The emphasis on Hebrew, Israeli shlichim, and the total community phenomenon Ramah provides was enough to motivate me and many others to choose aliyah, as a natural extension of my camp experience.

Although I grew up in a traditional family, attended a community day school, was active in USY (and even LTF!*), and participated actively in Hillel programs in college, I still believe that Ramah had the most influence on my decision to make aliyah and lead an actively Jewish life. Although I couldn’t have articulated the reason back then, thinking about it now I believe that it was because the Ramah experience demonstrates so effectively immersion in a totally Jewish community. At Ramah you are being Jewish not only at tefillot and study sessions, but also while you are sailing, hiking and playing basketball, watching movies, hanging out with friends…every part of life is suddenly connected with Judaism.

At some level (conscious or subconscious), when I tried to figure out how to extend the Ramah experience to my adult life, it became obvious to me that if my ultimate goal was full-time immersion in a Jewish community, there was only one place in the world to do that–in Israel. After spending my junior year at Hebrew University, I finalized my decision, and have now lived most of my life here. I live with my family in a rural Modern Orthodox community in northern Israel, and we are very happy with our lifestyle (my husband is a veteran of many years at Camp Moshava, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we chose a community that in some ways mirrors our camp experiences).

*Leadership Training Fellowship program at JTS.