40 Days in the Wilderness
The BaMidbar Summer Field Team (meet them below!) is thrilled to be welcoming our students at the end of the month. The BaMidbar staff has been planning all year for this moment, setting up basecamp, scheduling hiking permits for masa’ot (backcountry excursions), developing curriculum, and creating the foundation for a journey of self-reflection and therapeutic growth.
Getting to this point doesn’t happen all on its own. It’s not one person. It’s not one project. It takes passion, commitment, and support from the BaMidbar staff, board, donors, program partners, program participants, and people like you! Thank you to the BaMidbar community for helping us reach this milestone.
![[Image Description] BaMidbar field team members walk along a tree-lined road.](https://www.bamidbartherapy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/BaMidbar-Field-Staff-Walking.jpeg)
[Image Description] BaMidbar field team members walk along a tree-lined road.
Meet the Summer Field Team
With student arrival just around the corner, we are very excited to introduce the all-star field staff for BaMidbar’s Summer Treatment Program! They bring with them considerable experience and expertise, and we are beyond confident in their ability to guide our students as they embark on individualized journeys of personal growth, hope, and healing at BaMidbar.
Clinical Staff
Adam Karp, Field Therapist (He/Him)
Adam graduated from Antioch University with a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Prior to pursuing his master’s degree, Adam worked in the fields of wilderness therapy and Jewish experiential education. Adam has also taught English as a Second Language in South Korea and French in Burlington, Vermont. He loves exploring the ways in which our hearts and minds align with Jewish history and philosophy. Most recently, that has involved working as a Field Therapist for BaMidbar, designing curriculum for Moving Traditions, and teaching high school students in Jewish educational settings. Adam enjoys hiking, traveling, languages, tinkering on the harmonica, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This past year, Adam has served as BaMidbar’s Wellness Programs Manager, designing curriculum and facilitating the Peer Wellness Fellowship; a program offered in partnership with the Jewish Teen Initiative at Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston.
Moss Herberholz, Field Therapist (He/Him)
Starting in 2015, Moss has worked as a nature educator for Jewish organizations including Ramah in the Rockies and Teva. Since its pilot season, Moss has filled many roles at BaMidbar including as a logistics coordinator, assistant field guide, lead field guide, and communications coordinator. He is very excited to work as a primary therapist for BaMidbar’s wilderness therapy program this summer. He recently received his M.S.W. and a Certificate of Jewish Leadership as a fellow in the Jewish Communal Leadership Program (JCLP) at the University of Michigan. He has a B.A. in Psychology and a B.A. in Theater Arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He works as a facilitator for dismantling racism workshops and in his free time, he enjoys dancing, identifying fungus, and spinning fire.
Nick Magle-Haberek, Clinical Director (He/Him)
Nick serves on BaMidbar’s year-round team as the Clinical Director. Nick has worked in the field of wilderness therapy and experiential education for the past twenty years. He earned masters degrees in both Social Work and Outdoor Education at the University of New Hampshire and is also on the leadership committee for the Therapeutic Adventure Professional Group. Nick is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Clinical Adventure Therapist. Nick oversees BaMidbar’s Treatment programming and manages our summer wilderness therapy program. He is also one of our lead Education program facilitators.
Field Staff
Arielle Aronoff, Lead Guide (she/her)
Arielle Aronoff is an outdoor educator who brings knowledge of the intersections of Judaism and ecology. She seeks to create an environment in which our natural inclination for exploration, curiosity, and connection can be engaged while developing a meaningful relationship with Jewish tradition, the land, and each other. Arielle has her BA in Anthropology and Environmental Studies from SUNY Geneseo. She served as Director of Teva, a program of Hazon, and is the founder and lead teacher of Kol Hai’s Forest Hebrew School.
Gavi Strauss, Lead Guide (he/him)
Gavi Strauss chases the intersection of nature, mindfulness, and Jewish practice. He is a Hebrew and B’nei Mitzvah tutor and encourages his students to develop Growth Mindsets. Gavi’s passion for embodiment and earth-based Judaism has brought him to pursue farmwork–growing food, building primitive skills, and fostering community. He has dual B.A.s in Neuroscience and Talmud from Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary respectively. He also has experience in Project Management and implementing curricula designed to foster brain-friendly culture change within organizations.
