Lake Como, Pa. — It began, as so much does these days, with Google.
Gita Segal Rotenberg, 71, and living in Toronto, wondered what had become of her old friends from Camp Ramah in the Poconos, the girls she’d spent summers with in the early 1950s. So she entered a name into the search engine.
Several months later, her search yielded one amazing result: Ten women in their 70s reunited at Camp Ramah and spent a fine August day reminiscing, resuming old friendships where they’d left off 50-plus years ago, and sharing their experiences with awestruck current campers.
Gail First Farber, 70, a pediatrician from Philadelphia: “You know, when we went here, Israel was two years old.”
Reactions of 16-year-old campers:
“Wowww….”
“Wait, what?!”
“That is soooo weird!”
As Camp Ramah in the Poconos celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, camp director Todd Zeff said that many groups have arranged reunions — but the girls from Bunk 19 set a new record for longevity. After Rotenberg set the wheels in motion last winter, the women met up in New York in March. What was supposed to be a brunch over bagels and lox turned into a seven-hour conversational marathon, and plans were soon hatched to reunite again at the source — Camp Ramah.
“I remember on the last day of school we counted the hours to camp, and then on the last day of camp we cried all the way home,” said Rotenberg, who ran an independent bookstore in Toronto for many years. “It was paradise, on some level. I don’t want to romanticize it, but there was this freedom.”
The physical landscape of the Poconos camp has changed so dramatically that the women hardly recognized the place when they visited on August 4, aside from a few of the original bunkhouses. But the emotional landscape felt just the same as it did back in 1951.
“When I met them, the years just faded away and I was 12 again,” said Judy Borodkin Hanau, 70.
Some of the women kept in touch for a while after Ramah; some went to the same college; a few exchanged letters and e-mails sporadically over the years. But mostly, the women drifted apart, pulled further into their own families and careers and further from the innocent and slightly mischievous girls they were back in their Ramah days. They became doctors and lawyers, librarians and teachers, mothers and grandmothers. Their religious status ranges from Orthodox to atheist. But none of them ever forgot Ramah.
Of course, what they remember is not usually the formal camp programming. Miriam Eisenstein, 70, a retired U.S. Department of Justice civil rights lawyer who lives in Washington, recalls the salami.
“People want to hear about our deep connection with Judaism [at camp], but that’s not what we remember. Kids see things differently from adults,” Eisenstein said.
Every year a few parents would send care packages with kosher salami, and the girls would break out the forbidden snack at night and munch on it in their bunks. Eisenstein also remembers the services — specifically, how the girls would peer across the room to see which boys were wearing tefillin, meaning that they had been bar mitzvahed. Their interest lay not in a boy’s religious standing, but in his age: to 12-year-old girls, 13 was the magic number.
“At that age we were interested in older men,” Eisenstein explained.
Lorna Prestin Michaelson, 70, a retired Hebrew teacher who lives in Florida, learned to curse at camp. “And I came from a home where one did not say ‘damn,’ much less anything else,” she recalled. “I remember who taught us, but I’m not going to say.”
Hanau: “I was always in trouble, I never went to any socials. Of course, when we got in trouble, what did they do to us? Left us alone in the bunks! So we frenched the beds.”
13-year-old camper: “What’s frenching the beds?”
First Farber: “Short-sheeting. And if you found a salamander, you put that in there too.”
Ramah counselor, looking nervous: “Don’t give them any ideas.”
Of course, amid the pranks and the boyfriends, a bit of Jewish learning did sink in, too. The women all fondly remember Sabbath services, held outside on Friday night, when everyone at camp would wear white. A mention of Tisha B’Av prompted a few nostalgic sighs and a flood of memories of services by the lake and candles planted in potatoes lighting their way.
“Every year at Tisha B’Av I think of it,” said Beppie May Barth, 70.
In the 1950s, Hebrew was the official and only recognized language at Ramah, and campers were supposed to speak it exclusively. For some, it was the first and only time in their lives they spoke Hebrew, and to this day the only Hebrew that some of the women remember are phrases they learned at Ramah, like “Let’s go swimming,” or “Please pass the salt.” While at camp for their reunion, they ate lunch in the dining hall, which was different from what they remembered in that the food was much better, they agreed, and the same in that the volume of chatter from 300 kids (and 10 alumnae) was deafening. They all sang along with the after-meal prayer, folding up the proffered programs to sing it by heart.
