Camp Ramah in New England's View From the Heights

A story for your Passover Seder

Last summer Nivonim’s Take Home project focused on Passover.  We asked Nivonimers to share with us stories from their Passover Seders, which they thought others might want to incorporate into their Seder.  This one comes to us from Talia Wolfson:

My Grandma Tema, z”l was born in a shtetl outside of Warsaw in 1921.  She came to the United States when she was five, and being a citizen of the United States was a huge source of pride to her.  She thought it is the greatest country in the world.  This is a story that my mother heard from her mother many times.  Grandma Tema had a cousin named Ruchel who was also born in Poland.  Ruchel came the United States early in the 20^th century and her home was where all of the new immigrants in the family came when they arrived in America.  From the stories we heard, Ruchel lived in total poverty, in a walk-up tenement with a shared bathroom, but there was always room for the newcomers.  Finally, it came time for Ruchel to become a citizen and she went to take her naturalization test.  One of the questions they asked her was, “Who freed the slaves?”  Ruchel answered, “Moses.”  Ruchel failed the test and actually never became a citizen.

So why is this a Passover story?  I think it’s because Ruchel saw freedom through the lens of her own experience and culture.  She heard “slaves” and that meant the Israelites in Egypt.  She didn’t relate to the Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation that was intended on the citizenship test because that wasn’t her freedom and Lincoln wasn’t her deliverer.  The lesson, I think, is that while the Passover story is about the deliverance of our people, it’s a universal story and it can speak to everyone’s experience with hardship and deliverance.

If you have a great story or text from your Passover Seder, which you would like to share, please email Ben Greene at [email protected].

Machon/Nivonim Kishroniyah Film-making Short Film!

One of the highlights of this past summer was our Kishroniyah week.  Take a look at the incredible short-film that our Machon/Nivonim film-making group created!  The kids wrote the script, played all the parts, did all the camera-work and sound-work, and editing together this very funny movie. Enjoy:

Check back here tomorrow to see the Magshimim/Bogrim short film!

Shabbat Nivonim

Our final Shabbat of the summer was, as always, Shabbat Nivonim.  On Friday night our Nivonim campers lead t'fillot, but first the girls of the edah danced to Erev Shel Shoshanim.

 
 
 
Then the entire Nivonim edah gathered together to sing Oof Gozal.  For many years it has been our tradition for our Nivonimers to sing this song, about a young bird leaving the nest, as they begin their final Shabbat as campers.

 

Nivonim: Uf Gozal

Last night Nivonim put on an amazing show!  HaKosem/The Wiz was so much fun and drama is reaching new heights here at Camp Ramah. 

After the show, we began to focus on this Shabbat and thinking about the end of the summer.  As tzevet, it is a bittersweet moment the hanichim that we have worked with grow up and move on to the next chapter in their lives.  This video is of the edah practicing Uf Gozal for tomorrow night's performance. However, we the tzevet, are the ones that will miss the hanichim when they leave our nest in the k'far.

 

 

Nivonim Promo: The Wiz

Ease on down the road and join us for a brand new day!

 

Nivonim: Prom Night

Last night was the Nivonim Prom.  The theme was the 60s and the hanichim/campers got really into the spirit of things!  Check out  Sally and Tamar as they took a small step for mankind, but a giant step for Nivonim!

We gathered together, ate a fancy dinner and had lots of fun! 

Nevonim Boys Sing Eshet Hayil

It's a tradition at Camp Ramah New England that towards the end of the summer, the Nevonim boys sing Eshet Hayil (A Woman of Valor) to the Nevonim girls in the hadar (dining room) at dinner on Shabbat evening.

Eshet Hayil is a poem found at the end of the Book of Proverbs which describes a woman of valor as someone who is accomplished, dynamic, and righteous. Each of the 22 verses begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in order from aleph to tav.

According to midrash, Avraham was the original writer of the Woman of Valor, composing it in memory of his wife, Sarah.

I came across the boys this morning near the lake on B-side, rehearsing for their performance later today. If it sounds this good in rehearsal, it's going to be utterly amazing tonight.

Shabbat Shalom.

Nivonim: The Omanut Experience

In Nivonim, our hanichim/campers are able to choose chugim/elective activities to participate in throught the course of a regular day.  Yesterday I stopped by omanut/art for a little but just to see what was going on.  The omanut experience is clearly a fun time for our hanichim to hang out with each other while learning different skills.  Here are some pictures from ceramics...

...and glass decorating...

...and duct tape art...

...it was like walking into the Nivonim Artisan Colony.  Everyone was so happy and at home.

I love Camp Ramah!

Nivonim: Bringing Ruach to New Heights

Nivonim has taken it upon themselves to bring ruach/spirit here at Camp to new heights.  For the past week, they have been pumping up the energy everywhere when it comes to shira/singing and rikkud/dancing. This morning, they got the all of Tzad Bet/B-Side to sing Boker Tov/Good Morning to each other. You could feel the ruach everywhere in the room.  And you could certainly see all of the smiles!

This afternoon, our madrichim/counselors took the edah our into the woods. They then spoke to them about using their last two weeks as Nivonim wisely and working hard to solidify their legacy.  It is clear that this edah has kicked ruach up a notch and their energy is one of their greatest assets.  It was with this in mind that our madrichim coronated our edah as Ruach Royalty.  Of course, in the traditional manner of coronations, they each had to sit down and close their eyes.  Once their eyes were closed, they were annointed with holy chocolate syrup! 

Long live the legacy of our Ruach Royalty: Nivonim 2011.

Nivonim: Cafe with Mishlachat

Last night, Nivonim engaged in a dialogue about current events in Israel. The Mishlachat/Israeli emissaries set up our moadon/lounge as a beit kafe/coffee house and divided the edah into three rotating groups.  In the groups, the Mishlachat were fasciliting conversations with the hanichim/campers about important issues that Israelie debate today. The peula/program was called "Cafe Dilema."

One group was talking about the nature of the army in Israel, while another was talking abut the importance of the Land itself while the other group was discussing the protests revolving around Gilad Shalit.

Tea with nana/mint was served to everyone and it was so nice to see our young adults engaging in such mature discussions about real and relevant topics.  And the tea was phenomenal!

I am very proud of our hanichim for challenging themselves and each other on these important yet difficult ideas.  Yasher Koach to Rotem and all of the Mishlachat for truly bringing Israel into the kfar.