FROM BUNK TO BOOKSHELF: ALUMNI AUTHORS pages 24–25
Caryn Aviv • Karen Gerson • Rachel Goldberg-Polin
Dear Friends,
In April several Board members joined Jacob Cytryn and me for a pre-summer visit up to Ramah Wisconsin. Grounds were beautiful, snow was gone, and we were pleased to see so much progress on this season’s construction and renovation projects. We also hosted our year-round maintenance crew and their families for dinner and expressed our deep appreciation for all their dedication and work to build and maintain our beautiful Conover campus.
As a Ramah community we look forward to the upcoming summer with much excitement and anticipation. Enrollment at both Camp Ramah in Wisconsin and Ramah Day Camp is very strong, including a significant cohort of enrolled Israeli campers and staff members. Friendships formed between Israelis and Americans at Ramah are meaningful, deep and can last a lifetime. I am delighted to announce that the Board of Directors has unanimously voted to elect Robyn Schein as the next Board President, beginning on October 1, 2026. Robyn (Nivo 1993) is a deeply-engaged and committed Ramah lifer with extensive experience in Jewish community leadership. Please join me in congratulating Robyn on this well-deserved honor and read more about her on page 23.
As I reflect on the past three years of my term as President, I am very proud that, immediately after October 7, 2023 and just a few weeks into my term, we made the decision to lean even more heavily into encouraging, funding, embracing and welcoming Israeli campers and staff to Ramah than ever before. Israelis at Ramah these past two summers told me that they felt safe, supported, embraced and loved at camp. This is something we can all rightly be proud of, as the expression of Zionism and klal Yisrael (global Jewish community) reached new heights.
We also successfully raised funds for the Lieberman Guest House at Ramah Wisconsin, which adds 13 beautiful new guest rooms for visitors, staff, donors and prospective families, as well as a large, beautiful new reception space. I hope you will join us for a formal dedication and tour of the Lieberman Guest House on Visitors Day, Sunday, July 12th, 2026.
Summer 2026 will be the 80th season for Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, founded in 1947 as the first and original founding camp in what is today a global Ramah Camping movement, whose mission is to raise educated, confident and resilient young Jews who love Judaism and engage deeply in Jewish life, for whom Israel and Zionism are deeply linked to their own identities, and who will become future leaders of our Jewish communities. Please mark your calendar and join us for a wonderful community celebration of the 80th anniversary of Camp Ramah in Wisconsin on Sunday, April 4th, 2027 in the Chicago suburbs.
As important as Ramah is for our children, it remains financially out of reach for some families. Please join Susan and me in making a meaningful gift today to Ramah Wisconsin or Ramah Day Camp, to ensure every Jewish family can attend camp, and to secure Ramah for the next 80 years and well beyond!
I look forward to greeting you on the Kikar over Visitors Days.
B’Shalom,
Marc Sacks President of the Board of Directors
Sunday, April 4, 2027
Please send
to info@ramahwisconsin.com.
Check out alumni.ramahwisconsin.com for an alumni directory, update form, new baby onesie form and more.
Questions about material in this magazine? Contact magazine@ramahwisconsin.com or 312-606-9316.
SUMMER 2026
PREVIEW
Summer 2026 is here! As we gather together in Conover for another summer of joyful Jewish living, we celebrate the big moments and the small. From the musicals, the Zimriyah (Song Festival), and the Rikudiyah (Dance Festival), to Thursday night Mishmar (pre-Shabbat Singing), learning new songs, or leading tefillot (prayers) for the first time, these big and small moments help define the Ramah experience. Each individual brings their own experiences and practices, and together we create this beautiful immersive experience built on the bedrock of a rich and holistic Jewish community.
This summer we’ll be commemorating the 250th birthday of the United States, which gives us the opportunity to reflect on what it means to be Jewish in America today. Working with Civic Spirit, we’ll look at how we celebrate American heritage in the context of being proud Jews, while embracing our cultural exchange with our Israeli campers and staff.
As we create our joyfully Jewish community once again this summer, we look forward to these moments of growth and connection, and the meaning we’ll find together in these shared experiences.
Jacob Cytryn, Executive Director
Expanding the Circle
Near the beginning of my career I spent ten days in a small, rural village on the Yucatan Peninsula volunteering and learning with the American Jewish World Service (AJWS). Though the type of trip I was on, for aspiring Rabbis, Cantors, and other Jewish educational and communal leaders, was discontinued by AJWS shortly thereafter, the experience of that time in Muchucuxcah has remained with me ever since. One of many key learnings of those ten days was the concept of “circles of obligation” to help us think about what we owed the world, through tzedakah (financial gifts) as well as g’milut chasadim (acts of loving kindness) and other forms of advocacy for change. That trip happened shortly after Tamar and I moved from Boston to Chicago and I left a synagogue, Kehillath Israel, led for decades by an alumnus of Ramah Wisconsin (Rabbi Bill Hamilton), whose tagline, “An Ever Widening Circle,” is a way of encapsulating Bill’s capacious vision for Jewish community.
needs of new generations of campers and parents growing up in a different Jewish community and a different America. I am thinking of the exciting leadership changes afoot, with features inside on Program Director Adrienne (Adie) Berman’s professionalization of the activity areas, Presidentelect Robyn Schein — our first President from outside of Chicagoland! — and new Day Camp Director Dina Greenberg and Ramah Wisconsin’s first Associate Director, Adina Beiner. I am thinking of the ways that we continue to welcome Israeli campers and staff into camp, as well as update curricula and educational foci to meet the needs of today’s campers and staff. I am thinking of grand plans we laid out in our 2024 strategic plan, with some already implemented and others on their way. And I am thinking of how our institution, on occasion, comes full circle, as the visionary investment of the Kopin Family in our staff lounge, in memory of legendary volunteer leader Al Kopin z”l, which opened during my second summer as a counselor, is now undergoing the second half of a major renovation to meet the needs of the next generations of Ramah counselors, as I return for my 27th summer on staff.
As I write this column in the run-up to the 2026 season at Ramah Day Camp in Chicagoland and Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, I am thinking about growth and community and circles of obligation. I am thinking of how, especially at our overnight camp, the Great Recession of 2008 shrunk our camp and led to a decade of challenging enrollment, and how the early 2020s started to show growth which has continued, and accelerated, in the summers since October 7th, 2023. I am thinking of the ways the lost summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic helped jumpstart thinking from our senior volunteer and professional leadership about ways that we needed to evolve, as Ramah has for nearly 80 years, to meet the
As the Jewish community evolves so too do parenting, educational, and societal expectations of our work with it. We remain as committed as ever to our original mission: developing the next generation of engaged Jewish adults, preparing them as we can for the world they will serve in a variety of different capacities. And we do so as we continue to refine our community’s ability to look and feel the way we’ve always wanted it to, clarifying our sense of our obligation to those near to us and those less so, and continually expanding the circle of Ramah.
Camp Trends
10-YEAR CAMP RAMAH IN WISCONSIN ENROLLMENT *as of 5/26/26
Camp Ramah in Wisconsin Enrollment, 2017–2026
10-YEAR RAMAH DAY CAMP ENROLLMENT *as of 5/26/26
Ramah Day Camp Enrollment, 2017–2026
2025 BY THE NUMBERS
$745,440
Ramah scholarships and discounts awarded in 2025 across both camps
2026 BY THE NUMBERS
Camp Ramah in Wisconsin Campers represent 22 states and 3 countries
Ramah Day Camp Campers represent3 states and2 countries
50
# of gallons of bubble solution used in foam parties at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin in 2025
45
# of boats at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin
11,800
# of hot dogs ordered
10,240
# of popsicles consumed at Ramah Day Camp in 2025
8,318
# of hours campers spent in the pools in 2025 at Ramah Day Camp
2,500
# of challot made in at Ramah Day Camp 2025
133 Israeli campers and staff across both camps
44 campers spending time at both camps
184
current Camp Ramah in Wisconsin campers who spent at least 1 summer at Ramah Day Camp
RAMAH DAY CAMP
CAMP RAMAH IN WISCONSIN
A NEW VISION FOR CAMP ACTIVITIES
At Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, art is not just about clay or drawing or painting, in the same way that sport is not just about throwing a basketball or hitting a home run, and swimming is not just about learning strokes or playing on inflatables. Like every other aspect of the day at camp, the activity areas (or anafim in Hebrew) are infused with intention in order to align with the four core pillars of camp: joy, growth, inclusion and connections.
