Summer Highlights and Tour Updates!

Sep 03, 2019

Rabbi Josh Warshawsky Summer Recap, Tour Update, and Elul Torah

What a summer!
Since we last spoke, I was ordained as a rabbi, went on a summer tour, moved to Chicago, and got married (pics below)!!!

Summer 2019 is coming to a close, and it was one for the memory books. SIX incredible camps, SIX brand new Jewish songs written with some unbelievably talented campers, over FIFTY musical tefillot (prayer services), tons of song sessions and late night song circles, thousands of miles flown and driven, and countless new friends and new memories made!

Thank you to Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, Canada, New England, Poconos, Nyack, and Berkshires for an incredible summer. We have a lot of exciting things in the works for the next year, and I cannot wait to share them with all of you. Wishing you a wonderful start to the school year, and a reflective and fulfilling High Holiday season wherever you are!

Take a look below for some highlights, TOUR UPDATES, and an exciting announcement!

Camp Highlights

Ramah Wisconsin 2019 Zimriyah (Song Festival) Highlight Reel

It's always amazing to return home. This was my 19th summer at Ramah Wisconsin, and it never disappoints! The camp is filled with beautiful music. This was my fifth time working on our Zimriyah festival, where each eidah (age group) learns and performs a song, followed by a raucous and ruach-filled full band song session! Check out the highlight reel, and stick around till the end for a high-energy "Hameirah" clip!

Ramah Berkshires!

Five summers strong at Ramah Berkshires! This year was my best visit yet, complete with two incredible concerts with the Berkshires band, as well as an amazing Arts Clinic with 4th-6th graders where we wrote FOUR new songs and performed them with the band at the concert (Click above to hear one of them)! Added bonuses included: a ton of late night singing in the cabins (my favorite), and a rousing rendition of Ya Ribon with the entire camp on Friday night!

Ramah Poconos "Tefillective" praying Hameirah

Year three is always a sweet spot as far as camp residencies go, when a camp community has really gotten to know you. It was so wonderful to return to sing and pray in such a beautiful place. We also held our second year of the Ramah Music Academy, where we wrote and recorded two brand new Jewish songs which you can check out here: https://www.ramahpoconos.org/current-families/jukebox-ramah/

Ramah
New England!

This was my first time visiting Camp Ramah New England, and I was lucky enough to be there for their incredible Fourth of July fireworks display! At Ramah camps, the 4th of July is the only day we sing in English, so I got to sing some old American classics, as well as some awesome new Hebrew music throughout my visit. Check out more about my visits on the camp blog here: https://www.campramahne.org/blog/ilanot-tefilla-prayer-service-hodesh-tammuz-tov-josh-warshawsky/

Ramah Canada campers singing Hachamah Lecha Dodi

My first residency at Camp Ramah in Canada was one of my best ever! Incredible energy, beautiful music, what else can you ask for? We learned a ton of new music, and these particular campers blew me away with their rendition of Hachamah Lecha Dodi, which they sang in front of the entire camp before Shabbat. Check it out - you won't be able to stop yourself from singing along!

Ramah Nyack Highlights!

Visiting Ramah Day Camp in Nyack is always a special treat. I love getting to sing and pray with these little ones during the day, and then I get to have the opportunity to work, sing, and learn with their incredible high school and college aged staff in the evenings after the kids head home. Click on the picture for a highlight real of our daytime work, and the nights were filled with all night Total Request Live singalongs, Torah learning, Trivia, and more!

Tour Dates!

Upcoming Dates

Sept. 13th-15th - Adas Israel Congregation in Washington D.C.
Sept. 20th-22nd - Congregation Beth Ahm in West Bloomfield, MI
Sept. 24th-26th - Perelman Jewish Day School in Philadelphia, PA
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur - Congregation Beth El in South Orange, NJ
Oct. 25th-27th - Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley, PA
Oct. 17th-29th - The Conversation @ Pearlstone Retreat Center
Nov. 1st-3rd - Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale
Nov. 8th-10th - Adas Israel Congregation in Washington D.C.
Nov. 19th-21st - Perelman Jewish Day School in Philadelphia, PA
Dec. 6th-10th - United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Biennial in Boston, MA
Dec. 11th-15th - Union for Reform Judaism Biennial in Chicago, IL
Jan. 10th-12th - Congregation Agudas Achim in San Antonio, TX
Jan. 24th-26th - Congregation Shearith Israel in Atlanta, GA
Jan. 31st-Feb. 2nd - Beth El Synagogue in Minneapolis, MN
Feb. 7th-9th - Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C.
Feb. 14th-18th - Ramah Shabbaton/Songleader Boot Camp in St. Louis, MO
Feb. 19th-21st - Kellman Brown Academy in Voorhees, NJ
Feb. 21st-23rd - Temple Beth Sholom in Cherry Hill, NJ
Mar. 16th-18th - Perelman Jewish Day School in Philadelphia, PA
Mar. 20th-22nd - Adath Israel on the Main Line, Philadelphia, PA

Brand New Single Coming Soon:
Arise

Some Torah for This Season

Sunday was Rosh Chodesh Elul, the first day of the Jewish month leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This time of year is a time of introspection and reflection, of looking backwards and looking ahead, of looking inwards and outwards. Who are we and who have we been this year? The Netivot Shalom (A Modern Hasidic commentator) offers a parable:

When we are physically sick, and a doctor can't pinpoint what the problem is, we enter a hospital and run lots of tests to try to understand where the sickness is coming from, what is it's root cause? So too, once a year we each individually must enter a "hospital of the spirit". We must comb through our spirit, perform tests on ourselves, in order to look deeply within to find any roots and spiritual cells that may have gone astray, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

In Rabbi Alan Lew's book, This is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared, he quotes the Mateh Moshe, who says of this month-long period, "Therefore each person scrutinize their actions with a view to mending them. Let them exclude themselves for one hour every day and examine themselves."

As we enter the month of Elul and this holy and powerful season, I hope you find moments each day to reflect, to learn, and to grow. May you find what it is you need this season to be the best version of yourself next year, and to help us make the world the best version of herself.

Shanah Tovah,
Josh