Sophia Katz, Assistant Guide (she/her)
Sophia Katz is currently completing her Masters in Mental Health Counseling at Prescott College, with a specialization in Adventure Therapy. Sophia also works at OHEL health homes, providing case management for adults who struggle with mental illness. Last summer, Sophia co-facilitated a young Jewish professionals backpacking trip in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with Lech Lecha: an organization devoted to building meaningful wilderness experiences, infused with Jewish practice and teachings. Sophia enjoys traveling and traversing the beauty of backcountry majesty! Sophia has a deep passion for the natural world and feels that its power to shift our perspectives and inspire growth is so unique and impactful. And it’s downright awesome.
Max Arquilevich, Assistant Guide (he/him)
Going into his final year of undergraduate studies at the University of Oregon, Max is excited to be a part of BaMidbar for the summer. At U of O, Max focused on Environmental Studies, with a minor in psychology. In addition, Max received his Wilderness First Responder certification in March and has spent many seasons in the backcountry. Lastly, Max attended Camp Newman in Santa Rosa, California, every summer since he can remember.
Zack Slavkin, Field Mentor (he/him)
Zack has been involved in the worlds of Jewish and Outdoor Education and leadership since 2013 when he first joined the early Ramah in the Rockies staff. He spent many summers as Survival Specialist and Director of Tripping there, developed and ran teen programming for various camps and synagogues in multiple states, worked as a field guide at BaMidbar during its inaugural seasons, and most recently taught at an Outdoor Jewish Preschool. He has a B.S. in Psychology from Colorado State University and is looking to pursue his MSW in the near future. He is passionate about sharing his love of the natural world, music, Jewish engagement, and his rescue dog Ash.
Basecamp Staff
Rose Savage Levenson, Program & Operations Coordinator (she/her)
Rose serves on BaMidbar’s full-time team as the Program and Operations Coordinator. Prior to joining the team at BaMidbar, Rose was the Associate Director of Camp Bob Waldorf in Glendale, CA. In this role, Rose cultivated her growing passion for creating healing spaces in the outdoors for all youth and families, regardless of socio-economic status. Rose received her BA from Mount Holyoke College in Psychology and Education as well as an MBA in Non-Profit Management and an MA in Jewish Professional Leadership as a Wexner Graduate Fellow / Davidson Scholar from Brandeis University. Rose supports organizational operations, including program coordination and implementation. Rose also provides on-the-ground logistical support for BaMidbar’s Treatment programs and works on growing and scaling professional development programs and new program initiatives.
Marni Loffman, Jewish Life & Learning Coordinator (they/them)
Marni Loffman is an educator and musician with an MA in Peacebuilding and a BA in Anthropology and Religion. Marni has worked extensively in pluralistic, experiential Jewish education, as well as homelessness services as a street outreach specialist. Marni is passionate about empowering people to find their unapologetic, authentic path within Judaism, drawing on wisdom, ritual, and music as a door to connection. Marni also cares deeply about increasing social-emotional awareness, paradoxical curiosity, self-trust, and creativity. Outside of their official work, Marni sings Slavic folk songs, bikes, hikes, works on completing yoga teacher training, and has deep conversations with strangers.
Lindsay Getraer, Basecamp Coordinator (she/her)
Lindsay is currently pursuing a B.A. from Princeton University with a concentration in English and certificates in Judaic Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies. She is an intern at the Center for Jewish Life – Princeton Hillel, and she serves as a student leader for Outdoor Action, Princeton’s outdoor education, and leadership development program. Lindsay also sings with and serves as Public Relations chair for Koleinu, Princeton’s Jewish a Cappella group. Previously, she has worked as a bunk counselor and specialist in the nature program at Camp Nesher in Lakewood, PA. Lindsay has also volunteered for CONTACT of Mercer County, NJ, answering their hotline and CrisisChat services.
From the Blog: Building Skills for the Wilderness and Beyond
“The rescuers made their way to my side, trying to figure out how to safely disentangle me from my friends who had just fallen off a waterfall cliff. With a significant bump on the head and onset hypothermia, our rescuers jumped into action and activated the Patient Assessment System. Well, at least that’s the simulation we conducted as a part of my Wilderness First Responder training this May.”
-Rose Savage Levenson, “Building Skills for the Wilderness and Beyond”
Read Rose’s WFR Training Journey
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