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Class Notes – A Ramah Reunion

Julie Gruenbaum Fax August 25, 2005

A group of 25 campers from Ramah of California\’s pilot summer in 1955 returned to camp this summer to kick off a yearlong celebration of Ramah\’s 50 years on the West Coast. The camp officially opened in 1956.

Back then, there were 62 campers and 24 staff members. Tuition for the 10 days was set at $56.16 — with scholarships available. Today, there are 1,275 campers at the Ojai location, just down the road from the original campsite and a four-week session costs $3,120.

Rabbi Jacob Pressman, director of the camp that first summer, and assistant director Miriam Wise were among the delegates this summer. Rabbi Daniel Greyber, current director, presented the two with an award of recognition for their service.

The alumni toured the camp and then spent the evening in a singalong with current campers. Young campers and alumni alike were touched and amazed to hear that they knew the same camp songs, some of them authored by the adult guests.

Uncircumcised Blessings

Rabbi Elazar Muskin July 14, 2005

While on a summer vacation on the East Coast, my family and I visited some spectacular sights in northwestern North Carolina, especially near Ashville, N.C. On our way to Ashville, we stopped and asked directions from a fine gentleman who turned out to be a Methodist minister.

Power of a Blessing

Rabbi Naomi Levy December 19, 2002

If you were told that you had only a matter of days to live what would you do? Write out a will? Eat your favorite meal? Try to repair troubled relationships? In our Torah portion this Shabbat, Jacob knows he is dying. Faced with this knowledge, there is only one thing he wants to do: bless those he loves.

What is Your Name?

Rabbi Ed Feinstein January 25, 2001

God created the animals and brought them, one by one, before man to see what he would name them. Man examined the essence of each creature and assigned its name. So teaches Genesis.

Marital Strife

Yosef Kanefsky December 7, 2000

Every marriage has painful moments. Even the most loving marriages do. This fact of life is confirmed by the opening of chapter 30.

In The Beginning, There Was Zionism

Rabbi Daniel Bouskila October 26, 2000

Zionism. Remember that term? We don\’t hear it too often anymore. Many Jews seem uncomfortable with the term Zionism, saying it\’s \”too strong\” or it \”breeds nationalism.\” Some of Israel\’s leading historians have gone as far as declaring this current period in Israel\’s history as the \”post-Zionist era\” – whatever that means. The virtual silencing of the word Zionism in our educational, religious or political vocabularies make the days when we enthusiastically took to the streets to fervently protest the United Nation\’s infamous \”Zionism is Racism\” resolution seem like ancient history.

Tangled Web

Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky November 11, 1999

These are the weeks that we read of our heroes. The book of Genesis tells the stories of the faith and tenacity of the fathers and mothers of our nation for whom every day was another stride in the uncharted waters of living in covenant with God. It was their passionate determination to keep the vision of a righteous and holy people alive that ultimately produced the Jewish people. But it wasn\’t always easy.

Separation Anxiety

Rabbi Michelle Missaghieh October 21, 1999

\”When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant, I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.\”– Mark Twain
We laugh at this quote because we can sense its truth. Each of us passes through stages of life in relation to our parents. Whether they are alive or deceased; whether we live in close proximity to them or across the country; whether we are emotionally close to them or have grown distant — an ebb and flow often characterizes our relationship to our parents. Parental separation is necessary, but painful. God knew this when, on the second day of creation, after the division of the waters above and below, God refrained from saying \”and it was good.\” Our struggle to separate begins at the womb and continues way beyond the grave.

Speaking One Language

Rabbi Shawn Fields-Meyer October 14, 1999

What kind of Jew are you? Reform? Conservative? Orthodox? Secular? Cultural? Reconstructionist? With whom do you identify? With whom do you disagree? What kind of Jew is so different that you would have nothing to share?

All the Children

Rabbi Elazar Muskin October 8, 1998

On the eve of Simchat Torah, many synagogues auction the three major honors of the day, with proceeds benefiting the synagogue or other Jewish institutions. Two honors, Hatan Torah (for the one called to the final reading in Deuteronomy) and Hatan Bereshit (for the one called to the first reading in Genesis), usually receive the highest bids. The third, Kol Hanearim — supervising the blessing of all minor children as a tallit is held over their heads, while the honoree receives the next-to-last aliyah in Vezot Haberakha — can be a close second.

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