When Adie Berman joined the yearround team as Program Director in 2022, she began the process of formalizing this vision for the anafim: outdoor education, waterfront, athletics, performing arts, visual arts, and formal education (Judaica and Israeli culture). With a strong educational background through her work at other camps, schools and synagogues, including curriculum development and thought partnership, Adie had a lot of ideas about how to lead educators and open them up to what could be done in the camp setting. As she says, she’s “not the
content expert, but the Tetris master.”
Adie’s big question was, “How do we professionalize the anafim?” While other camps may specialize in one area like sports or performing arts and focus on professional coaches and specialty tracks, how does Ramah continue to offer a variety of activities while delivering high quality programming?
To guide the conversation, Adie worked with the Rashei Anaf (activity area heads) to define the arc of experience as a camper moves through
their summers from Ruach Ramah (entering 3rd grade) through Nivonim (entering 11th grade). Starting with broad exposure and basic skills in the early summers, campers are able to progress through intermediate and advanced levels as they return each summer.
Adie further developed the four anaf frameworks, which we introduced in summer 2025:
• Head/Moach – subject specific knowledge
• Heart/Middah – self-confidence, menschlichkeit
• Hand/Ma’aseh – tangible skills
• Holy/Mikdash – Judaism and spirituality
She then worked with the Rashei Anaf to develop what each of these frameworks looks like in each activity area. From there, the staff were challenged to design their programs while thinking in terms of these four areas. As Adie said, “We were already doing many of these things while helping campers accomplish their goals, but now we were doing it with a deeper understanding.”
First Exposures
Ruach, Garinim, Halutzim (4th-6th Grades)
• Campfires
Programmatic
Offerings
Head: Knowledge
Hand: Skills
Heart: Self-confidence
Heart: Menschlichkeit
Holy: Spirituality
• Undernights > overnights across the road
• How to prepare/what to pack for a tiyul
• Help pitch a tent
One of the most profound ways these frameworks were brought to life in 2025 was in the Mitbachon (teaching kitchen). Throughout the summer, campers had the opportunity to make recipes that were the favorites of soldiers, hostages and others who were connected to October 7th. In addition to making the recipes and learning new skills and techniques (Head and Hand), they learned the stories of the people whose recipes they were making (Heart) and felt connected to the people and land of Israel (Holy).
Deeper Experiences
Solelim, Shoafim, Bogrim (7th-9th Grades)
• Overnights away from Camp
• All low & high ropes elements
• Use a compass, identify constellations
• Pitch a tent, rain fly
Expertise & Mastery
Machon, Nivonim (10th-11th Grades)
• Canoe camping
• Wilderness hike & camping
• Create nature-based tefilah (prayers)
• Survival skills
• Independent fire-building
• Be courageous and embrace challenges (try new high ropes or bike park elements)
• Be a supportive and encouraging cabin/eidah-mate (teamwork, communication)
• Appreciate God’s role in creation (learn brachot (blessings) relevant tefilah)
This table is a partial example of how the anaf frameworks are used in outdoor education.
MERCAZ KOPIN IN MEMORY OF ALBERT KOPIN Z”L
By Beth Kopin (Nivo 1974)
We dedicated Mercaz Kopin (staff lounge) in memory of Albert Kopin z”l during the summer of 2000. These 26 years seemed to have flown by in a blink.
Who was Al Kopin?
Al had a strong sense of responsibility and was a natural born leader. He was committed to the Jewish community and became involved in every synagogue he regularly attended. In 1961, Al and his wife Myrna joined Northwest Suburban in Morton Grove when they bought their first home in Des Plaines, IL. There they became friendly with Rabbi Lawrence Charney, a big supporter of Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, who encouraged them to send their two sons to camp. When they moved to Deerfield in 1969, Al and Myrna joined North Suburban Synagogue Beth El where many of the camp age children attended Ramah. In 1970, Jeff left for Ramah. Ultimately, Mitch followed. I first attended in 1972, the summer when Jeff and I met.
On Visitors Day 1971 Al and Myrna came to visit. They walked into Jeff’s cabin. It was run down and had no plumbing. Myrna was shocked. Al complained to the Board chair at the time, Irv Robbin
z”l who said, “Don’t get mad, get involved!” That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. That's when Albert Kopin, a man with tremendous vision and integrity, joined the Board.
What is Mercaz Kopin? How did the idea evolve?
Each summer the Board was invited to visit Ramah for a Shabbat retreat. A novel idea the Board devised was having a meeting on Shabbat afternoon with all the Rashei Eidah (unit heads). Each Rosh had an opportunity to introduce themselves and speak about their experiences, and were asked what they’d like to see added to the camp. Many of the enhancements, from buildings to new programming have come from those meetings.
One year the concept for a staff lounge came up. It seemed the staff had no place to get away
from the grind of the long days of summer where they could relax. Al loved the idea of a staff lounge and would discuss it on occasion as a worthwhile project to embark upon. Unfortunately, he did not live to see it built.
How we conceptualized Mercaz Kopin
Five years after Al’s passing in 1994, Myrna, Mitch and Karen, and Jeff and I decided to manifest Al’s dream of a staff lounge into reality.
We hired an architect, and did an initial first layout and site plan. In the spirit of being inclusive, I interviewed scores of staff to see what they’d like to see in our lounge. We had many discussions on how it would and could be used. Then we doubled its size. We named it Mercaz Kopin.
We kept Al’s voice present: do your best, make it perfect. Myrna expressed interest in helping with material selections, a true family
Mercaz Kopin in 2000
initiative. Our biggest and funniest moment was when Rabbi David Soloff was concerned it was going to be too nice!
It seems obvious to have a staff lounge. At the time it was revolutionary. From the moment the building opened, the culture of the camp transformed. Our lounge became a destination for staff, the “go to” place for meetings, lectures, presentations, social gatherings, and fruit on Friday nights! The staff snacked and napped while forging friendships. A strong motivational force developed. Campers wanted to return on staff so they could go into “Kopin.”
Sometimes we need a facelift!
We are grateful the building held up so beautifully. However, it was time to refresh after 27 seasons. In phase one (two years ago), we replaced the carpet and sofas and doubled the size of the front decks. This winter we reconfigured the kitchen, back “phone booth” area and screenedin porch. The kitchen morphed into a “rustic” club lounge with
new appliances and work stations, and the back area into flex shared office space. Cute fact: 26 years ago we wondered whether we needed the modem-enabled, super-slow computer. No surprise to us today, it was hugely popular.
We are excited to share the refresh with you, a labor of LOVE for Ramah and Al! All who knew Al respected him. I was fortunate I knew him for 20 years. He was my second Dad.
A special shout out to Tom Merkel for his extraordinary skills in construction and project management. I did not lose sleep on this project, knowing Tom was at the helm! Please stop in next time you are in the Northwoods!
The Staff Experience at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin
“Being on staff was easily one of my favorite summers at camp.”
That sentiment comes up a lot when people reflect on their time on staff, and for good reason. The experience tends to feel meaningful in a way that’s hard to fully articulate while you’re in it. As a counselor, you know you’re there impacting campers, but you’re also being shaped in pretty real ways yourself.
There is a quiet kind of growth that happens over the summer. Staff don’t always notice it in real time, but they’re constantly learning—how to manage their time, how to communicate better, how to stay flexible when things don’t go as planned, how to show up for people even when they're tired. It’s a very real kind of skill-building that just happens through the rhythm of camp life.
Camp is a place you can come back to that feels
familiar when a lot of other things don’t.
That idea makes returning to camp feel even more meaningful. It’s not just a job or a summer experience. It’s something steady. There’s routine, there’s familiarity, there’s a sense of grounding that can otherwise be rare in this stage of life.
