packaged and pre-cooked dinners imported from a Brooklyn kosher food distributor. Campers will be welcome to leave their seats at any point of a meal, take a pre-packaged meal and warm it up for themselves. We want our campers to realize that they can have whatever they want whenever they want it.

We are also excited to announce a new special day at camp, Yom Fleish (Meat Day). Yom Fleish will be once a session (i.e. once every two weeks), and we will serve meat, and only meat, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We are so excited to spend this day teaching our chalutzim that their actions will have absolutely no effect on the environment. Our educational goal is to provide them with the foundational understanding that no matter what they do in the world, it is not possible to make any change, so we might as well just live life and let someone else worry about the big issues (like climate change). 

Our Newest Chug Option!

Since the beginning of time, humans have wondered what it would feel like for a person to fly through the air. Well, thanks to innovative fabrics, it is now possible with commercial flight wingsuits! We have watched each year as the sport of BASEjumping has taken off around the globe. For the past two years, we have worked with our licensing agencies, in both Jefferson County and the State of Colorado, to become the first summer camp in the world to offer children the opportunity to fly.  

Before Kayitz 2020 we will receive our first-ever shipment of Ramah flight wingsuits. Our Ramah wingsuits weigh under 20 pounds apiece and can withstand speeds of over 200 MPH. BASEjumping, or as it will be called at camp “Alef Beis Jumping” or just “Beis,” will be offered to all of our chalutzim as a chug (elective) option. Campers who choose Beis, will hike up Prospector Mountain on the backside of our property – it is the perfect cliff for a long-running start. Chalutzim will perform deep-dives off the edge and land safely in Ramah valley. Campers who successfully complete jumping from Prospector will have the opportunity to do four more jumps from different mountain tops throughout Pike National Forest.  

We have arrived at the halfway point of the Hebrew month of Adar, and as such, Purim has undoubtedly brought out our sillier side. It is with this, that we hope we can share many more laughs with you throughout the year(s) to come! We cannot wait to welcome your children back to the chava in less than 100 days and we will have more updates coming soon.

Chag Purim same’ach! Happy Purim!

– Rabbi Eliav

(P.S. Yes, 99% of what is written above is a joke.)

To our Ramah in the Rockies kehillah kedosha,

This year, as we prepare for our seders, we are thinking about numbers. We are thinking of the traditional Passover numbers – the eight days of Passover, four cups of wine, three matzot, and one Elijah’s cup. We are also thinking about the tragic numbers linked to the pandemic we are all living through – the number of people who have fallen ill with COVID-19, those who have recovered, and those who have tragically succumbed to the disease. We are thinking about the millions who are now unemployed and the devastating economic toll this virus is taking on families, businesses, and non-profits alike. With this in mind, we offer the following look inside our organization as we prepare for our 11th kayitz and the possibility that we will need to alter our summer plans based on the trajectory of the virus.

Ramah in the Rockies by the Numbers:

$890,000

Cost of opening our expanded Waster Water Treatment
plant in 2020 – bringing our total to $1.6 million spent
on our existing waste-water infrastructure for the chava.

$105,000

Need-based financial assistance awarded – thank you to our generous donors.

9,000

Gallons of drinking water available in our year-round water storage tank at any one time.

500+

Number of chalutzim and tzevet who call our kehillah kedosha home each summer.

70

Days until Kayitz 2020 is scheduled to begin!

43

JOLI chalutzim registered for 2020 – our most ever!

30+

Number of chalutzim who will receive their 5th-year shirts this kayitz.

28

Number of different states from which chalutzim are coming in 2020.

25

New masa tents purchased.

24

Days until we will make an announcement about our summer schedule

23

Ta’am Ramah (Taste of Ramah) chalutzim currently registered for 2020.

21

Horses under contract to come to camp – from two different herds!

16

Beds in our new Mirpa’ah (Health & Wellness Center).

12

New bikes purchased for Ilanot & Metaylim chalutzim.

5

Stalls in the new bathrooms across from the Chadar Ochel (Dining Hall).