“I haven’t done that since 1953, and it all came back,” First Farber said, looking wide-eyed around her table as campers streamed out of the hall.
Why reunite after all this time? The Ramah women agreed there was something about turning 70 that made them want to look back, take stock and reconnect. Seven of the 12 women are widows. They’re obviously delighted to have found each other again, after all these years.
“I feel very, very lucky to be part of this group, especially at this later stage in life,” Michaelson said.
One thing the alumnae did not expect when they returned to Ramah was the fact that current campers would line up eagerly to talk to them. The camp director scheduled a chat with the 13-year-old girls, but then the 16-year-olds wanted to meet the ladies, too. The girls crowded into a gazebo with the women, gazing in fascination at an old photograph showing the group in 1953. The 16-year-olds are nearing the end of their final summer at camp with some trepidation about the survival of their friendships, and they peppered the women with questions about why they fell out of touch and how they reunited. Finally, the alumnae had a question for them.
Rotenberg: “They said the girls wanted to meet us, and we said [skeptically], ‘Sure — what could they possibly get out of this, except maybe to laugh at us?’ So, what are you getting out of this?”
16-year-old campers:
“That we’ll still be together!”
“Even if we don’t keep in touch, we might still be friends.”
“You’re what we want to be in 50 years.”
“It makes it seem like Camp Ramah is everlasting.”
Contact Rebecca Dube at dube@forward.com
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as a current staff member and Ramah Alumni, it made me so happy to see those ladies up here yesterday. Seeing them and thinking of how close I am with my old bunk mates today I can only hope that in 50 years from now that I can be in touch with all my bunk mates.
Thank you so much for your wonderful commentary on our special day. It was delightful meeting you, and having you enjoy the Ramah experience with us.
I signed up with Camp Ramah as an alumni quite a while back. But no e-mail I ever received from the camp brought the tears to my eyes that this one did. I am two years younger than these ladies, and l951 was also my first year at the camp. Wow did it bring back memories! Can you please get messages to three of these women for me? It would mean a great deal to me. Beverly Richman, I've wondered where your sister Janice is for years now. I would love to hear from her....and would have known your face anywhere. Gita Segal Rotenberg, my daughter-in-law, Mairav Rothstein, is a close friend of your niece, Miriam. It was amazing to learn she is David's daughter. Miriam Eisenstein, while my brother Alan and I lost touch with you years ago, it was great to see you in this picture. Since my parents were friends with the parents of the three of you, I saw them for years after the summer of '51. If any of you would like to e-mail me, I'd love to hear from you. My e-mail is rostein3@comcast.net. I'm so glad you had this reunion. It's amazingly wonderful.
With warm good wishes, Roberta
I am surprised that no one pointed out the mistake. Boys do not put on tefillin on the Sabbath. Tefillin are worn the other 6 days of the week. The reason is that tefillin are a "sign" of the covenent and Shabbat is also a sign, so the tefillin are not worn. Being 63 myself, I can relate to seeing or hearing from old friends after many years. It makes us feel young.
Thank you Rebecca and Monica for capturing the spirit of the day in this article. The entire experience was magical, but most inspirational to us, was the enthusiasm of the young people we were privileged to meet and talk with, and the evident commitment and caring of the staff. Thank you, Ramah, for the extraordinary welcome.
Gail
I was a Poconos Ramahnik in 1963 and a Nyack Ramahnik in 1964. I hadn't been back to Poconos Ramah since then until the 2009 Visitor's Day, when I went up with my sister to visit her son (my nephew) who is in Gesher. I agree with the women who had their reunion there. The phyical plant is very different, but the spirit is definitely the same. Ramah is very special.
It was wonderful meeting all of these amazing women! Thank you so much for making it happen! Susan Rand-Lakritz Program Director Camp Ramah in the Poconos
i would have liked to see an exploration of their jewish practice at this point [that one hasn't said birkat hamazon in almost 60 yr is telling]. they say that camp keeps one more jewish connected--i wonder how many have gentile descendants....
How wonderful. I am sure you enjoyed finding one another again as much as we did (Ramah in Canada, 1960, a few years ago; see: http://www.boomercafe.com/site/paznik/paznik-looking.htm). My memories of years in the Poconos and Canada are among the happiest of my life, and I am thrilled to have renewed friendships with people who were dear to me then and have become so yet again.