Overall, the staff experience at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin is one of those things that stays with people more than they expect. It’s relational, it’s intense, it’s fun, and it’s also surprisingly formative. And a lot of the impact only really becomes clear once you’re already looking back on it.
Mercaz Kopin today
Donor Recognition
Donations October 1, 2025 – April 26, 2026
* Board or Va’ad (Committee) Member ◊ Legacy Society member
Director’s Circle
$100,000 and above
Alumni Impact 2025
Crown Family Philanthropies
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Myra Lee and Albert z"l Fleischman
Marcy Gringlas and Joel Greenberg, Seed the Dream Foundation
Rabbi Vicki and Cantor Robert Lieberman
National Ramah Commission
Matthew Zell Family Foundation
President’s Circle
$50,000 and above
Beverly Fink
Harold Grinspoon Foundation
Leeatt Rothschild and Micky Hervitz
Susan and Marc* Sacks ◊
Bill and Michelle Sider
Sarah and Zachary* Spellman
Suzanne and Adam Zimbler
Rosh Eidah
$25,000 and above
The Beck Family Charitable Foundation Foundation for Jewish Camp
Sheri and Steve* Greenbaum
Nina and Arnie* Harris ◊
Chaviva Jacobson ◊
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago
Jack & Goldie Wolfe Miller Fund
Elyse Rabinowitz and Jim Porter ◊
Mindy and Daniel Ribnick ◊
Danielle* and Jay Sandler
Charles & M.R. Shapiro Foundation, Inc.
Rosh Anaf
$18,000 and above
Rabbi Charley and Dr. Deborah Dobrusin ◊
Carol Weintraub Fogel* and Dr. Ronald Fogel
JoEllen and Robert Lidov
Naomi and Jason* Litwack
Amy and Barry Newman
Stacy Palestrant and Tomer Rothschild*
Jill Korey and Jon Rozenfeld
Tamar Newberger* and Andrew Schapiro
Nancy and Michael Schoenberger
Dr. Margaret* and Alan* Silberman ◊
Jodie and Mark* Silberman ◊
Lisa and Adam Vales
Northwoods
$10,000 and above
Anonymous (2)
Mary and Alan Becker
Julie Strauss and Joel Brown* ◊
Cocoon Academy and Developmental Center
Karen* and David Ebroon ◊
Jeni and David* Elyashar ◊
Sonya Frazin
Michele Bresler and Barry Goldberg
Ashlyn* and Daniel Gorlin
Dr. Lena and David* Kushnir ◊
Nivo 1988
Ronna Nussbaum
Agam
$5,000 and above
Anonymous (2)
Rachel and Dr. Andy Abeles ◊
Allen & Janet Agron Camp Ramah Scholarship Endowment of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City
Miranda and Steven* Altschul
Gladys and Yehuda Azulay
Heidi and Ben* Azulay
Ellen and Yehuda* Cohen
Dr. Arthur Elstein ◊
Barb and Andy Fishman ◊
Sheila and Larry Gerber
Dr. Betsy Gidwitz
Isaac and Brooke Glassman
Tamar Green and Benjamin Hofkin* ◊
Alison and Isaac Judd
Marlene Kaplan
Amy Elfenbaum and Scott Kramer
Bob Mednick
Jonathan and Barbara Minkus
Wilfred J. Minkus Charitable Trust
Shira and Jonathan Oberlander
Danielle* and Jonathan Pearl
Erica and Donnie Phillips
Jane Pickus
Ayala* and John Podhoretz
Robyn* and Benjamin Schein
Elaine Siegel
Miriam and Morton* Steinberg ◊
Hindy and Scott Tankenoff
Arlene Topal Creative Arts Fund
Mark Topal
The Topal Family
Idie and Jay Zimbler
Bet Am
$3,600 and above
Shosh Korrub and Dr. Daniel Derman ◊
Stacy and Seth Feldman
Yael Frankel
Nami* and David Goldenberg ◊
Dr. Ranna Rozenfeld and Dr. Shane Greenstein
Suzy and Dr. David Hakimian
Sarah and Michael Kashani
Leslie and Michael Litwack ◊
Brooke and Dr. Matt Plofsky
Dr. Leelach Rothschild
Lisa Schuman and Jonathan Zimbler
Northern Lights
$2,500 and above
Robert Berger ◊
Lili Chester
We are very grateful for the support of over 1,300 donations in fiscal year 2026 so far. You can view a complete list of donors in the online edition at ramahwisconsin.com.
Our fiscal year runs October 1 – September 30. There’s still time to make your gift for this year. Every effort was made to correctly list donor names. If your gift was omitted or listed incorrectly, please email us at magazine@ramahwisconsin.com
Jaclyn Millner and Gregory Duhl
Gail and Jeremy Fingerman
Sarina and Robert Gerson
Andrew Glick
Lorie Chaiten and Harold Hirshman
Marilyn Karasov
Ron Lavin
Meredith Moss-Levinson
Dr. Susan Feigenbaum and Dr. Jay Pepose
Vicki and Gary Phillips
Carol Ann* and Michael Schwartz ◊
Ellen Rozenfeld and Milford Schwartz
Adam and Libby Smoler
Emily and Rabbi David Soloff
Leigh and David Waterman
Buckatabon
$1,800 and above
Anne Opila and Dr. Todd Abraham
Shira and Mike Altman
Madeleine and David Arnow
Tammy and Rabbi Noah Arnow
Bruk Consulting
Tamar and Jacob Cytryn ◊
Esther Goldberg-Davis and Rabbi Alexander Davis
Samantha and Shai Dobrusin
Jason Dubner
Judy Groner and Ronald Eisenberg
Rachel Zeman* and Charlie Felsenthal
Shira* and Daniel Goldman ◊
Jodi and Adam Gruber
Mark Harris* ◊
Allie Rakos and Jeff Kahn
Matthew Kalin
Rochelle and Dr. Steven Katz
Sinar and Dr. Allen Katz
Stephanie and Dr. Kurt Kavanaugh ◊
Briana and Gabriel Kopin ◊
Naomi and Jack Korol
Joseph M. Levine Foundation
Shary and Dr. Marc Levitt ◊
Shoshana Mann
Sheri Katz and Joel Mullin
Rena and Dr. Richard Panush
Randee and Rob Romanoff
Arona and George Sarfatty ◊
Edna Schrank
Elana and Seth Schrank
Michelle and James Seidenberg
Jorie and Andrew Sigesmund
Elizabeth Silver-Schack and Prof. Larry Silver
Adina Allen* and Rabbi Josh Warshawsky ◊
Karen Weiss ◊
Kikar
$1,000 and above
Anonymous (2)
Dr. Edward Azoff
Tali and Dr. Adam Baruch ◊
Rabbi Judith and Stan Beiner
Zoe Beiner
Tamar Dolgen and Sergio Bicas
Abby Zeitlin and Noah Burbank
Patricia Caplan
Marta Steele and Stuart Cohen
Susan Dolgen
Ernsteen Family Foundation
Emily Schwartz and Rabbi Benjy Forester
Laurel Van Allen and Zach Frankel
Howard Frankenthal
Tobi and Ken Gold
Elana* and Neil Goldsmith
Lauren Grossman
Dana and Jared Hall
Sarah and Evan Halpain
Paula and Dr. Aaron Hamvas
Dr. Maya Feldman and Jonah Harris*
Yonina Eisenberg Havivi and Nadav Havivi
Judy and Dr. Mark Hoffman
Lindsay and Zach Kafitz
Ellie Halevy and Larry Kalman
Dani Marx and David Kaplan
Debra Glassman and Bob Kaufman
Dr. Mitchell and Fay Kaye
Debra and Arnold Landis