3

The number of raised beds to be built in our kitchen’s new garden.

1

New Mercaz Gan-Teva (Garden and Nature Center opening this kayitz).

0

Dogs currently planning to be with us at camp for the whole summer.
Help us “adopt” a calm, kid-friendly camp dog this summer!

Ask any of our chalutzim (campers) and they will tell you that Ramah in the Rockies is an exceptionally green place. While many are simply drawn to camp’s natural greenery, as a camp, we are as equally proud of our “green” initiatives. We make a strong effort to limit our impact on the environment and utilize sustainable options whenever possible. Over our ten years on the chava (ranch) we have maintained a mostly vegetarian diet, we use reusable silverware, much of our schedule is dictated by the sun, and our camp structures have been built to maximize sunlight. All that being said, there’s another side to how Ramah in the Rockies “goes green” on a day-to-day basis. Instead of being green, one practice is a little more “brown” – that’s right, we are talking about food decomposition!

Chalutzim take turns spinning our compost barrels.

While in the “real world,” garbage and recyclables are simply tossed into their respective receptacles, Ramah in the Rockies has needed to handle our garbage disposal and recycling with a slightly different approach. Situated at just over 8,000 feet and more than 45 minutes from the closest gas station, bringing our trash and recyclables down the mountain regularly would not only be a timely endeavor, but it would also be a costly one. 

Enter Hadar Zeigerson – Ramah in the Rockies’ Sustainability Educator & Compost/Waste Manager for Kayitz 2019… 

Hadar hard at work.

After trying different composting methods over the first few years at camp, this summer, with Hadar’s help, Rockies elected to continue with our venture in “bokashi.” In comparison to regular composting, the bokashi method of food decomposition, which originates in Japan, is quicker, less labor-intensive, it can better handle camp’s high elevation, and (as a true bonus) it does not attract bears! 

We spoke to Hadar, who broke down the entire bokashi process from start to finish. At the end of every meal at camp, food waste is deposited into buckets in our chadar ochel (dining hall). Twice a day Hadar loads up “Lil Blue” – camp’s beloved baby blue pickup truck – and drives the filled buckets over to our bokashi shipping container. 

There, the waste is emptied out into one of our fifteen 55-gallon barrels, and then the “real fun” begins. During a normal week at camp, we can fill anywhere from three to five buckets for bokashi processing. After a pinch or two of our bacteria-rich natural decomposing agent, the barrels are then sealed. As a byproduct of this process, a liquid is created known as “bokashi juice.” The bokashi juice needs to be drained manually, which as Hadar explained, “If you don’t drain the juice, the bokashi becomes ‘puke-kashi!’” In other words, when you do not drain the bokashi regularly, the bokashi rots, leaving terrible smelling mush. Bokashi that is monitored is equally as mushy, but it has a less-intense fermented smell, “kind of like pickles or kombucha.”  

At the end of this two-to-three-week anaerobic process, the waste material inside our bokashi buckets is ready for the last stage of decomposition and is prepared to be repurposed. The contents of the buckets are buried about a foot underground and a month later our leftover granola, discarded banana peels, and used coffee grounds have all transformed into nutrient-rich soil that can be used anywhere at camp.  

Hadar’s impact goes beyond just handling our food waste. This past kayitz, Hadar created infographics on several environmental and sustainability topics. These informative graphics could be found in nearly every bathroom stall at camp, allowing chalutzim and tzevet (staff) alike to learn about the business of camp’s waste-management while taking care of their own “personal business.”

While keeping our camp sustainable (and bear-free) is of high importance for Camp Ramah in the Rockies, the lessons of waste-management and sustainability reach far beyond the chava. This kayitz we wanted to provide our chalutzim with more than just information. It was important to give them the opportunity to actively express how learning about sustainability and living green made them feel.

This was best displayed during last summer’s chalutzim-led demonstrations when campers learned about “holy protest” with Rosh Omanut (Head of Art) Yoshua Hooper. The lessons primarily focused on humanity’s impact on the planet and how we impact the wildlife living near camp. A prime example of this “values-to-actions” mentality was seen during the first week of camp, a few days before Hadar was hired. Camp was not yet ready to begin composting, and so our chalutzim protested, demanding that Ramah take responsibility and start composting. We hired Hadar soon after and the rest was history. 

