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Happy Israel Independence Day!
Celebrating Jerusalem's Jubilee Year
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May 2, 2017 / 6 Iyyar 5777
Shalom Chaverim,
May our eyes behold your return to Zion – ותחזינה עינינו בשובך לציון.
For centuries and generations, Jews around the world have prayed and desired to return to Zion and Jerusalem. Sixty-nine years ago we established the modern State of Israel and 50 years ago we witnessed the reunification of Jerusalem. In June 1967, we regained free access to the Old City, and with it the ability to walk up to the Western Wall, touch its stones, and pray at the holiest site for Jews.
Regardless of whether we reside in Israel or the Diaspora, we have the honor of living in a period when we, as Jews, are free in our own country. A Jewish saying from the liturgy - לתקן עולם במלכות שדי - means improving the world that God gave us. In addition to being a sovereign nation, we have the obligation to improve society by living according to values that promote peace, justice and respect.
This sacred commitment is central to our mission at Ramah Israel. We, the staff, are fortunate to lead and educate Ramah families, youth and adults from North America and Israel and continue to count our blessings of returning to Israel and making this country a better place.
Please enjoy this Jerusalem-themed newsletter marking the celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut and 50 years of our reunified capital. It contains reflections from a current TRY participant, and a story from Dr. Joe Freedman, who was a teenager on Ramah Seminar in the historic summer of 1967. There are also updates on each of our programs, and a video clip featuring the Ramah Israel staff.
We look forward to seeing you in Jerusalem!
Chag Atzmaut Sameach!
מאיר
Executive Director, Ramah Israel
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Jerusalem 1967: A Miracle in Our Time
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It was 50 years ago this spring that I and some 100 other Ramahniks waited impatiently for the summer to begin so we could fulfill our dream of going to Israel on Ramah Seminar.
However, in the middle of May, Egypt closed the Straits of Tiran and war was in the air. The propaganda coming from President Nasser left nothing to the imagination: they were determined to push Israel into the sea. My family and I were glued to the TV. We watched incredulously as six days in June came and went and the “miraculous” Israeli victory became a reality.
The post-war euphoria was great, but the true excitement came in the form of a letter from the National Ramah office, dated June 21, from Seminar director Rabbi Joe Wernik informing us that Seminar would take place as planned, and that the program would now be “greatly enhanced” by the results of the war. Nothing could have made me happier.
Arriving in Israel on July 12, we spent the first five out of seven weeks touring along the coast, in the Galilee and in the south. Wherever we went, our Israeli counselors and guides sang the song that became the anthem of the aftermath of the Six Day War: Yerushalayim Shel Zahav - Jerusalem of Gold. While I didn’t quite understand all the words at the time, singing the song over and over again, it became part of our group—and national—vocabulary...
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Jerusalem 2017: Loving This Complicated City
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When I came here two months ago as a 10th grade student from California, I had no idea what to expect from Jerusalem. Fortunately, I fell in love with the city and felt at home instantly. The longer I have been here in Jerusalem, the more I have come to love it and get to know it in all its unique complexity.
I love waking up each morning and looking outside my window to see beautiful hills and unending Jerusalem stone buildings throughout the city. I await the scent of fresh burekas and rugelach from the local bakery as soon as the sun rises. Even though I need to Google Translate my way through some conversations, I feel like I belong here. When I go to the Mahane Yehuda shuk, I bargain my way to cheap purchases like a true Israeli. I love the fact that I can communicate in Hebrew with people from Russia, France, Hungary, and many other countries. There are even times when I’m walking through the city and run into family friends, teachers, or other students I know from America.
On Shabbat, I walk through the streets singing songs with my friends and wishing strangers “Shabbat Shalom.” It feels like the entire city is all doing the same thing together. I adore the peaceful and relaxed atmosphere. My Shabbat experience in Jerusalem is different from my experience anywhere else.
In 2017, 50 years after its reunification following the Six Day War, I have come to realize that Jerusalem is in reality both a unified and divided city. I am reminded of its unity when I sometimes hear the Muslim call to prayer and church bells ringing as I pray at the Kotel in the Old City. The sight of Jerusalem stone throughout the capital is a physical indication of how the city stands united...
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Jerusalem: The Dream and The Reality
Ramah Israel Seminar
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“On Ramah Israel Seminar we are most interested in deepening Ramah campers’ relationship with Israel, and of course at the heart of that is their relationship with Jerusalem,” says Ramah Israel Seminar director Rabbi Ed Snitkoff.
