to the World’s Front Pages

FROM THE RAMAH STAGE TO THE WORLD’S FRONT PAGES

by Howard Goller, Nivo 1970

As a Ramah camper, I never saw my acting in Hebrew plays as a career strategy. In my first year, at age 11, I had one line. I don’t remember the play’s name, but raising an imaginary fruit to my lips, I shouted in Hebrew: “Tasty as sugar, fresh from the orchard.”

Over the years, I had more demanding roles – the father in Mary Poppins; Fagin in Oliver!; the title role in The Little Prince. Our directors, Zicky Bonder and Moshe Rothblum, expected us to say our lines with feeling, which meant to understand every word. They were musicals, and the songs, when others joined in, made memorization easier and deepened the joy. Although I loved theater, journalism was my passion. Growing up outside Kansas City, I published a neighborhood paper. With my immersion in Hebrew, I was unwittingly charting the path of a foreign correspondent. The subject came up during a recent Zoom session with Ramah alumni who are dear to me. Linda Hoffenberg, director of institutional advancement at Ramah in Wisconsin, later asked if I would write about how Ramah shaped my 40-plus years as a journalist. I had excellent Hebrew teachers at Congregation Beth Shalom in Kansas City. At Ramah, my understanding grew. I had many lines to learn.

I visited Israel several times — the first with Ramah at 17 — but saw my future in the United States. I had great reporting jobs in Kansas City and St. Louis. Life changed when I married Shosh, another Midwesterner. After honeymooning in Israel, infused with a sense of adventure, Shosh and I traded Midwest comfort for Middle East intensity. In 1984 we began a year-long sabbatical in Israel, starting with a daily Hebrew study program known as an Ulpan in Arad, southern Israel. Encouraged by a friend, the editor of the Hebrew daily Maariv, I wrote a biweekly column with the help of my Ulpan teacher about our experiences in Israel. We moved to Tel Aviv. While Shosh worked as a printer, I reported part-time for a global news agency. When our sabbatical ended, we were lucky to have jobs. I went fulltime as a Reuters correspondent covering war and peace from the Arab-Israeli frontline. (At the time Ethan Bronner was a Reuters correspondent, and we worked together briefly. As it happens Ethan, who went on to have a distinguished career at the New York Times and Bloomberg, played the Artful Dodger to my Fagin in Oliver! and remains a close friend.) We moved to Jerusalem in 1988 and while Shosh and I reared three amazing children, I reported on two intifadas, Saddam’s Scud missile attacks and the Arafat-Rabin White House handshake.

For 18 years I had the thrill of working with colleagues, including Israelis and Palestinians, together seeking to unravel the complexities of the conflict for readers around the world.

New opportunities have since taken me elsewhere, but Jerusalem will always be a standout, made possible in part because of my early encounters with Hebrew at Camp Ramah.

Howard (right) and Ethan Bronner in the Bogrim 1968 production of Oliver!

Journalist Howard Goller, a former Ramah camper and junior counselor, works for Reuters and lives in Brooklyn with his wife Shosh.