All in all, waste-management and sustainability are at the core of Ramah in the Rockies’ midot (values). At our camp we not only show kavod (respect) for each other and ourselves, but also for the planet on which we live. Everyone who has a meal with our community knows that at the end of the meal we prepare our food leftovers to be repurposed. Additionally, leave-no-trace is one of camp’s principal ideologies when it comes to day-to-day life. Everyone buys into the “Ramah in the Rockies way.” We all separate our food-waste at the end of meals, we all have reusable water bottles, and we use bear-proof trash cans. Our entire kehila kedosha (holy community) plays an integral role in the size of the footprint that Ramah in the Rockies leaves behind on the natural world every summer.  

By Moss Herberholz, Director of Inclusion Kayitz 2019

It’s Friday night at camp, and the singing after Shabbat dinner has begun. Chalutzim (campers), tzevet (staff) and orchim (guests) all stand up and move toward the center of the room enthusiastically to join in the celebration. As I watch from a table nearby, two young chalutzim come up to me and ask if they can have some earplugs. I pull two pairs out of my pocket and hand a pair to each of the chalutzim. Reminding them that they are reusable, I pull two pairs out of my pocket and hand a pair to each of the chalutzim. A few minutes later I have joined the gathering in the middle of the chadar ochel (dining room) and a tzevet member taps me on the shoulder, asking if there are any noise-reducing headphones left. I grab her a pair of headphones and mention to her that chalutzim have priority, so I may need to reclaim them from her later. 

This past summer in my role as the Director of Inclusion, I worked to expand what our inclusion program looks like, with the goal of providing extra support to campers who need it. One way I did this was by making personal sound-reduction equipment available to everyone at camp during meals, shira (singing), and other large group gatherings.

Meals at Ramah in the Rockies can be noisy; chalutzim and tzevet members engage with each other, reviewing the highlights of the day and talking about upcoming programming, All of this combines with the acoustics of our chadar ochel to make for a dissonance of sound. Although this level of sound is tolerable for many chalutzim and tzevet members, there are plenty of people whose dining experience is disrupted by the chorus of excited voices.

Any chalutz or tzevet member who will benefit from earplugs or noise-reducing headphones only needs to ask and they shall receive. Chalutzim are able to ask their madrichim (counselors) or any member of our camper care or support teams for ear protection and they will get it. 

We saw many chalutzim and tzevet members wearing their reusable earplugs or rocking a pair of noise-reducing headphones. With smiles on their faces and their ears protected, they enjoyed their meals and the company of those around them. Allowing them to socialize and get the fuel they need for a successful day at camp, all without getting overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the chadar ochel.

This accommodation, originally intended for specific chalutzim who needed additional support, has become a helpful resource for all of the chalutzim and tzevet in our community. By advertising this option to everyone, we have allowed anyone who needs, and may not have known how to previously ask, to easily get the support they require to be comfortable. What was once a resource reserved for a small number of individuals is now available to everyone. We, at Ramah in the Rockies, look forward to exploring more ways in which we can improve the camp experience and expand what it means to effectively support everyone in our kehilah kedosha (holy community). 

Chag Chanukkah Same’ach from Ramah in the Rockies!

Without the chalutzim (campers) camp would be meaningless – each and every one of them is a light in our community. Every summer, our amazing tzevet (staff) work tirelessly to ensure that every chalutz and chalutzah have incredible and lifechanging experiences at Ramah in the Rockies. And so, in celebration of Chanukkah, we wanted to spotlight some of the individuals that keep the “lights” of Ramah in the Rockies “burning bright” for 8 amazing weeks every summer.


Ben
Toronto, Canada
Metaylim Madrich

Last summer was my fifth summer at camp, and my first as tzevet! I worked as a Metaylim (5th and 6th graders) madrich (counselor) and as an assistant to the Rosh Edah (Head of age group). I got to hangout with the kids all day, take them to their activities, run programs, and plan zman edah (age-group specific programming).