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Dr. Susan Goldsmith and Ira Lichtenstein
Bonnie and Dr. Lee Malmed
Hedva and Dr. Moshe Matalon
Liat and Ron Meisler
Miriam Mintzer
Leslie and William Nelson
Joel and Mary Ann Rich ◊
Rachel and Charles Rosenberg
Jennifer Pehr and Jonathan Ross ◊
Madeline and Roni Rubinstein
Miriam and Michael Rudolph
Ethan Schwartz and Leah Sarna
Renee Locketz Segal and David Segal
Naomi Polinsky and Adam* Seidenberg
Elliana and Andres Sevi
Nori and Rob Spiro
Lisa Stein
Rachel Katz and Geoff Storchan
Michael and Tammy Sugar
Roberta and Len Tenner
Sarah and Scott Topal ◊
Kari Chester and Noah Trueger
Jo Ann Weinstein
Deborah and Adam Winick ◊
Lauren Kaufman and David Witten
Rachel Adelman and Gary Zaidenweber
Friends
$180 and above
Anoymous (2)
Brett and Deanna Abrams
Juliana and Howard Abrams
Max Alper
Robin and Michael Anderson
Molly Appel
Kaynan Appelbaum
Yaffa Cohen Appelbaum
Brandi and Daniel Argentar
Josh Azulay
Barbara Bach
Naomi Hoffman and Dr. Loren Bach
Hillel Baldwin
Laura Elkayam and Rabbi Ezra Balser
Roni and Simona Bareket
Amie and Jonathan Barrish
Zachary Becker
Orly and Amir Bednarsh
Jordan Behn
Karen and Dr. David Benson
Alison and Josh Berdass
Cheryl and Rabbi Kenneth Berger
Seth Berkman
David and Norma Blecker
Chava Alpert and Michael Bloom
Kayitz Kef – Brandeis University
Naomi Shapiro and Adam Braun
Jared Skoff and Karen Brier
Karen and Marshall* Brill ◊
Adam and Carrie Broms
Jacalyn Broze
Shirley and Jared Bryan
Karen and Ethan Budin
Amy Gilbert and Rob Buerki
Carol and Scott Burg
Joni and Alexander Burgess
Yvette Busia
Paula (Lifchez) Cantor and Dr. Jeffrey Cantor
Ben and Nanci Caplan
Dennis and Jane Carlton
Jonathan and Rabbi David Chapman
Gabriel Chasnoff
Donor Recognition
* Board or Va’ad (Committee) Member ◊ Legacy Society member
Mindy and Daniel Chiat
Marlene & Jonathan Cohen
Aaron Cohn
Ellen and Ira Cole
Babette Levy and Mark Daskin ◊
Rebecca and Corey Derdiger
Dr. Rebecca Levine and Dr. Benjamin Derman
Debra and Dr. David Dobkin ◊
Katherine and Matthew Doscher
Alison Dreifuss
Sarah Peaceman and Hal Dworkin
Dan Eisenberg
Susan and Jonas Ellenberg
Deborah Swichkow and Ray Ellis
Dena and Gary Elovitz
Corinne and William Engelhart
Marlene and Larry Engelhart
Shari and Ahiad Erlich
Marcie and Richard Eskin
Rabbi Shoshana Abramowitz and Joseph Eskin
Jessica Ettinger
Leora and Dan Falkin
Orly and Oren Fass
Natalie Blitt and Jonah and Rabbi Josh Feigelson
Dr. Paul and Teresa Finer
Sarah Fishbein
Ellie Fishman
Shelby Cooper and Michael Fishman
Beth Peerless Fox
Laura and Zeke* Fraint
Jenna Lewis and Jeremy Frankenthal
Malka and Michael Frazin
Michael and Patti Frazin
Aaron Freeman
Bruce Freeman
Jacqueline and Michael Friedman
Judith and Allon Friedman
Haley Schreier and Jack Fuchsman
Jen and Yossi Garr
Karen and Dr. Jeffry Gerson ◊
Limor and Seth Gildenblatt
Sharon and Walter Gillett
Scott Gilman
Sheldon and Nancy Gilman
Aly Sider and Sanford Glass
Tihela Feit and Joshua Gleicher
Dr. Daniel Olson and Rabbi Benjamin Goldberg
Shira Goldstein
Rona Malakoff and Ethan Goller
Shoshana and Matt Gordon
Rani Halpern and Joel Green
Hazzan Jenna Greenberg
Rachel and Jonathan Greenberg
Meka Greenwald
Steven and Karen Grey
Katie and Ilan Grinberg
Malcolm Haar and Brian Grossman
Jamie and Seth Gruen
Tammy Halevy
Tamima Wyszkowski and Jacob Hartz
Dr. Lisi Dredze and Yuval Hava
Jim Heeger
Miriam and Joey Heller
Billie and Simon Hellerstein
Joel Hellman
Alijah Lyn Henrich
Dana and Cory Herman
Kim and Ross Herman
Robin Hertz
Abby Kozberg and Yonatan Hirsch
Hochberg Family Foundation
Anna Grossberg and Jacob Hodes
Linda and Michael Hoffenberg ◊
Alieza and David Hoffman
David and Julie Hoffman
Abby Grad and Yoni Israelson
Lizzie and Micah* Kafitz ◊
Pearl and Joel Kagan
Orlee and Jeffrey Kahn ◊
Wendy and Daniel Kahn
Lauren and Scott Kaplan
Ariel Goodman and Isaac Katz
Ariel Katz
Leah Oko and Carl Katz
Leila Levi and Steven Katz
Michael and Dr. Betsy Katz
Rabbi Amanda Russell and David Katz
Donations October 1, 2025 – April 26, 2026
Rachel Tannenbaum and Dr. Robert Kavitt
Alana Spellman and Sydney Kay
Karen and Michael Kesner
Dr. Dalia and Brian Kirschbaum
Dr. Michael Klein
Stephanie Brill and Shane Kovalsky
Mollie Kozberg
Dr. Cindy Reich and Rabbi Harold Kravitz
Bryna and Rabbi Vernon Kurtz
Beth and Tamas Kutas
Adam Leibowitz
Melissa Levin
Samuel Levin
Jacob Levine
Raquel Levitt
Samuel Levitt
Jacob Levy
Emet Lieberman
Ariella Rotenberg and Tyler Logigian
Devora and Eli Lopez
Brendan Lyss
Dr. Albert and Paula Madansky
Abby and Jonathan Maeir ◊
Shannon and Joshua Maker
Fred Manaster
Trisha and Rabbi Fredric Margulies
Scott Mayer
Ellen Mazza
Maytal Meisler
Michele and Seth Meisler
Esther Bowen and Aaron Midler
Nancy Miller
Yaela and Moshe Miller
Ilyssa and Rabbi David Minkus
Debbie Kaplan and Michael Mnookin
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Up to $180
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Donor Recognition
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Donations October 1, 2025 – April 26, 2026
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Corporate Matching Gifts
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Of Blessed Memory
We remember with gratitude the generosity of these donors who made legacy gifts in recent years. They will forever be remembered as devoted Ramah supporters who helped provide an outstanding camp experience for generations of young Jews.
Allen Agron z”l
Betty Benson z”l
David Berger z”l
Jean Best z”l
Rose Choffnes z”l
Rabbi Burton Cohen z”l
Mimi and Ron Grossman z”l
Micki and Uzi Halevy z”l
Manuel Feldman z”l
Stanford Goldberg z”l
Evelyn Harris z”l
Rabbi Myer Kripke z”l Gertrude Lederman z”l
Wally Lelewski z”l
George Levine z”l
Edward Marks z”l
Rabbi Daniel Merritt z"l
Roselind and Sheldon Rabinowitz z”l
Vivian Rice z”l
Dr. Herbert Rosen z”l
Arthur Salkin z”l
Leslie Schwartzman z”l
Lila and Avrum Weinzweig z”l
Sam Zell z”l
Grainger
Grubhub Holdings Inc.
