Commemorating Oct. 7th

Shalom chaverim: 

Coming out of Rosh Hashanah to mark the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel can feel like cognitive dissonance.  But this juxtaposition of joy and sorrow is what we have all been dealing with for the past year, ever since October 7th, 2023. 

The horrors of October 7th, and the hostages who have spent an entire year in captivity, remain foremost in our minds.  We pray that in this new year, the brutal captivity of the hostages will come to an end and they can be reunited with their loved ones. 

During this difficult year, we hope you have found the light of the Ramah kehillah (community) to have been one that offered strength and love. This past kayitz (summer) our overnight and day camps were a bubble of joy and happiness.  It gave us renewed hope to see that the connections formed between our American and Israeli chanichim/ot (campers) and tzevet (staff) were stronger than ever. 

Even while our camps remained a beautiful bubble, the hostages and all that our Israeli family and friends were going through was never far from our minds.  We encourage you to take a moment to watch the beautiful short video, embedded above, of Ramahniks singing Acheinu, which was a powerful daily tradition we started this summer at our overnight camp.

Here are some other links from Ramah Palmer that might be of interest: 

  • Click here to read reflections from Rabbi Gordon Tucker, looking back on kayitz ‘24 and how we approached educating our campers and staff. 
  • Click here to read reflections from several members of our mishlachat (our delegation of Israeli staff) on their profound experiences at camp this past kayitz. 
  • Click here to read a machzor sheinei (second session) blog, describing the program that brought to camp a group of Bogrim-aged Israeli kids who had been evacuated from their homes in the north since October 7th 
  • Click here to read a machzor rishon (first session) blog that gives a small taste of the types of Israel programming that were happening, across our edot, throughout the kayitz. 

We are grateful for each and every one of you for being a part of our Ramah community. 

We wish you all a Shana Tova, a new year ahead filled with joy and peace.  

Am Yisrael Chai. 

B’shalom, 

The Ramah New England team