My favorite aspect of camp is kabbalat Shabbat, when the whole camp comes together having showered after a long week of activities, ready to sing and celebrate a change of pace from the normal week. I also love when the chalutzim come back from masa excited to share their adventures with me, and you can really see how much they have changed and grown from the experience.

Lihi
Tel Aviv, Israel
Inclusion Specialist

Last summer was my first at camp, and I worked on the Inclusion Team. I heard about camp through the Jewish Agency for Israel. I used to work at a day camp in Israel and I love working with kids, so I was excited by the adventure of summer camp in America.

Day-to-day I would roam around camp, making sure our inclusion campers are engaging with other campers and having a great time at their activities. My job was to give our campers the best summer possible. I didn’t have my own ohel (tent) of campers, so the first time I had my own group was on the rafting and biking masa. During the masa I got to really speak with the campers and get to know them. When they returned to base camp, the campers did a night activity where they created skits about their trips. I was so excited when they called me over to be a part of it. It made me feel like I really made connections with them.

The views were my favorite part of camp. The stars at night are so bright, the clouds are insane, and the mountains are so beautiful – especially the ones that are still covered with snow!

Edson
Puebla, Mexico
Kitchen Prep Cook

I worked in the kitchen helping to prepare the food. The first week was hard, but it became much easier to help with the food because I know what I’m doing. During meals, I enjoyed talking to the kids when they come up to the windows for refills. They would all say “thank you,” and I really appreciated that.

I wanted to come to camp to interact with kids, so I’ve started giving kids Spanish lessons on Tuesdays. I have loved getting to meet so many new people.

I really enjoyed the nature and the view of the mountains. I loved taking walks with my friends at night and stargazing. Living in the tents was an adventure in itself and something new. 

Avital
Teaneck, NJ
Metaylim Madricha

I ended up working at camp because I went to Ramah in the Rockies as a camper in 2016 for my JOLI year. After I went to camp in 2016, and understood how lucky I was to be part of such a unique community in an incredibly beautiful place, I knew I wanted to come back to work there. Shuli Bolton was the person who originally told me about Ramah in the Rockies, and we both ended up doing JOLI, and then working on tzevet together for the past 2 summers.

My favorite part about camp is having the opportunity to constantly explore my Jewish identity while being immersed in nature. I feel most connected to Judaism and my spirituality at camp, specifically during kabbalat Shabbat because I am surrounded by the mountains, the greenery, and an accepting and supportive kehillah (community).

Daniel
Budapest, Hungry
Kitchen Dishwasher

I found Ramah in the Rockies through the Camp Leaders Program [a program that matches potential staff members across the globe with camps in the United States.] I wanted to see the beauty of Colorado, and I knew someone who worked here in the past and they told me great things about this camp.

As Kitchen Dishwasher, I worked both day shifts and night shifts. during these shifts, all of the kitchen staff listened to music together and always helped each other out.

The part of camp I enjoyed most was the community – both inside and outside of the kitchen. Everyone was very friendly and helpful, and everyone trusts each other, which is different than what I experience in Hungary. I really enjoyed the fun atmosphere of camp community.

David
Milwaukee, WI
Tzevet Ofanayim/Solelim Madrich

This past summer was the second year that I worked at Ramah in the Rockies, and my fifth year overall. I have worked the past two summers as a Solelim (7th and 8th graders) madrich and ofanayim (biking) staff. 

Between 4th and 7th grade I stayed at home during the summer, and I would listen to my brother rave about his summer adventures at Ramah in the Rockies. Finally, in 8th grade I went second session for two weeks and fell head-over-heels in love with camp. Following my JOLI summer in 2016, I knew that I wanted to be a part of tzevet, as I was so excited to help develop the kehillah that had shaped me into a Jewish leader. 