Microsoft
Molson Coors
Mortenson
Salesforce.org
Starbucks
The Boeing Company
TIAA – Nuveen
UHG
A STRONG EDUCATIONAL LEGACY
Arthur
Elstein (First Decade Camper)
From 1950-1956, I spent summers at Ramah Wisconsin, with two exceptions: 1954 in Israel with the Jewish Agency’s Summer Institute; 1955, 4 weeks at Ramah, sharing counselor responsibilities with Dan Merritt and Allan Birndorf. I advanced from camper in the oldest eidah (age group) to meltzar (waiter) in 1951 to madrich tza’ir (junior counselor) in 1952 and ‘53, and finally madrich (counselor) in 1956. In those days, there were 3 eidot, Aleph, Bet and Gimel (also called Machon). The names now in use still seem strange and foreign.
Morning classes were a feature of daily life at Ramah that distinguished it from other Jewish summer camps. The counselors were also teachers of Hebrew language, Bible, history, etc. My first encounters with Talmud and modern Hebrew literature were at Ramah. The list of scholars who came to Ramah to teach is breathtaking: Moshe Greenberg, Shraga Abramson, Yochanan Muffs, Bezalel Porten (zichronam livrachah –may all their memories be for a blessing). Moshe wrote the original version of Himnon Ramah, drawing on classical Hebrew
“My summers at Ramah were a formative educational experience. I began to learn how to read Jewish texts, started on the road to my career, and formed friendships that lasted a lifetime.”
sources. At some point in the next 50 years, the text was revised but not improved. Much later, in a Tanakh class, Professor Ben Sommer taught that the textual changes followed a pattern known to Biblical scholars: a more difficult or unusual usage is replaced by a simpler one, due to scribal error. It happens in our time, as in Biblical times, so the change too is part of the chain of tradition.
The Ramah of today really begins with the vision of former director Lou Newman z”l. The changes he initiated in camp philosophy and operations emphasized staff training to enhance sensitivity to
issues of child and community development. Seymour Fox z”l, who later became dean of the School of Education at the Hebrew University, began a Junior Counselor training program in 1953. We sat with him under a tree (known then as Etz Shlomo) and discussed developmental psychology and group work in the context of daily life at camp. It was, in retrospect, an ambitious, if not entirely successful, effort to integrate psychoanalytic psychology (Freud, Erikson, Redl, Bettelheim), principles of progressive education (John Dewey), and traditional Jewish learning.
My summers at Ramah were a formative educational experience. I began to learn how to read Jewish texts, started on the road to my career, and formed friendships that lasted a lifetime. And we had fun! I still recall some of the lyrics of Annie, Get Your Gun in Leah Abrams’ z”l modern Hebrew version, the beginning of Ramah’s musical tradition. I look back fondly on those wondrous years, grateful to the people who made it possible.
Learn more about leaving your legacy to camp.
Celebrating 80 Years OF CAMP RAMAH IN WISCONSIN
Can you believe it’s time for another big birthday? We’re celebrating camp through eight amazing decades that are as similar as they are different. Read our alumni’s reflections about their time at camp and then share yours. We’ll share lots more memories throughout the year as we countdown to our 80th anniversary gala.
1940s-1950s
Ramah was very formative for me, for Jewish identity and just growing up. I think perhaps the strongest memories are the friendships, several of which I still retain and cherish. And some of those formed during the hours on the migrashei sport (sports courts), where I spent many hours playing basketball.
Richard Panush
I have lived in Jerusalem since 1962, and without a doubt my experiences as camper and counselor at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin and the Poconos were the first step in that journey.
Two cherished memories from my formative years at Ramah in Wisconsin:
• Prof. Yochanan Muffs from JTS teaching us the book of Jeremiah. In my mind’s eye I see Yochanan himself as the prophet, standing on a hilltop and proclaiming dire warnings to his young, impressionable audience.
• Tisha B’av, strictly observed as a day of mourning and self-denial (and as the only ‘holiday’ that
fell during the camp season): Judy Graubart, my co-counselor, and I, walking on the grass back to our bunk after the solemn ceremony, seized by an attack of the giggles. Doubled up with uncontrollable laughter, we were reprimanded by the other counselors who themselves struggled to keep straight faces.
Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi
One of the best aspects of Ramah Wisconsin was that it was a wonderful place to meet future partners with compatible backgrounds. My husband Dan and I met there as counselors in 1955, and married a few years later. We are one of many couples with that experience, and we were married for almost 68 years.
Ruth (Newlander) Merritt
1960s
I remember the whole camp gathering together to watch the astronauts land on the moon the summer of 1969!
Leslie (Kohn) Goldblatt (Nivo 1969)
1970s
I remember studying the rabbinic debate on when it was time to read the Shema in the morning (I think it is when there is enough light to distinguish between blue and purple); carrying Billy Gross out of the water in a fireman’s carry to pass Senior Lifesaving (he was twice my weight); walking to Conover for a Dairy Queen on Friday at lunch time; the night that the boys and girls in the Chug Limud (study group) switched cabins and were not detected until morning; the Saturday night that the camp generator went out and to amuse us, I conducted a seance sitting on top of the birdbath sink in our cabin; the production of Showboat; being sent, along with JoAnn Henikoff, z”l, and Charlotte Shapiro, to talk with Burt Cohen, yet again, about our behavior.
Sara Segal Loevy
As a camper in the 70s, a staff member in the Marp (infirmary) for 18 years, a mother of three alumni campers (one of whom is still a staff member), and the spouse to a Ramah alum (former camper and kitchen supervisor), there is definitely a constant. We were so lucky to be able to come to camp as campers and staff. We had the gift to make true lifelong friendships while developing our own connections with Judaism through fun, organic, meaningful experiences in an incredible community.
Lisa (Shiner) Weiner (Nivo 1979)
80TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Sunday, April 4, 2027
Chicago Suburbs
More details coming soon! www.ramahwisconsin.com/80
1990s
During our Nivo summer we wrote our own musical, A Window of Time, with the help of Becca Sykes and Brian Gelfand, about the ups and downs of a summer at camp. It included the classic song “We’re in Nivo!”
Scott Rosen (Nivo 1996)
1980s
In the early ’80s, our cabins were filled with the sounds of Madonna, Cat Stevens and James Taylor playing from our boomboxes. Rainy-days were spent playing Gaga in the Bet Am, crocheting kippot for friends, practicing lines for the eidah play and dipping fingers into endless cans of Kool Aid. My memories are clear and deeply impactful. But it will always be the friendships I have taken with me, that will forever amplify my time at camp.
Shary (Lubin) Levitt (Nivo 1983)
I simply lived for camp and still keep in touch with my camp friends. What an exceptional place that changed my life forever.
Just one of a million fun memories: My friends and I sliding on the kikar during a huge rainstorm in our Nivonim summer.
Deena Lippitz Pascal (Nivo 1981)
We were, I think, the first Nivo to run into the lake after Yom Sport! Also, while doing our Nivo play Cabaret, some of us decided there should be a “props crew” in addition to tech crew. We convinced the staff to let us be on props crew, dressed up like pineapples (which was one of our props), and made a props crew plaque.
Jaclyn (Saad) Millner (Nivo 1999)
2000s
No camp memory will ever top Yom Sport 2005. I’d always dreamt of being a Yom Sport captain, and to win and rush the lake with my team and eidah was priceless.
Matt Gordon (Nivo 2005)
Camp in the 2000s meant summers with my best friends, many of whom are still my closest people today. It was where Jewish life felt fun and real, and where so many of our favorite stories were born, the same ones we now tell our kids. Being surrounded by friends made even the everyday moments exciting.
Josh Pomeranz (Nivo 2004)
2010s
I remember being the Zimriya MC my Nivo summer, and having the best time!
Daphne Budin (Nivo 2016)
When I think about being a camper in the early 2010s, what I’m often thinking about aside from the soffe shorts and silly bandz (which were everywhere) is the very specific vibe that was curated in our tzrifim (cabins) thanks to the iconic music of the decade and the peaking popularity of the iPod. I feel like I can still smell the Herbal Essences shampoo wafting through the cabin
while everyone picks out Shabbat outfits to the tune of Airplanes by B.o.B., Countdown by Beyoncé, or some indie song we were claiming as our niche find of the summer. Imagine the musical energy of a Forever 21 dressing room except it’s in the heart of the Northwoods and everyone is actually really happy to be there.
