Her time as a counselor helped her develop confidence in her ability to lead, which was boosted by her time as a Resident Assistant in the Beit Knesset staff dormitory, leading Ramahcapella, Ramah Nyack’s staff a cappella group, and as a Sgan Rosh for Nitzanim. In the summer of 2021, Simone began working as a Rosh Edah for Nevatim, Ramah’s newest edah for campers entering pre-k, in its first summer, alongside Nomi Saposh. Simone spent three summers working in Nevatim, taking great pride in introducing families to Ramah Nyack and mentoring young staff members. In the summer of 2024, Simone returned to her roots as a Rosh Edah in Nitzanim, completing a joyful decade at camp.

Simone is a 2nd Grade General Studies Teacher at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, MD. Each day in her classroom, she brings the passion she developed at camp for helping children achieve their goals and see the potential for what they can do, and who they can be. Simone earned her teaching certification and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, where she also served as the president of Muhlenberg Hillel. Simone is currently pursuing a Master of Education in Literacy through Clemson University.

Simone met and began dating her husband, Rabbi Jesse Nagelberg, at camp in 2021. Simone and Jesse were married in September of 2024, surrounded by many friends they met and worked with at camp.

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Jesse started at camp as a counselor for two summers in Nevonim (entering 5th grade). In 2013, he joined the small but mighty group of staff who worked the pre-summer season in the camp office. In 2014, Jesse switched from working in an edah to working in the office where he spent 8 summers in a variety of administrative and programmatic roles, including as Senior Program Director and Hospitality Manager. A classically trained dancer, Jesse thrived on Ramah Nyack’s migrash. Over the years, he has cut the music and helped with the choreography for many of camp’s most popular migrash dances. During the first months of the COVID pandemic, Jesse led weekly Migrash dance classes for the camp community through Facebook Live, and he coordinated Ramah Nyack’s virtual camp program, Boker Tov, Ramah!, during the summer of 2020. As he entered rabbinical school, Jesse also took on roles at camp that prepared him for the rabbinate, including starting the HaDor Yizkor program, as a teacher, and as Rosh Tefillah.

Jesse proudly met his wife Simone at camp. Jesse and Simone ran in different circles at camp for many summers, but in the summer of 2021, a Shabbat afternoon conversation on the White House Porch led them to begin dating.

Between his summers at camp, Jesse attended the University of Houston and earned a Bachelor of Science in Hotel & Restaurant Management from the Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership, studied at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, and studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS). Jesse was selected to be a member of the first cohort of the Nachshon Project in the spring of 2015, taking part in a semester abroad at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, focused on Jewish communal leadership, and was one of the first recipients of the Nachshon Project Graduate School Fellowship. Prior to ordination, Jesse worked for the Hagalil region of Kadima and USY, as a rabbinic intern at Kehillat Veahavta in Zichron Yaakov, Israel, as a chaplain for Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Units at New York Presbyterian, Weill Cornell Medical Center, as a religious school teacher and Deborah Steiner Rabbinic Intern at the Orangetown Jewish Center in Orangeburg, NY, as the Rabbinic Intern for Leffell School Lower School in Westchester, NY, and as the Rabbi of Beth El Synagogue in Woodbury, CT.

Ordained as a rabbi at JTS in 2022, Jesse also earned a master’s degree from the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education. Soon after ordination, he joined B’nai Shalom of Olney, in Olney, MD, as their rabbi, where he continues to bring his love of teaching and migrash music everyday.

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