I am a former Ramah Poconos camper, staff and alumnus, and some of my best friends years later even now in my 20s are people whom I became close friends with during those formative years of my life. I just spent Shabbat with many of them at the beach this weekend! My thanks to the Forward and Rebecca Dube for covering this unquestionably powerful and moving story in a day where we often don't see too much good news.
WOW! What a great story!! I guess that reunions must be in the air. A growing group of us from Ramah Israel Seminar '69 (just forty years ago) are now in touch through Facebook. We are thinking about a reunion in the coming year.
Go Ramah!
I found this article to be beautiful and telling about the true spirit of Ramah. I am just sorry that I was away and could not witness this reunion firsthand.
I found the questioning (in these comments) of peoples Jewish practice now, and being concerned with mistakes in the article a waste of time and those two people who commented that way need to get a positive outlook on life and stop being so judgemental. Learn your Torah and Gemarah, you don't take a beautiful article like this and look for the negative pieces, we are taught not to embarass others and to be positive in our ways.
You are wondering how many have gentile descendants these Ramah alum from the 50's have? Shame on you Chaim for putting that in these comments, that was totally uncalled for and disrespectful to such an amazing insitution that I love and cherish and that my best friends in life came from.
It is because of the Ramah Camps that we still have a large number of Jews in America. Chaim, would you explore how many of these Ramah Alum have descendants who went Frum and became more observant and tied to their Religion???
There should be more reunions, more celebrations at all the Ramah Camps, and everyone and their future generations should get to experience MACHNEH RAMAH!
Kol Tuv!
Yes, of course I still am close friends with many of the girls I met in the years 1961-68, one of whom is in Israel and one from France, now in NY, and others scattered around the country. Everyone I know is jealous of those "forever friends," now with so much history behind us, that we are glued for good.
One of the strongest memories started in my first year, 1961, in Garinim (seeds), the one and only summer if its existence. David Mogilner, dictatorial Rosh Mahaneh, instilled not only fun and friendship, but also ethics and a "menchish" way of life, lessons to which I refer even today.
What a beautiful story! For any alumni of Camp Ramah in Wisconsin who attended camp in the 1940's and 1950's, it is not too late to join our First Decade Reunion at camp next week, August 13-16. For details email alumni coordinator Robin Rubenstein at rrubenstein@ramahwisconsin.com
My son is up at Ramah right now. I hope he got the opportunity to meet with you ladies, too. I'm so happy to read about the connectedness of the Ramah campership. I'm happy to know that, in 50 years, maybe he will still be friends with some of the kids at camp with him now. The best of it is, no matter how old you get, you will still see each other as kids. That will keep you young forever. (And not a one of you ladies looks anywhere near your stated age!).
What a lovely event, it brought tears to my eyes,even though I don't have any connections with the group.
I knew about the March meeting through Eda Alter Chodrow. It was great fun to hear about the people in Bunk 19. I believe I was in Bunk 18, since I'm about a year and a half younger. I have been friends with Eda since my first summer at Ramah.
It was nice to see Gita's and Gail's names. I remember both people well. I, too, remember the salamis (and the pickles and rye bread!) sent from home.
Ramah was a really important experience for me.
Tuesday was truly an amazing day at Camp Ramah in the Poconos. As our 60th Anniversary is approaching, we would love to be connected with more of our alumni. Please find us on facebook and register for our alumni website at www.ramahpoconos.org/alumni where you can find old friends and reconnect! Please contact Dawn Harvey, Development Director at dawnh@ramahpoconos.org for more information about how you can get involved with Camp Ramah in the Poconos.
I wonder if the David Mogilner camp director described above is related to David Magilner who was a camper and counselor (and a force in his own right) at Camp Harlam, the Reform camp in the Poconos, in the late 70s and early 80s....
I, unfortunately never went to Ramah, but my late husband Joe and his sisters Molla and Debbie had such good memories of their time there that the good feelings of Ramah were felt by me.(Very contagious)--Our daughter Michele went to Ramah in Palmer and our grand daughter went to Ramah in Israel where she lives. Now she is involved in Noam which is the youth group which is connected to Ramah!. How's that for positive continuity!!!
I was a camper at Ramah in the Poconos from the first year 1948. I would love to hear from other campers who were there in 1948-1951. Ramah led me to Israel, where I met my English husband, and then to living in England where I worked in Jewish Education.