My favorite part of camp is masa’ot. I live my life by the guiding principle my JOLI Rosh taught me: “To grow, you have to embrace the discomfort and put yourself in your ‘stretch zone’. The stretch zone may be uncomfortable and scary, but you will come out as an improved, more resilient individual.” Masa’ot are incredibly special opportunities for chalutzim to enter their own ‘stretch zones’ and accomplish goals that might seem impossible outside of the context of a masa. I know that I’ve grown to be the leader that I am today because of the 10+ masa’ot I’ve participated in and led over my five fulfilling years at camp. 

And finally, while I live far away from camp during the academic year, I consider Ramah Rockies as my second home which I always look forward to visiting. 

Sarah
Clearwater, FL
Sayarim Madricha

I ended up working at camp because I was working at BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy. While working at BaMidbar, they had a brief pause in their programming (they are back now and offering amazing programs!) and was graciously offered a job at Ramah in the Rockies for the second session last summer.

I loved living in the amazingly beautiful wilderness and experiencing Shabbat in the camp community.  My favorite part of camp is being a part of an enriching Jewish community in a beautiful, wild setting. It was deeply rewarding to be able to support campers’ connection to each other, Judaism and the natural world.

Nic
Olympia, WA
Tzevet Ofanayim

Ramah in the Rockies places a premium on hiring people who bring real expertise in outdoor education and adventure.  As such, they will often recruit outdoor professionals from outside the Jewish community, and that’s how I came to be a part of the Ramah community in 2015.  

Ramah in the Rockies places a premium on hiring people who bring real expertise in outdoor education and adventure.  As such, they will often recruit outdoor professionals from outside the Jewish community, and that’s how I came to be a part of the Ramah community in 2015.  

Although I am not a religious person, I find that the emphasis on creating a holy community where young people can focus on developing their relationship with their Judaism to be my favorite part of Ramah.  Even as a non-Jewish member of tzevet I have been generously welcomed into the community and I am grateful for the connections that have been offered to me. Many Ramah alumni consider ROA to be a second “home”, and I am one of them. 

Join our staff for Kayitz 2020 and learn more about working at Ramah in the Rockies here

By Risa Isard

*The following blog post was originally given as a speech during the Ramah in the Rockies 10-Year celebration in Denver, CO on December 7th, 2019.

I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. I distinctly remember conversations from the 1990s about a new Ramah camp in Colorado. I waited. Dreamed. Looked forward to the day I’d get to be a camper there. Ramah runs deep in my family – my great grandfather helped found Ramah in the Poconos, where my mom was a camper and staff member. Camp Ramah was this magical place I’d heard stories about. So I eagerly listened anytime someone at synagogue would talk about the Ramah in Colorado that was opening someday. 

Risa, during her first time on the Ranch back in 2009

Without Ramah in Colorado, I followed my brother to a Jewish overnight camp in Northern Arizona. Seeking a more robust Jewish experience, I asked to go to Ramah. For seven summers, Ramah Darom was my home. I wouldn’t change those summers for anything – except for maybe to have been able to be at Ramah in Colorado, or “Rugged Ramah” as Rabbi Eliav referred to it back in 2009 in comparison to my beloved “Spa Ramah.” 

If you’re good at math, you’ll notice I just said 2009. A year before camp officially opened in 2010. I’m forever grateful for the chance to have joined Rabbi Eliav for a week of pilot programming designed for prospective staff. If you think camp is rugged now, you should have seen it for 2009. We slept in literal camping tents on the ground. Cooked all our own meals on camping stoves. And enjoyed the luxury of the nearby compostable toilets, a cherished legacy of the Girl Scouts camp. We also dreamed about what could be the next summer. About how to make camp really come to life. About the values. Goals. Culture. Educational priorities. Programs. About Shabbat and shmirat ha’goof (morning physical warmups) and masa (backcountry excursions).

Risa and some of her chalutzot during the first summer of camp

And in 2010, it happened. Being on founding staff was the opportunity of a lifetime. Really, it was like a summer-long masa. Which is to say, when we get together, we like to trade stories: That time we had a single day off the entire summer. That time our campers tried to take razors and shaving cream on a backpacking trip. That time when campers cooked their own dinners at base camp. (We thought it was a good teachable moment?) 

