Joseph Reimer

Vision, Leadership, and Change: The Case of Ramah Summer Camps

In his retrospective essay, Seymour Fox (1997) identified “vision” as the essential element that shaped the Ramah camp system. I will take a critical look at Foxs main claims: • A particular model of vision was essential to the development of Camp Ramah, and • That model of vision should guide contemporary Jewish educators in creating Jewish educational excellence. I will draw upon historical accounts and theories of organizational leadership and change to question Foxs first claim about the history of Camp Ramah and to offer an alternative model of vision to guide future leaders of Jewish camps.

Providing Optimal Jewish Experiences: The Case of Camp Ramah in Wisconsin.

How do Jewish residential summer camps provide campers and staff with opportunities to learn and grow as Jews? Sales and Saxe (2004) have viewed this growth through the lens of their socialization theory. This article asks: Can there be more to the camp experience than being socialized into the norms and values of a well-aligned Jewish environment? Based on a case study of the drama program in Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, the author proposes viewing certain camp experiences through the lens of optimal Jewish experiences (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). These are moments when individuals—often operating in a group context—rise to the challenge of new Jewish learning and succeed to present their accomplishments before appreciative audiences. The conditions that give rise to these optimal Jewish experiences are explored and suggestions are offered for how other camp leaders can create these conditions in their camps.

Informal Education: The Decisive Decade – How Informal Jewish Education Was Transformed in Its Relationship with Jewish Philanthropy

Informal Jewish education in North America was transformed by its interaction with Jewish philanthropy during the decade of 1997–2007. This is one participant’s account of that decade based on available literature and interviews. This account raises the key question of how powerful philanthropists and Jewish educational leaders can learn to better understand one another’s differing perspectives on the purposes of educational innovation. Two case studies – from Birthright Israel and the Foundation for Jewish Camp – are examined for illustrative ways in which philanthropists and educational leaders have attempted to share mutual perspectives in creating more productive partnerships. Without effective communication, the danger is of two sides that end up working at cross-purposes with one another.

Balancing Educational Practice with Psychological Theory: Lukinsky's Study of a Bold Camp Ramah Curriculum.

Abstract Missing from the growing literature on Jewish camps is Lukinsky’s (1968) pioneering study of the curriculum to teach responsibility that he designed for the 1966 Ramah American Seminar. Reviewing this work I discovered that Lukinsky—under Schwab’s (1971) influence—creates a rare balance between his own perspectives as an educational practitioner turned researcher with those of Erik Erikson, the famed developmental psychologist. I suggest that we read his work as an example to all who call upon theories of psychological development on how to use those theories to illuminate our thinking while not allowing them to dominate our educational discourse.

No Religion Is an Island: Teaching World Religions to Adolescents in a Jewish Educational Context

What is the place of teaching about other world religions in a Jewish educational curriculum for adolescents? This article explores a course in world religions that has been taught at the Genesis Program at Brandeis University since 2001. Based on a participant observational study during 2002 and 2012, the author traces how the teachers construct goals and implement plans that include site visits to places of worship of the religions they are studying. The questions raised and the struggles of students to make sense of Judaism in the context of world religions is the backdrop for considering both why and how other Jewish educators might thoughtfully include the study of other religions as part of their Jewish education for adolescents.