Seminar participants spend six weeks of the summer in Israel, and half of that time is spent based in Jerusalem at the Israel Goldstein Youth Village. This year, the group will fortuitously be in Jerusalem to observe Tisha B’Av, the day commemorating the destruction of both Holy Temples.
“We are always coming back to Jerusalem, and that says something very strong about the centrality of the capital city for us,” Snitkoff says.
The teens first arrive in Jerusalem after a week in the north of Israel. This build-up to entering the Holy City is purposeful. Upon arrival, the group first stops at the Sherover Promenade in southern Jerusalem overlooking the Temple Mount, the Old City and the modern city skyline. It is an emotional moment as the teens drink grape juice and recite the Shehechiyanu blessing...
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Exploring New Things in the Old Jerusalem
Ramah Israel Institute
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“It’s their arrival in Jerusalem that always seems to turn a group into a mishpacha, or family,” says Ramah Israel Institute director Moshe Gold.
RII organizes and hosts some 25 Israel trips for schools, families, congregations and adult groups every year—and the arrival to Jerusalem is a special moment for all of them.
Half of RII’s trips are for 8th grade and 10th grade classes from North America. For almost all of these students, Jerusalem is still a metaphorical—almost mythical—place they have learned about since early childhood.
“They’ve learned that as Jews, we aim our hearts toward the Kotel wherever we are in the world,” says Gold.
On the two-week Ramah trip, the kids make concrete connections to everything they have learned about Jerusalem.
“It’s not just a PowerPoint presentation anymore,” Gold says.
By visiting historical and religious sites, they see for themselves what makes the city holy. But they also get to experience everyday life by attending concerts, going shopping, and meeting lone soldiers. They learn that Jerusalem is a real place as much as it is a Zionist dream...
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At Home in Jerusalem
Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim (TRY)
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Once the program’s participants, 10th-12th graders from across the US and Canada, overcome the inevitable bouts of initial homesickness, they all quickly begin calling Jerusalem home. Fortunate to live in the city for four months, they get to know and feel a part of it.
Because TRY participants are in Israel for an extended period, they enjoy experiences that are unavailable to teens coming for shorter stays. They get to know their neighbors around the Israel Goldstein Youth Village, do volunteer work in Jerusalem, and attend Hapoel Jerusalem basketball games and cheer for the home team. They run through the city’s streets during the Jerusalem Marathon, and celebrate Shabbat and Shavuot at the Kotel with thousands of other Jews.
As they live at the Israel Goldstein Youth Village, they get to mark Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut with the other inhabitants of the Chava, as the village is known in Hebrew. On Shabbat, they have Jerusalem’s uniquely wide variety of synagogues to choose from when deciding where to attend services.
With 75 percent of their time in Israel spent in Jerusalem, the TRYers form a deep bond with Israel’s capital...
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Fun In and Around Jerusalem
Ramah Jerusalem Day Camp
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Lev speaks of the unique opportunities Israel’s capital city affords the day camp in terms of educational resources, trips and special programming.
Lev and the rest of the day camp’s staff look forward to welcoming campers from Israel and abroad this summer. Like last summer, Hebrew and English speakers will be together in one camp. Some activities will be conducted in English for the English speakers. Whenever possible, activities will be conducted in Hebrew for everybody—a great way for the English speakers to pick up or improve their Hebrew while in Israel.
New this year will be a once-a-week sleepover for 5th and 6th graders. During these special programs, these older campers will work on their leadership skills and learn to work with younger campers.
The 5th and 6th graders will also take weekly trips to a Jerusalem destination. Trips are planned to various museums, the Old City, the Valley of the Cross, Nahlaot and the Mahane Yehuda Market, and other locations.
According to Lev, the younger campers will also leave the Israel Goldstein Youth Village campus for tiyulim (trips) around the city.
As Jerusalem marks the 50th anniversary of its reunification, Lev says it makes sense for the camp to really emphasize the city as an educational and experiential resource.
“There is no end of fun things to do in Jerusalem,” she says.
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Travel with RII and Reshet Ramah
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but stay tuned for our 2018 trip dates!
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Webinar: Israel Update 2017
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Host: Betsalel Steinhart, Director of Education, Ramah Israel
Join Betsalel, a natural storyteller and a gifted teacher, to examine pivotal events facing Israel today.
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Ramah Israel is a division of the National Ramah Commission, which operates under the educational and religious supervision of The Jewish Theological Seminary. Since 1962, Ramah Israel has provided substantive experiential education and meaningful Conservative Jewish living for North Americans in Israel in the spirit of the Ramah Camping Movement.
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Think Israel. Think Ramah.
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