It’s impossible to remember every detail, but it’s easy to remember the feelings.

Of purpose and responsibility: Without our own childhood connection to camp, staff signed on because of a belief in what Ramah Outdoor Adventure stood for. Because ROA’s values were – are – our values. We understood the responsibility at our feet – that the culture we set would matter. We hoped it would last. And we jumped in.

Of connection and community: With other staff, and with campers. The shabbat-o-grams and innovative tefilot. The masa families, ohel (tent) families, perek (activity period) families, and an entire kehillah kedosha (holy community) that embraced us as we showed up as our full selves. That held us as we adventured, explored, stargazed, prayed, danced, sang, played. All-day. Every day. 

Risa on masa in 2010. Note the familiar faces of chalutzim who would go on to be tzevet at camp years later

Of growth: Forged by the daily – sometimes hourly – opportunity to challenge ourselves. To try new things. To fail, and try again, and accomplish things never before dreamed of. To support each other in these pursuits. A new climbing pitch. A big hill on a bike. The first time we led a prayer. A new food we cooked. A new knot we learned and got to use in the backcountry. 

And so much fun. The inside jokes and late-night stories. The early morning runs. The made-up games like Ultimate Soccer and Capiscular Avengers. The camp song’s unofficial lyrics. The Shabbat everything.

I remember getting our paychecks that first summer – on the porch of the old lodge – after campers had left and being surprised. I had forgotten this was technically my summer job. I can promise you, for staff, camp is so much more than a job. And for chalutzim (campers), it’s so much more than “just camp.”

Risa co-leading services in 2010

I was back on staff in 2011 and 2012. Of course, there’s nothing like those earliest years. Still, there’s something equally as special. And that’s having a front-row seat to watching camp grow. 

In 2018 I had the privilege of joining the board. Camp has grown – in numbers of campers and staff, in activities offered, and even in infrastructure. It’s grown because today’s campers and staff have embraced the idea that we all felt so deeply that first summer: Ramah in the Rockies is a place you can make yours. 

That idea has made the past 10 years but a dream. We’ve been so lucky to have an entire community dreaming with us – and making it happen. Making Ramah in the Rockies yours. So, yes, I’ve been deputized to remind you that every donation you’ve made matters. I’m biased – and proud – that former staff, most of us who are not yet 30, have raised several thousand dollars in just the past month in honor of this momentous occasion – and all that’s still to come. 

All that’s still to come is the real reason to celebrate. Because there is such a bright future for this camp and for the generations who will get to experience it. That’s why Ramah in the Rockies is participating, along with many other organizations, in a Grinspoon Foundation program called Live On Life and Legacy. It is a way to leave a gift behind to camp to ensure that campers can continue to benefit from the rich experiences camp provides for years to come. It’s a “challenge by choice,” as we say at Ramah in the Rockies. I hope you choose to join me.

I’ll close with these words I wrote in an email to Rabbi Eliav and our pioneering staff after the 2009 week of pilot programming: 

“I have a confession to make. I’m an activist. I believe in social change and am very passionate about a lot of various causes and movements. And while I like the environment and care about it… I’d be lying if I told you it was one of my priorities when it comes to social change and progressing our society….
Well, that was me before ROA. Post-ROA Risa told her mom, ‘It’s bad for the environment,’ more times than I can count in the past few days as I was shopping for things for my [college] dorm room. I like to think that even though I’m older than the campers we’ll be welcoming next summer the same shift in mindset can and will occur. My perspective changed this much in just a week. Imagine the power a month will have.
Love the Earth,
Risa”

It’s not just about the environment, of course. Ramah in the Rockies was the first place I went backpacking, the first place I lifted the Torah in hagbah, and the first place I came out. That’s the trifecta of self-actualization that’s possible at a place like Ramah in the Rockies. We all have the chance to live into ourselves, even if everyone’s new frontier(s) are different.

2010 camp tzevet during shavuah hachanah (staff prep week before campers arrive)

Today we know the power of a month. Better even, we know the power of 10 years. 

