2025 Kishroniyah Mural Artists’ Statement

In this short video, our 2025 Kishroniyah mural participants explain the meaning behind all of the imagery in the gorgeous new mural they designed and painted, entirely from scratch, overseen by our incredible specialist Tova Speter.

The creativity of our campers is extraordinary. Take a listen and see for yourselves.  The full text is also written below.

Kishroniyah is one of our centerpiece programs for our Tzad Bet (B-Side) chanichim (campers).  Kishroniyah comes from the Hebrew word kishron, which means skill.  For one week each summer, we invite an array of high-level specialists into camp to run intense special programs for our older campers.  Machon and Nivonim have 12 hours of Kishroniyah from Sunday-to-Wednesday, and Magshimim and Bogrim have 8 hours of Kishroniyah from Wednesday-to-Friday.

Tova Speter is an artist, art therapist, art educator, and arts consultant based in Newton, MA. She specializes in working with adolescents, and has more than fifteen years of experience leading community mural projects in the greater Boston area and internationally in Argentina, China, Panama, and Israel. Find out more about Tova’s work (and see pics from past Ramah collaborations) at: www.tovaspeter.com. Tova also has a private practice offering art therapy and mental health counseling services; works as a consultant with congregations interested in exploring innovative ways to infuse more arts-based experiences into their programming; and is the founder and director of The MEM Project, a Boston-based venture that engages individuals through the artistic process as a means to explore Jewish identity and encourage connection with under-served communities through collaborative mural projects. Find out more about The MEM Project at www.thememproject.org.

2025 Kishroniyah Mural Explanation:

The theme of our 2025 mural is the Amidah. During the Amidah we spend time in our own personal prayers, taking a break from the bustle of camp. It is a calm time to focus our thoughts amidst everything else and a time for quiet mediation and personal reflection. We used a lot of cool, calm, and natural colors throughout the mural to share a sense of peacefulness and connection to nature. The puzzle pieces in the border represent the idea of individual prayers coming together and the unique qualities each of us bring to our camp community. Each artist designed one puzzle piece with patterns reflecting their own meditation.

The Amidah contains three main sections of blessings – Shevach – blessings of praise (wow), Bakashot – blessings of requests (please), and Hodaya – blessings of gratitude (thanks). Each of these parts is represented in the mural in two ways. One is through different perspectives of looking at the trees. Trees stand tall, connect to generations, and are all around camp sharing their strength and beauty.

The “wow” section is the view of the trees looking up at the sun during the “golden hour.” It expresses the awe we have for all of G-d’s creatures and those that came before us. The tree trunks carry the names of the Avot V’Imahot who are mentioned in the first blessing of the Amidah, evoking ideas of ancestry and generations.

The “please” section is the single tree standing tall. Its roots mimic two feet together, which is how we stand during the Amidah prayer in order to represent an angel. The tree is surrounded by the music of B’shem Hashem – a song that includes references to angels and is a favorite to sing here at camp. It reflects personal prayer while still being a part of the forest and larger community.

The “thanks” section is the view of the trees in the distance as seen from the adirondack chairs. The chairs are a place where we have deep convos and relax, showing the gratitude we have for our friends. The 18 trees represent the 18 blessings of the Amidah, also known as the Shemona Esrei, along with an additional tree on the left since a 19th prayer was added.

The “wow”, “please” and “thanks” sections of the Amidah are also portrayed in the three ring sections on the right side of the mural. The sunflower, representing “wow,” expresses joy through bright colors and fun patterns. The siddur, representing “please,” is open to Shema Koleinu – the only prayer in the siddur where you can ask anything of G-d freely. It is a prayer during which we are all encouraged to add personal intentions in order to be present in the moment with genuine feelings. Finally, the people holding hands represent “thanks.” Specifically in this mural, we choose to give thanks to our friends and our community, as they are a big part of the Camp Ramah experience. We also added in the Sim Shalom prayer as a continued focus on peace and to conclude our exploration of the theme as it is the final blessing in the Amidah.

On the rings of the mural on the right, we included thought-provoking questions so that when people look at the mural, they are encouraged to think about their connection with G-d and with themselves. We are sometimes prompted during the Amidah to reflect on questions like these for ourselves and we hope the mural makes others think and reflect too.

A path travels through the mural with specially designed shoeprints for each edah based on the meaning of the Hebrew word. It highlights a journey to self discovery, and being able to see how far we’ve come as well as the road ahead.The shoeprints start small with Kochavim (the youngest edah in camp) and then progressively get bigger in size as we approach Nivonim (the oldest edah in camp).

• The Kochavim shoe prints have stars painted inside of them since Kochavim is the Hebrew word for stars.

• The Ilanot shoe prints include an abstract tree since Ilanot is the Hebrew word for trees.

• Solelim got a little more abstract. The word means road pavers or trailblazers which made us think of roads and highways.

• Shoafim means strivers so we thought about being inspired and the image of a lightbulb.

• Magshimim means achievers which was hard to design but we chose a trophy because it represents our accomplishments.

• Bogrim means scholars which made us think about learning from books so there is an open book in the design.

• With Machon meaning institution or preparation, we chose to include arrows coming from a foundation and leading to next steps as they work their way forward.

• Nivonim are wise ones. As the oldest edah they are also leaders, having come full circle at camp. The swirls show this growth and the hamsa offers guidance and protection.

• Lastly, we included a shoe print for our Tikvah campers. Since Tikvah means hope, the dove and olive branches connect with our hope for peace.

As we all continue on our personal and collective Jewish journeys, we also wanted to include elements that continue to remind people of the hostages we are praying for, by including the faint trail of a plane in the image of the hostage ribbon and 5 kalaniyot flowers each representing 10 hostages still captive in Gaza. We hope this mural helps people pause and reflect in whatever way is meaningful to them.