What a delightful article!! Kal HaKavod. I spent the summers of 1950-55 in Ramah Poconos; I was probably in the bunk adjacent to Bunk 19 and many of the faces in the picture are incredibly familiar. After years at Ramah (Ojai, Ct and a summer at Nyack) and many years at Schechter Schools in the US, I made Aliya on July 1, 2003. I would be delighted to meet alumnae of our EARLY YEARS
Wonderful article! I really enjoyed hearing about the connection that these present-day campers felt to their older "colleagues", too -- very touching. Also, I was intrigued by the fact that Ramah used to be a "Hebrew immersion" environment. Maybe that would be worth bringing back, it sounds like a fun experience!
I am the one who told reporter about the girls, at 12, scrutinizing the boys to see who put on tefilin at services. I never said "shabbat services," but somewhere along the line the error crept in. Sorry about that, folks. I wouldn't have used the nonexistent verb "barmitzvahed" either, of course. Such things happen. Meanwhile, we are all grateful to the Forward for reporting our story so beautifully, and glad that so many of you liked it. It was an amazing day for all of us, and we are all still a little bit high from it. About 95% of the descendants of this group did become bar or bat mitzvah, by the way. And I will certainly be in touch with those of you who know us. By the way, there is only partial overlap between the photo of the 1953 group and the photo of the reunion group, if you are having trouble finding any of us in the first photo.
Tuesday was truly an amazing day at Camp Ramah in the Poconos. As our 60th Anniversary is approaching, we would love to be connected with more of our alumni. Please find us on facebook and register for our alumni website at www.ramahpoconos.org/alumni where you can find old friends and reconnect! Please contact Dawn Harvey, Development Director at dawnh@ramahpoconos.org for more information about how you can get involved with Camp Ramah in the Poconos.
WOW!!!! what else is there to say.
I want to second the comments made by Thelonius Mons. My sensitivities were assaulted when in the midst of the recalling of beautiful memories, wonderful friendships, and meaningful learning experiences... others felt the necessity to point out non-issues which had no real bearing on the content. Furthermore, whatever their motive to have a need to show the error of the ways of others...their posting, in my opinion, merely detracted from how others may perceive the protestors. To a story such as the one under discussion - only postive comments need apply. Laurie
In the summer of 2009 I was on Ramah Israel Seminar. Hearing about these women reconnecting with each other after so many years is truly inspiring. So often at the end of a summer with Ramah, campers and their friends worry that they will drift apart, no matter how hard they try to stay in touch. Knowing that you can always rekindle old friendship really makes growing older (and away from Ramah) much easier. Thank you Bunk 18! P.S. No need for lashon hara!
Memories, indeed!
I was a madricha and Rosh Edah Aleph Banot in 1952. In those days just about every bunk counselor also taught. It was a very full life!
Bruce asked about Rabbi David Mogilner. He died in camp during the summer of 1974 or '75, and was buried in Yerushalayim, where he was eulogized by his colleague, Chaim Potok.
Nishmor al zikhronot!
At the risk of over-posting, please be aware that the original comments were written at 11PM, Motza-ei Shabbat.
What a wonderful, inspiring experience! What a blessing! You women are a "dugma." You all look great. I wish you all good health. I started at Ramah as a staff member. I had the honor of teaching dance (in Hebrew)at Poconos from 1970-1999 and again in 2004. We raised our 4 sons there, beginning with our eldest who started at Ramah when he was 10 months old. Ramah played a major role in in our lives. It was probably one of the major influences on our making aliya. Judy
As a member of Bunk 19, the campers who reunited 58 years later, I am overwhelmed by the response to our wonderful experience. The whole concept is remarkable, from the time Gita began the search to our first meeting at Judy M's home to the invitation for an overnight at Judy B's home in Glen Spey, NY to the spontaneous shout "Let's go to camp!" Doesn't get better than this! Hello to Ruth Simon Ritterband a friend of my late brother, Joe Kaplan.
What a great story! I was delighted to read that these women had the same difficulty leaving camp back then as we did in our day. I was unapproachable for weeks after returning home and always wished that camp would last 10 months and school would last 2 months. Whether I was in Connecticut, Palmer or Berkshires, Ramah was truly a magical place. This article an inspiration to my chevreh who have been reconnecting on facebook for the past few months. We are planning a reunion of our Ramah Israel Seminar group from 1969. If you're out there and remember one of the best summers of your life (as if you could EVER forget it!!) please join in the fun!