A todah rabah to everyone who made these past 10 years possible – with a deeply personal thanks to Rabbi Eliav and the 2010 kehillah, from my chalutzim (hey Ohel Carmel!) to the tzevet (staff) I’m so proud to have had as my friends and partners. 

*Insert Wet Hot American Summer 10-Year Reunion quote here*

If you would actually like to see the clip from “Wet Hot American Summer,” you can click here.

As we approach the end of 2019, we, the Ramah in the Rockies community, have a lot to be thankful for. With this in mind, we wanted to share a reflection from this past summer written by JOLI chalutza (camper), Cameron Fields, who took the time to not only share her experiences at camp, but also offer her gratitude.  

Cameron Fields, JOLI Session 1, Kayitz 2019

“This past summer at Ramah in the Rockies was undeniably one of the best summers of my life. That is a major statement to say, but I do not say this loosely. This summer has definitely changed me as a person, friend, and as a leader in both my everyday life, and in the Jewish community. When I boarded the plane the morning of camp, a bunch of emotions surrounded me. Mostly, I was excited for this summer – the summer I had been dreaming about all year long. There was a little bit of fear inside of me, but once our van pulled through the metal gates of camp, all of that changed. 

Most of JOLI from Session 1, Kayitz 2019

From the second I was in the JOLI huddle with the rest of the ‘JOLIers,’ everything just felt right. The group felt so close already, and with the first couple of days that feeling proved to be true. From being Wilderness First Aid certified, to having our first Shabbat together, we all became so close within four days that when it was time split into two groups to depart on masa (backcountry excursions), I was a bit reluctant to do so. But, masa changed me, and I will be forever impacted from just a five day, twenty-eight-mile trip. So many life-changing events occurred within those twenty-eight miles.

Through masa we faced many challenges, but as a team of seven leaders we overcame them. From having to hike off-trail down a mountain with the sun setting behind us, to crossing ten rivers within a mile, or hiking up what seemed like a never-ending hill, my group and I completed our masa with our heads held high, because we did it! This was, without a doubt, the hardest masa I have ever been on, but also the best, and the kesharim (connections) I made with my group will last a lifetime!

JOLI Captains of k’vutzah Kachol (Blue team), Cameron & Stevie, working together during our Yom Sport Relay Event

As amazing as these events were, my time at camp just continued to get better. A highlight of JOLI for me was Yom Sport. I was the captain of Kachol, the blue team, (go Mayim!) and it was one of the best experiences I had the whole summer! I was able to lead my fellow chalutzim in one of their favorite days of the summer and really make it something special for them. I think Yom Sport taught me what being a Jewish outdoor leader is all about. I was able to lead campers, help them when they needed an extra hand, learn new things about myself and what a leader should be, all while having fun with my fellow JOLIers. 

Cameron helping out during her time as a CIT this past kayitz

As my summer at Ramah in the Rockies came to a close, it felt unreal to be leaving camp. As I hugged my ‘Jamily’ at havdallah, I sobbed like I never had before. I was extremely sad that I had to leave them in two days, and I was also really upset to have to leave this kehillah kedosha (holy community) knowing I wouldn’t return as a chalutzah. I did, however,  know that I would be back as a madricha (counselor)!  

This summer taught me so many new things, whether that was through Wilderness First Aid, or on masa, while I was captain on Yom Sport, while I was a counselor-in-training for chalutzim in Ilanot (3rd and 4th graders) and Ta’am Ramah (our ‘Taste of Ramah’ program for 2nd to 4th graders), or just hanging around base camp. This summer has impacted me for the better, and definitely changed my life forever. So thank you Ramah in the Rockies for making me who I am today! Thank you for teaching me new things, and thank you for giving me the best summer of my life!” 

Cameron Fields
11th Grade
Ocean Township, NJ

We thank all of our camp families for their support, all of our tzevet (staff) for their hard work and dedication, and, of course, all of our chalutzim for spending each summer opening themselves up to all of the experiences that Ramah in the Rockies has to offer. 

Happy Thanksgiving, 

From the entire Ramah in the Rockies team