Dear Ramah Community:

The Board of Directors of Camp Ramah in Canada and I are thrilled to announce that Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell has been selected to be the next Director of the Camp. He is truly an exceptional leader, an experienced educator, and an engaging speaker. He has extensive professional accomplishments, including being a recipient of the prestigious Covenant Foundation Pomegranate Prize, which recognizes emerging leaders in the field of Jewish education.

Rabbi Jordan currently serves as Program Director and Faculty Member at the Institute of Jewish Spirituality (IJS). He was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Pennsylvania, has a B.A. in Conservation Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is an alumnus of the National Outdoor Leadership School. Rabbi Jordan will be applying for membership in the Rabbinical Assembly, the global rabbinic professional organization of Conservative rabbis.

Rabbi Jordan has a true love for the Ramah Camping Movement and has built strong bonds with Ramah camps throughout his career. He has served as Camp Consultant for Jewish mindfulness at Camp Ramah in Northern California and at Ramah in the Rockies, as well as Educator and Scholar-in-Residence at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin.

Along with his wife, Yael (née Ben-Dat), a Ramah Canada alum, and their three kids, Adin, Orli, and Shaiya, Rabbi Jordan is very eager to join the Ramah Canada community. He writes,

I am thrilled and honored to be the next Director of Camp Ramah in Canada. Since the time I began going to summer camp as a 9-year-old, and through many summers spent working at different Jewish camps, I have experienced the transformative power of camp. Camp Ramah in Canada has been a leading light in the Jewish camping world, and my vision is to build upon its excellence and successes as a place in which young people thrive as Jews and as human beings. Together with the professional staff, the Board of Directors, our campers and their families, we will ensure that Camp Ramah in Canada continues to shine and grow for many years to come.

Looking forward to weaving together his love of Judaism and camping, Rabbi Jordan will start work at the beginning of December alongside Assistant Director Aviva Millstone and the entire year-round team.

We are grateful to our search committee and the National Ramah Commission for their active role in the selection process. Please join me in wishing Rabbi Jordan the best of luck in his new position at Ramah Canada.

Hazak Hazak V'Nit'hazek,

Josh Charlat

Chair of the Board