Liat Wasserman (Nivo 2015)
I was at camp from Rishonim in 2002 until being a Nivo madrich (counselor) in 2018. An iconic midsummer event was always the
2020s
One of the things I will always remember about camp is the summer of 2021 after Covid when we ended up doing some of the plays outside, and my eidah took it in stride and just had so much fun with the show! That summer we all were just so happy to be at camp, and it is really when our eidah came together as a family.
Ella Chester (Nivo 2022)
Camp taught me faith, kindness, creativity, and how to bond with others. I got to explore activities and create memories that I will hold with me forever. Covid struck right in the middle of my years as a camper, so when we came back together, the love was even fiercer than ever before.
Eve Johnson (Nivo 2024)
Bogrim synchro performances; in 2012 as a camper we won with what we thought was an amazing interpretation of “Here Comes the Sun.” In my junior counselor summer, my synchro group decided to try to recreate our performance for the campers, and found that the standard for good synchro performances had risen so dramatically that ours paled in comparison.
Ethan Weiner (Nivo 2014)
Get Involved
As we plan for our 80th anniversary celebration, we want to hear from YOU! Share your own Ramah memories by scanning the QR code or donate items for our silent auction. If you have other ideas or suggestions, email alumni@ramahwisconsin.com. www.ramahwisconsin.com/80
RAMAH CONNECT
Ramah Connect is your gateway to vintage camp photos and memories—plus recordings of camp musicals! It’s also great for professional networking across the vast Ramah Wisconsin alumni base and for reconnecting with old friends through the alumni directory. Join today to stay connected at ramahconnect.com or by downloading the Ramah Connect app.
Here’s an update from around the Ramah community through April 2026.
www.ramahconnect.com
ENGAGEMENTS BIRTHS
Tracey Rubinoff (Nivo 2006) and Bobby Borovsky
Maya Zinkow (Nivo 2008) and Michael Bruell
Hannah Reikes (Nivo 2010) and Max Silverstone
Josh Cohen (Nivo 2012) and Lauren Goodsnyder
Ariel Efergan (Nivo 2012) and Dulce Attias
Shira Harris (Nivo 2012) and Erin Mussey
Sam Levitt (Nivo 2012) and Cidney Cardonick
Shira Forester (Nivo 2013) and Harry Wandersman
Shira Romanoff (Nivo 2013) and Alex Gordon
Mira Blumenthal (Nivo 2014) and Jake Nathanson
Ethan Fivel (Nivo 2014) and Rebecca
Daphne Budin (Nivo 2016) and Jacob Goldberg
Raquel Cohen (Nivo 2017) and Aaron Butler
Irit Gavze (Staff 2010s-20s) and Uri Wiesenberg
MARRIAGES
Dani Marx (Nivo 2010) and David Kaplan
Gideon Goldberg (Nivo 2011) and Annelise Rittberg
Rami Eilian (Nivo 2011) and Rachel Gordon
Ari Schwartz (Nivo 2013) and Jon Lovett
Daniel Silver (Nivo 2014) and Ilana Friedman
BIRTHS
Danya Snyder (Nivo 2001) and Eliyaou Benzguida-Garcia –Aron Simon
Aly Sider (Nivo 2002) and Sanford Glass – Solomon
Adi and Brian Finkel (Nivo 2003) –Gavriel
Becca Vandersluis (Nivo 2004) and Eli Lebovits – Adina Ruth
Elana Cohen (Nivo 2006) and Alec Goldin – Murphy June
Nisa (Kwall) (Nivo 2007) and Jordan Salins – Levi Benjamin
Madi (Shaffer) (Nivo 2007) and Jerry Shifrin – Mac Marlowe
Adam (Rudolph) (Nivo 2009) and Joseph Shemaria – Orli
Natalie Salzman (Nivo 2009) and Matan Yosef – Jordan Zachary
Kerry Honan (Nivo 2010) and Paul Sherman (Nivo 2011) –Emmett Aviv
Karen Brier and Rabbi Jared Skoff (Staff 2010s) – Ilan
Ruby Katz (Nivo 2010) and Alexander Bouch – Miles James Agnes and Edon (Nivo 2012) Valdman – Ori Gabriel
Dana Levin (Nivo 2012) and Aaron Zell (Nivo 2011) –Samantha Jordan
Shani Abramowitz (Staff 2010s-20s) and Joseph Eskin (Nivo 2007) – Avigail Devorah
Please send life cycle updates and professional announcements to alumni@ramahwisconsin. com and check out alumni. ramahwisconsin.com for an alumni directory, update form, new baby onesie form and more.
GENERAL UPDATES
Mazal tov to Rachel GoldbergPolin (Nivo 1985) on being chosen as one of USA Today’s 2026 Women of the Year.
Mazal tov to Diane Halivni (Nivo 1986) on receiving her MA in Spiritual Care/Chaplaincy from the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Mazal Tov to Eliana Megerman (Nivo 1990) on the publication of her book Together on Our Own
Mazal Tov to Avram Fraint (Nivo 2000) for being promoted to Senior Medical Director at Aspen Neuroscience, Inc.
Mazal tov to Yael and Danny Loren (Nivo 1995) and their family on making aliyah to Zichron Yaakov this summer.
Mazal tov to Gal Atia (Staff 2000s) on being named one of Ynet Global’s 40 Future Young Voices.
Mazal Tov to Jeff Kahn (Nivo 2004) and his wife Allie Rakos, producers of Two Strangers Carry a Cake Across New York, which was nominated for 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical!
Mazal tov to Josh Pomeranz (Nivo 2004) on starting a new position as VP of Finance at Swoon.
Mazal tov to Abby Miller (Nivo 2005, current Va'ad member) on her new role as Director of Qualitative Research at AMC Global.
Mazal tov to Avidan Halivni (Nivo 2012) on his new position as Director of Learning at Jewish Learning Collaborative.
Mazal tov to Elijah Golob (Nivo 2022) on receiving the Emerging Leader Award from Minnesota Hillel.
Mazal tov to alumni and staff members who were honored as JUF’s 18 Under 18 honorees: Noam Altman (Nivo 2024), Jonah Dolinsky (Ramah Day Camp Staff), Jamie Loewenthal (Ramah Day Camp Staff), Mia Pearl (Nivo 2024), Max Rubenstein (Nivo 2025), Talia Seidner (Ramah Day Camp Staff).
IN THE NEWS
Sara Eisen (Nivo 2000)
Nik Jakobs (Nivo 2001)
Our Sincere Condolences
In Memoriam: Rabbi Daniel Merritt z”l
Dan Merritt was one of the great ones at Ramah in the First and Second Decades. He attended the University of Chicago (B.A. and M.A. in Ed.), was a Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS)-ordained rabbi at top of his class, and was assigned the most prized assistant rabbi position in the country at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, where he served for 10 years in that capacity and also as head of education. A lifelong teacher and learner, he returned to JTS in the early 2000s, where he did a Ph.D. program. Dan remained active at Sinai Temple and in the greater Los Angeles Jewish community throughout his life. At Ramah, he was a respected and admired teacher and leader: counselor in 1955-56, Rosh Eidah Aleph in 1960, Rosh Eidah Machon (then the oldest eidah) in 1961 and 1962, a great leader for his staff and campers. He brought to Ramah an ulpanstyle approach to teaching/learning Hebrew that he learned in Israel. His wife Ruth Newlander Merritt and her siblings (Judy, Ben and Ira Newlander) were also first decade campers and staff. And yes, Dan and Ruth’s was another “Ramah marriage,” this one lasting, lovingly, almost 70 years until Dan’s recent passing.
– Bob Berger (First Decade Camper and Staff)
To the family of Morton Skidelsky (First Decade Camper) who passed away in December 2025.
To the family of Norman Podhoretz (First Decade Staff) who passed away in December 2025.
To the family of Corbin Pennington (Father of Food Service Director Joe Pennington) who passed away in December 2025.
To the family of Rabbi Daniel Merritt (First Decade Staff) who passed away in March 2026.
