 Featured Chalutz: Simon Lowen
Our featured chalutz this month is Simon Lowen. Simon is known among
his camp friends as "the boy who is always smiling." Here at camp he's
been having an awesome time. Simon has enjoyed mountain biking,
rock-climbing, playing sports, learning wilderness survival and
orienteering skills, participating in service projects and other cool
activities. His favorite activity this session was.... read more
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 Ehad: For Josh on his Bar Mitzvah
You only
read a book
for the
first time
once,
tucked under your covers,
snuggling
the story as it unfolds.
You start
a new camp
with your
fresh clothes and your full backpack and your mysterious
new
counselors once in a lifetime.
You are
born a single time.
You take
your first step
and your
first kiss.
You take
your first test
and your
first fall.
You write
your first letter,
whittle
your first stick,
and get
your first map
to
journey only once.
And while
you travel and laugh
and
learn again and again
or
release the tears upon your cheeks upon departing from
new
friends or making mistakes
or climb
too high or sleep too late
or grow
and dream
again and
again,
you only
meet someone special
in your
ohel or on masah
for the
first time once.
You only
become a man
with a
tallit from your family and penciled fondness
from
your friends, with sweet treats
and
lingering hugs, a gift of tefillin
and time
alone to ask,
"Is
this really happening now?" once.
Someday
you'll return
to this
camp and every refuge
that
nurtures a different blossom
in you,
and filled with these lessons
you'll
become the world's gardener,
a
student, a teacher, a man,
and
maybe even a father one day.
Whether
you meant to be or not,
you are a
chaluz: a first
for us
and for you.
Soon many
other firsts
will roam
the Earth
that you
yourself
have touched
or seen,
broadened
or
deepened, studied
or
taught, cried or created,
Once to begin and v'sof ha olam.
-by
Sarah Shulman
Ramah
Outdoor Adventure
Summer
2010
Read more about Josh's Bar Mitzvah!
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 Grand Opening- June, 2010
Despite the weather, over 100 community members joined us at Ramah in the Rockies for its official Grand Opening.
The camp's guests enjoyed a variety of activities- from back country cooking, to mountain boking, and planting trees as part of our reforestation efforts.
The highlight was receiving the Torah from our incredible Houston delegation, and the ribbon-cutting.
Please keep an eye out for future opportunities to visit the camp and experience Ramah in the Rockies- we would love to have you there!
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Director's Blog: Final Thoughts on Session I
On Monday night we sat around our camp fire on our closing night of first session. Our chalutzim hamiyasdim (founding campers) and tzevet
(staff) had an opportunity to stand up and place two rocks around the
base of the fire pit. One rock represented a hope that had come true
during their time at Ramah Outdoor Adventure, and the other was
something they were leaving behind. I sat there smiling and crying at
the same time. Here we were almost two years since we first wrote the
proposal to start this camp, and we were wrapping up our first session. Read more.
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 Family Camp at Ramah in the Rockies
August 6-9
Camp
~ Explore~Learn ~ Celebrate
Create a castle in time as we camp
together and explore The Sabbath by A.J. Heschel. Adults will engage in text study sessions,
while your children are busy participating in camp activities with outstanding
Ramah Outdoor Adventure staff.
Programming for children entering
kindergarten through fifth grades includes: Hiking, ropes course, orienteering,
wilderness arts and crafts, back country cooking, and more!
Teens (eighth through twelfth graders)
will participate in a special tzedek (social justice) program funded by Rose
Youth Foundation, an initiative of Rose Community Foundation.
Families will share an incredible Shabbat
experience of exploring and experiencing the best of Ramah in the Rockies.
Contact Melanie Gruenwald for more info or register here.
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