What a great story...i was at Ramah...from like 73-78? The article brought back memories of Bunk 19 for me too.....lol...Ramah was a special place for all who attended...I dont rememer Rabbi Mogilner passing away at camp..but in 1974 I do remember the camp caretaker Don ? bringing out a TV when President Nixon resigned,,that was a pretty amazing moment.
More than water has passed under my bridge. I had my Bar-Miztvah at Machane Rama under the oak tree. I wonder if it is still there?
The year? 1950!
Norman Kabak Wellington, NZ
I was at Ramah from 1961 to 1965 as both camper and staff and then returned with my family from 1977-79. I have such fond memories and one of the friends I made in 1961 is still a good friend who lives in Israel. Rmah changed my life as did the people I learned with, studied with and lived with. Kol Hakavod ladies!
It was the summer of 1969 and I was on the bus to camp for the first time where I met Jill Levy. Jill and I are still close friends to this very day!! Thanks, Jill for sending this article. Back then I didn't realize how special camp was, but I do now!! I still remember the girls in our bunk, my first crush, wearing white on shabbat and trying every which way to get out of daily hebrew classes!!
As a former staff member of Ramah in the Berkshires, I found this story absolutely thrilling and remarkable. It makes you understand that even though many things have changed over the course of 60 years, a lot hasn't- People remain people, love is the most important thing we have and we always need to appreciate the people around us- They are everything we have. If anybody from Ramah 2002 is reading this- Just wanted to say that I had a great time, I've been reminiscing over it ever since, and would be glad to come back in the future to visit.
Best Regards,
Arik
I just returned from my 18th summer at Ramah Poconos (if you don't count Ramah Seminar in 1979-we are also thinking about our 30th reunion!). I was a camper in the 70's, a madricha in the early 80's and returned on staff in 200 with my own kids in tow. It was an honor to have met the women from the article this summer and I can echo the words of many others to say that my oldest and dearest friends are my camp friends. The other night when my daughter and her friends presented the Gesher play from the oldest edah, I welled up when one of the lines of the play (in Hebrew, of course) stated that they had made "forever, live time friends at camp." So true!
As a former camper-waitress, swimming instructor and wife of... I so much appreciated the comments, nostalgia, the 'chevershaft '. Judy Borodkin, please get in touch. I'm Barbara's cousin. Rina
When my friends and I found out that we were going to be talking with former campers we were so thrilled. After we were done, that's all my friends and I talked about for a week. It was so meaningful to us and it really changed our point of view on things. And we believe that we will stay together forever but if we don't we are shown here, that we can always reunite and share that same bond that kept us together when we were younger.
dear friends My first year at camp ramah was also the first year of the opening of the POCANOS in 1950. I became bunk counselor, girls sports counselor and teacher- as my friend Adina Potok explained. . My beautiful co-counselor was Heda Lang now Shuchman who is once more an important part of my life. Gita Rotenberg who started this amazing adventure was a camper in my bunk. We both now live in Toronto and share evenings at jewish lectures while talking about that summer in 1950 . I own some photos of campers and cousellors. That was an historic summer for me since I met and fell in love with my husband Sam Schafler who shared his bunk with Yochanan Muffs as his junior counselor. Rabbi Shmuel and I raised 6 children who all attended summers at various camps ramah in the USA and Israel and on staff . Sam Schafler O'H' played a leadership role along with Mogilner. Congratulations GITA SIEGAL ROTENBERG for this wonderful amazing historic RAMAH creation.
I loved this article! I only went to Ramah for 5 summers in the 90's, but everything in this article rang true for me. I only wish the girls from my edah were quite so inclusive as your group seems to be. Oh, and I was in Bunk 19 when I was 12 also... and it looked pretty much the same as it did in your picture from the 50's! I can only hope that in 40 years I will be able to have a similar experience as you amazing women!
the door behide them is the door that was next to my bed this current summer! it is now bunk 16!
I clicked on this article just for a lark and lo and behold there was Camp Ramah! As part of Eastern Penn region we had our Spring and Summer Kinnus there along with the Philadelphia and Delaware regions. I still remember the rowdy regional songs sung back and forth across the dining room. Those are wonderful memories for me, my younger sister and older brother! Oh yes, forgot to say, this was in the early 70's. Thanks for bringing back those good times.