Sara Eisen on The View
FEELINGS AND FACTS: A UNIVERSAL CAMP EXPERIENCE
Josh Brusin, Nivo 1989
Ask Josh Brusin when he went to Camp Ramah, and you won’t get a precise date. “Some time in the mid-’80s,” he says with a laugh, noting that his camp experiences spanned Ramah Wisconsin, Ramah New England, and Camp Chi, blending into one vivid, lasting memory. What stands out isn’t the timeline though, it’s the feeling.
At Ramah Wisconsin, Josh found joy in the classics: sunny afternoons at archery and sailing, and the unmistakable energy of a rowdy Birkat Hamazon (grace after meals). Meals themselves were part of the magic, especially burgers cooked over a campfire — unforgettable.
Some of his favorite memories come from the more improvisational side of camp life. One summer, in Cabin Zayin (which didn’t have attached bathrooms at the time), Josh and his bunkmates turned the shared showers into a makeshift steam room, hanging towels to trap the heat. “I think that was Wisconsin,” he says. “It’s all a bit of a blur— but the kind you don’t forget.”
Camp also nurtured a creative side that would shape his future. Josh loved arts and crafts, an interest that eventually led
him to earn a BFA in sculpture. From there, he built a long career in advertising, working at major firms including FCB, VSA Partners, Omnicom, Publicis, and Epsilon. In 2024, he launched his own company, Proxy AI, an AI research and strategy firm that now works with brands, agencies, and even organizations like Camp Ramah.
But for Josh, the most lasting impact of camp wasn’t professional—it was personal. “Camp was a great combination of community and introspection,” he reflects. Being away from home for extended periods gave him a new sense of independence. “I remember feeling part of a community and also very independent, which came with responsibility and selfdirection.”
That dual experience—deep belonging alongside personal growth—still resonates decades later. “Jewish summer camp has a specific memory bank for me,” Josh says. “While my experience felt very personal at the time, it’s also completely relatable when I connect with another camper, even 40 years later. It’s feelings as much as facts.”
“Camp was a great combination of community and introspection.”
If he could go back for one more day? Josh wouldn’t try anything new. Instead, he’d follow the original camp schedule from the 1980s as closely as possible, hoping to unlock even more forgotten moments.
And the advice he carries forward, both from camp and into his life as a parent, is simple and enduring: “Have fun. Be nice. Pay attention.” (His 3-year-old, he notes, likes to add: “And no hitting.”)
For Josh Brusin, Ramah isn’t just a place in the past; it’s a shared language, a set of memories and values that continue to connect him to others, decades later.
A NEW GENERATION OF LEADERSHIP
Robyn Schein, Nivo 1993
When Robyn (Levich) Schein first came to camp for her Bogrim (entering 9th grade) summer in 1991, she cried the whole first week. “I was totally homesick,” Robyn said, “and then I fell in love and camp became my special place.”
Starting out as an older camper, and coming from a public school background, Robyn was in awe of the Jewish community she found at Ramah. She found inspiration in her fellow campers’ and staff members’ use of Hebrew and text study skills, and their Jewish literacy in general. After three years as a camper, Ramah Israel Seminar, and then three years as a counselor, Robyn knew that this was the life she wanted for her future children – to go to Ramah and Jewish day school and to be an active part of the Jewish community. She said, “Ramah set me on the path to being able to make clear and intentional choices about the Jewish life I wanted for my family. I wanted them to have that fluency to be able to show up and feel comfortable and confident in Jewish spaces.”
Originally from the Twin Cities, Robyn moved to Washington, DC for college where she stayed until moving back to Minnesota in 2006. During that time, she said Ramah was her social community as all
of her friends were people she had met through Ramah and Seminar, but she didn’t have any official connection with camp. It wasn’t until Family Camp 2014 that Robyn made her way back to Ramah.
Robyn and her family loved the Family Camp experience. For Robyn, she got to fall in love with camp all over again by seeing it from her husband’s and children’s perspectives. Her husband, Ben, had never been a camp person himself, and while he knew Ramah was important to Robyn, creating his own camp experiences helped him connect to camp in his own way. After the first summer at Family Camp, Robyn’s oldest child, Ilan, didn’t want to leave. Robyn thought to herself, “This is the beginning –we got him!”
Experiencing Ramah as a family, Robyn was happy to see the progression – first camp was hers, then it became their family’s, and now it is their kids’. She was happy to pass camp on to her children as they became campers. “One of the beautiful things about camp is the ability
to evolve while staying the same,” she said. “There have been so many physical improvements, yet it looked the same, and in some ways even more beautiful.”
In 2019, Robyn joined the Board of Directors as the Twin Cities representative. In her professional life, she is a philanthropic advisor, so she felt comfortable in the nonprofit world. As she said, “Scheins don’t sit idly by. When you see opportunities or challenges, you step up and use your skills and leadership to make it a better place.”
In the fall, Robyn will become President of the Board of Directors, and she and her family are beyond proud that she is now able to give back to Ramah in this new capacity. Robyn is looking forward to using her position as the first woman president and first president who doesn’t live in the Chicago area to grow engagement in communities throughout the Midwest. In addition, she recognizes the complexity of campers’ needs as well as that of the world they’re growing up in. She said, “We need to continue to evolve as an organization to serve the needs of the current generation in appropriate ways while continuing to create this immersive Jewish experience that is Ramah’s foundation.”
Schein Family at Camp
Robyn with friends at camp in the 1990s.
Shelf Life
FROM BUNK TO BOOKSHELF
Camp Ramah in Wisconsin alumni books have been filling the shelves lately! Here we highlight three alumni whose lives and work have been influenced by their time at Ramah. Have you published a book related to something you learned or experienced at Ramah? Email alumni@ramahwisconsin.com to let us know.
IRABBI CARYN AVIV, PH.D., NIVO 1985
Unlearning Jewish Anxiety: How to Live with More Joy and Less Suffering
’m a child of the 1980s, and although my time at Camp Ramah Wisconsin unfolded over 35 years ago, that foundation at camp has continued to shape my life. Starting in 1982, I attended camp from Shoafim through Nivo, then went on Israel Seminar, and served on staff through the end of college as a counselor and Rosh Drama. Camp Ramah inspired my love of Hebrew, my personal and academic interests in Israel, and an enduring commitment to Jewish learning. There’s no doubt in my mind that Camp Ramah influenced my decision to become a Jewish studies and Israel Studies professor as my first career, and later, pivot to the rabbinate.
Here’s just one powerful memory, on a Shabbat morning in the summer of 1986, when I was a Machon camper. Out of the corner of my eye sitting in the Moadon, I saw Sara Lynn Newberger stride down the kikar wearing a tallit. I had literally never seen a woman wear a tallit before, and my jaw dropped. I was in awe — OMG, how AMAZING to see this!! That experience sparked a longing inside me that took many, many years to articulate. I wanted to be like Rabbi Sara Lynn: I wanted to wear a tallit, I wanted to lead services, and eventually, I realized that I wanted to serve the Jewish people as a rabbi.
Fast forward thirty-five years. In 2013, I pivoted
from academia to rabbinical school in the ALEPH smicha program, and began working full-time as a rabbinic intern at Judaism Your Way in Denver, CO. I finally received smicha in January 2020, upon which, my daughter said, “Ima, NO MORE SCHOOL!”
