Camp Ramah "Sleep-Under"

A snapshot/recap of the sleep under at Temple Israel last weekend:

This Sunday I got to spend the evening with some 4th and 5th graders, some of the magic of Ramah into our everyday lives. We began by creating an art project, personal camp-fires, out of recycled materials. This was especially relevant because it was the holiday of Tu Bishvat, and we discussed the importance of taking care of the earth. 

After having fun decorating our projects, we played numerous ice breakers, and got to know each other. We also played a few rounds of different camp sports, suc has a modified beach volleyball. After this we participated in a game called "constellations" where everyone walks around, finds a place in the room, and one person from each team has to identify what constellation everyone could create, and tell the group a story about it. In our same teams we played camp-fire games, like a song game, while eating S'mores.

It was a fun and exciting way to spend the evening, and brought a little bit of summer camp fun into a regular Sunday. 

Dani Nurick

Ramah Service Corp Fellow

Tu Bishvat Celebration - Todah Camp Ramah!

It was so great getting to come to Temple Israel this past Tuesday and spend time with the 2nd through 5th graders. We began our day with a snack in the spirit of Tu B'shvat, trying many types of apples and ranking our favorites. During Tefilot, we announced the winner and discussed the connection to this holiday. Tu B'shvat is all about celebrating nature, and so we learned a new blessing which we can say whenever we see something beautiful, "Oseh Maaseh Bereshit." Students thought about instances of beauty in nature in all four seasons, and practiced this blessing. We also sang a fun camp song about nature, and it was wonderful seeing how much ruach (spirit) the students had.

During our next activity, we made birthday cards for trees, which we later hung on the trees surrounding the synagogue. We also looked at pictures of natural sites in Israel, and learned how diverse the Israeli environment is. We built a human map of Israel using the pictures of these natural sites. We then thought about certain environmental challenges Israel experiences. We know that here challenges might be climate change, or pollution, and we learned that in Israel water presents a large problem. To simulate the need for conservation of water, we competed in sponge and bucket relay races. Students had a great time competing against each other and attempting to conserve as much water as possible. 

It was wonderful getting to know the students of 2nd through 5th grade, and I look forward to coming back and learning together again in the future. 

Dani Nurick

Tempe Israel's Ramah Service Crop Fellow