by Rachel Marcus, Rosh Shira at Camp Ramah California and Hava Nashira 2015 participant

Harmony (noun): the combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce chords and chord progressions having a pleasing effect. If I could describe my past week with one word, it would be harmony. It was not only the harmony of the musical notes that covered my skin with goose bumps and filled my heart with joy, but the harmony of the URJ (Union of Reform Judaism) and Ramah camps working as one.

This past week, as Rosh Shira at Camp Ramah in California, I was privileged enough to be sent to Hava Nashira, an annual songleading and music conference hosted by the URJ at Olin Sang Ruby Union Institute in Oconomowoc, WI. Ramah songleaders began their harmony with URJ four years ago through Kivun, a joint program of the URJ and Ramah camping movements. Although this was my first year in attendance, I could already see our two different melody lines converge as one. Both of us are looking for new tools to put in our belts, new songs to sing, and new resources to call upon. Both of us have the same aim: to enhance the summers and lives of our campers through Jewish music. And both of us are looking outside of our comfort zones to reach these goals.

Click here to read the rest of Rachel’s blog.