My fourth book, Unlearning Jewish Anxiety: How to Live with More Joy and Less Suffering, just came out, which is also a residual influence of Camp Ramah, which focuses on living Jewishly with joy, connection, and pride. Unlearning Jewish Anxiety explores the impact of anti-Jewish contempt on our nervous systems and identifies some common Jewish habits we often practice (to our detriment), in response to fear and uncertainty about being Jewish in a difficult world. Using neuroscience and Jewish wisdom, I offer a framework to better understand and unlearn our inherited and culturally specific anxiety habits around safety, worth, and belonging with compassion and awareness. My hope and prayer is that this book offers help to individuals and Jewish communities, so that we can choose to engage in tikkun atzmi (healing our souls and our nervous systems). I know, from my own lived experience, that when we practice tikkun atzmi, we grow our capacity to engage in tikkun olam
Matthew and his wife Kira with their children
KAREN GERSON, NIVO 1988
I Should Not Be Here
Overnight summer camp became the one place where I could truly breathe, though it didn’t feel that way at first. Camp Ramah in Wisconsin was a vibrant, immersive Jewish environment where everything—from sailing to campfires—was infused with tradition and community. But arriving there, I felt out of place. I was used to isolation, and suddenly I was surrounded by kids who spoke Hebrew fluently and formed friendships with ease. I struggled to keep up, especially during the annual Hebrew play, where I stayed in the background for years, unsure of myself. It wasn’t until my final summer that I finally took a risk, earned a major role, and felt, for the first time, that I belonged.
their kindness was genuine. Camp also sparked my curiosity about Judaism in a way home never did. At camp, traditions felt meaningful and alive, while at home they felt like rigid rules, often dismissed without discussion. This contrast left me questioning where I fit in and what these practices meant to me personally.
Despite the initial discomfort, camp slowly became a place of connection. My counselors showed me a kind of care I wasn’t used to, and although I was suspicious at first, I began to trust that
What made camp truly special was the freedom it gave me to redefine myself. No one there knew who I was back home—I wasn’t the quiet, isolated girl anymore. I could speak, laugh, and participate without the weight of expectations or judgment. Even though I still struggled at times, camp was one of the few places where I felt seen. It wasn’t perfect, and I didn’t always feel like I fully belonged, but it gave me space to grow, explore my identity, and begin to decide for myself who I wanted to be.
RACHEL GOLDBERG-POLIN, NIVO 19
When We See You Again
On the morning of October 7th, 2023, Rachel Goldberg-Polin’s beloved twenty-three-year-old son, Hersh, was stolen from a music festival billed as a celebration of unity and love—and, in that moment, her life was forever separated into The Before and The After. Over the next eleven months, she and her husband, Jon, would work tirelessly—in public and behind the scenes—to secure the hostages’ release, to breathe some humanity into the situation while they were experiencing relentless emotional and psychological torment. The power of her raw and fervent pleas soon made her the face of the hostage crisis. And when Hersh and five other captives were executed
85
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after surviving 328 days of violence and cruelty, she would also become the face of its ultimate cost.
In When We See You Again, Rachel pours her pain, love, and longing onto paper, giving voice to the broken among us, and reminding us that even when the world feels choked with darkness, light exists in a different way. How do we find it? Her own experience has been extreme, but at its essence, this is a universal story of trying to live with grief. It is a story of how we remember and how we persevere, of how we suffer and how we love.
“There are days when I break completely,” she writes. “I have cried for an entire day straight. I didn’t think it was physically possible, but the weeping never let up. That is a very long time to cry. I kept hoping I would run out of tears. And then there are days when there is a whisper of sun. Not out there in the sky. In me. In us.”
BUILDING A LIFE OF PURPOSE
Q & A with Andrew Silberman, Nivo 2018, Ramah Day Camp Summers: 2007-2013
Camp Ramah in Wisconsin Summers: 2011-2018 (camper); 2022, 2024 (staff)
How did your experience at the day camp help prepare you for going to overnight camp?
The day camp and the overnight camp both share a fantastic and special connection to Judaism, Zionism, and community that helped form the basis for my values as an adult. Going to the day camp set me up with a group of close friends that I am still close with today.
What are you up to?
I am a 2nd-year student at Reichman University in Herzliya studying government and diplomacy. I also work as a student advisor to the spokesman for the prime minister and work in social media video production for a number of Zionist influencers.
How did camp contribute to where you are in your life now, both personally and professionally?
Camp gave me the ideological foundation that made me into a proud Jew and Zionist. It is those values that drove me to make aliyah and serve my country, and in the same spirit I am looking to make a better future for the Jewish people in my professional life in government and media.
After Nativ, I enlisted in the IDF and served for two years as a combat paratrooper
and a machine gunner in the 202nd battalion. Since the 7th of October, I have done over 250 days in the reserves and have fought in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon. Camp is where I learned about the history of the Jewish people and where I understood how important Zionism is to our survival. Understanding the miracle that Jewish people can live freely and autonomously in our homeland, I felt that I had to do something to be a part of that story.
What are some lessons you learned at camp that still impact you today?
For me, camp is where I feel like I really grew up, in the sense that camp is where I was given the space to make mistakes and learn from them. A big part of who I am today comes from the lessons I learned at camp, especially when it comes to interpersonal conflicts and selfsufficiency.
Advice for younger alumni:
To younger alumni, and especially my Nivo 2024 campers (who recently graduated high school), my best advice is to stay connected. Being a part of the world’s oldest and richest history isn’t something to take lightly; staying connected to a community and the Jewish people at large is a tradition
that stands on the shoulders of generations of Jews that dreamed for the abundant life that we take for granted today.
Anything else?
Always be proud of who you are! As antisemitism rises all around the world, our strength lies in our pride and resilience. Am Yisrael Chai!
Favorites
Spot in Camp
Day Camp: Tetherball courts
Wisconsin: Campsites across the road
Camp Activity
Day Camp: Sports with Jeff! Wisconsin: Camping trips
Camp Meal
Shabbat onion chicken (please bring it back!)
Memories
Day Camp: Storytime with Lori, followed by ice cream sandwiches and challah we made for Shabbat. It made Shabbat really special.
Wisconsin: Sprinting to the sifriya (library) after we finished our Nivo play to get a good seat around the table for mishmar (pre-Shabbat singing).
IDina Greenberg, Director
am truly honored to step into the role of Director of Ramah Day Camp in Chicagoland. My Ramah story began as a camper at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin (Nivo 2013). Stepping off the bus and into camp felt like entering a different world. A place filled with belonging, joy, and friendship. Days that moved from tefillah (prayer) to sports to swimming to dance, all held together by a sense of Jewish belonging. I experienced a Jewish community that was vibrant, shared, and meaningful in ways that stayed with me long after the summer ended. That experience is what first drew me into education and camp work, and it continues to guide me today.
Camp community is developed carefully and continuously through relationships, routines, and systems that hold both the structure and the spirit of each day. It is built through staff who notice the small things, through campers who grow more confident over time, and through a shared commitment to children and community. That understanding has shaped my work in education, inclusion, and camp leadership.
In my years at Ramah Day Camp, I have had the privilege of working closely with campers, staff, and families across inclusion, programming, and leadership. I have seen the morning energy as campers arrive, the community spirit when the whole camp comes together on Yom Sport, the noise and laughter that fill the kikar between activities, and the small moments when a child tries something new and realizes they can do it. These are the moments that define camp for me. At its core, Ramah Day Camp is a place where children are known, where families are trusted partners, and where staff are supported to grow as educators and leaders.
As I step into the role of Director, my vision is rooted
in strengthening what already makes this community exceptional.
We will continue to center campers as individuals. Every child arrives at camp carrying their own stories. Our responsibility is to notice and nurture them, to build an experience where they feel safe enough to try, to grow, and to belong.
We will continue to invest in our staff. The camper experience is shaped in the smallest moments. A counselor helping a camper through a tough morning. A staff member celebrating a small success that no one else might notice. When staff feel supported, trained, and clear in their roles, they are able to create the kind of steady, caring environment that allows children to flourish.
We will continue to hold onto what is most essential. The everyday rhythm of camp matters deeply. The sound of shira (singing) on the kikar in the afternoon. The cheer that comes from the entire group when their friend reaches the top of the rock climbing wall. The friendships that form during shared games, meals, and walks across camp. These moments are not incidental, but are the heart of what camp is.
Ramah Day Camp is strong and it is also evolving. My goal is that as we move forward, we do so with clarity, intention, and care, while staying deeply rooted in the lived experience of camp and what makes it feel like home for so many children.
I am grateful for the trust placed in me and for the opportunity to serve this community. I look forward to listening, learning, and building together in the months and years ahead.
Please feel free to reach me at dgreenberg@ ramahday.com. I look forward to connecting with you soon.
