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Camp Ramah (Template:Lang-he Machaneh Ramah) is a network of Jewish summer camps affiliated with the Conservative Movement. The camps operate in the United States, Canada, and Israel. Ramah camps serve kosher food and are Shabbat-observant.

History

During the 1940s, the Jewish Theological Seminary established Camp Ramah as a tool for furthering Jewish education. The founders envisioned an an informal camp setting where Jewish youth would reconnect with the synagogue and Jewish tradition, and a new cadre of American-born Jewish leadership could be cultivated.

The first camp opened in Conover, Wisconsin in 1947. The program was drawn up by Moshe Davis and Sylvia Ettenberg of the JTS Teachers' Institute. In October 2007, Ettenberg was awarded Pras Ramah (the Ramah Prize) as part of Ramah's 60th anniversary celebrations.

Today, Ramah camps are attended by over 6,500 youngsters, ranging in age from 7–16, with a staff of 1,500 counselors, co-counselors, specialists, and teachers. In addition to typical summer camp activities, Ramah camps offer an educational program focusing on Judaism, Zionism, and Hebrew-language instruction on different levels.

Camp Ramah offers sleep-away camps with an option to stay for either 4 or 8 weeks, day camps with busing, an Israel summer tour program for teenagers, a day camp in Jerusalem for American and Israeli children, and a variety of high school programs in Israel.

The camps operate under the aegis of the National Ramah Commission, the camping arm of Conservative Judaism, which provides oversight and educational planning. The mission of Ramah is to create summer camps and Israel programs which inspire commitment to Jewish life and cultivate a new generation of Jewish communal leaders. In addition to its university-aged American counselors, the staff of each camp is joined by a corps of emissaries from Israel known as the "mishlachat/מישלחת".

Ramah operates overnight camps in the Berkshires (New York); California; Canada; Darom (Georgia); New England (Massachusetts); Poconos (Pennsylvania); and Wisconsin. The three day camps include Nyack (New York); Philadelphia; and Chicago. Ramah Outdoor Adventure in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, Ramah’s first specialty camp, opened in the summer of 2010. Additionally, Ramah runs summer and high school semester programs in Israel, and partners with summer camp programming in the Ukraine, Argentina, and Israel.

Educational impact

A Trinity College researcher, Ariella Keysar, documented a significant impact of Ramah on college students: She found that Ramah graduates were three time more likely to date only Jews, four times more likely to attend synagogue services, and three times as likely as the general Jewish population to spend significant time in Israel.

According to the Jewish Agency for Israel, Camp Ramah "is not just a camp, it’s a lifestyle." Among North American olim, one finds communities of former Americans who attended Camp Ramah and reconnected later in life. Many spiritual leaders, social justice advocates, educators, and community board members in North America trace their strong Jewish values and commitment to Judaism to their summers at Ramah.

Overnight camps

• Camp Ramah in the Berkshires (Wingdale, New York)

Located on Lake Ellis, 90 minutes north of New York City by car. Serves the metropolitan New York/New Jersey area.

• Camp Ramah in California (Ojai, California)

Located in the hills of Ojai, California, 90 minutes north of Los Angeles by car. Opened in 1956.

• Camp Ramah in Canada (Utterson, Ontario)

Located in the Muskoka Region of Ontario, 2 hours north of Toronto, on Skeleton Lake.

• Camp Ramah Darom (Clayton, Georgia)

Located in 122 acres (0.49 km) in the Appalachian Valley near Clayton, Georgia, 2 hours north of Atlanta.

• Camp Ramah in New England (Palmer, Massachusetts)

Located approximately 1½ hours west of Boston and 45 minutes east of Amherst and Northampton.

• Camp Ramah in the Poconos (Lakewood, Pennsylvania)

Located in the mountain region of Wayne County in Northeastern Pennsylvania, 3 hours driving time from both New York City and Philadelphia.

• Camp Ramah in Wisconsin (Conover, Wisconsin)

Located in the lake region of Northern Wisconsin, 18 miles (29 km) north of Eagle River, 350 miles (560 km) from Chicago, and 240 miles (390 km) from Minneapolis, on the shores of Lake Buckatabon.

• Camp Ramah in the Rockies (Deckers, Colorado)

Located in the Rocky Mountains, a 360-acre (1.5 km) camp site 1½–2 hours by car from Denver and Colorado Springs.

Day camps

Ramah Day Camp in Chicago

Ramah day camp in Chicago is located in Wheeling, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, northwest of Chicago.

Ramah Day Camp in Nyack

Ramah day camp in Nyack is located in Nyack, New York, in Rockland County, New York, approximately 45 minutes by car from New York City. An eight-week day camp at which the staff remains overnight, though the campers, ages 5–14, go home every day. Activities for campers include basketball, soccer, hockey, tennis, two ropes courses, art, woodworking, ceramics, and cooking. A hot kosher lunch is provided daily to the campers, and the staff receive three meals per day. Staff members participate in an intensive program of Jewish learning, leadership development, and social engagement in the afternoons and evenings.

Ramah Day Camp in Philadelphia

Ramah day camp in Philadelphia is located in the Perelman Jewish Day School in Melrose Park, Pennsylvania. It shares a pool with the Jewish Federation Day Care Center and rents the Olympic-size pool of a nearby apartment complex. Activities include sports, swimming (twice a day – instructional and free), art, drama, nature, cooking, Judaic studies, music, and dance. Special events include Rick Recht concerts, Yom Yisrael (a carnival celebrating Israeli culture, history, and people), Maccabiah (color war), and Yom USA (July 3). Older campers go on overnights, while younger campers have 'undernights.' An arts festival is held at the end of the summer, combining drama, song, and dance.

Ramah programs in Israel

The Ramah movement’s Israel programs include the Israel Seminar, a seven-week study tour of Israel, and Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim (TRY), a high school semester in Israel. When campers age out of the Ramah summer camping experience at age 16, they can sign up for the Ramah Seminar in Israel. The six-week program is devoted to exploring the north, south, and center of the country. It is based at two principal sites: Havat HaNoar HaTzioni in Jerusalem, and the Hodayot youth village, adjacent to Kibbutz Lavi near the Sea of Galilee.

The Seminar includes an optional ten-day trip to Poland to learn about Jewish life in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. In 2010, Ramah Israel Seminar offered a second optional program, "Yarok," focusing on the environment.

Ramah Programs in Israel also offers short-term Israel experiences (10 days to 3 weeks) in the context of the Ramah Israel Institute for 8th grade day school classes, teens (Confirmation classes) as well as families and adults. In addition Israel runs two day camps during the summer, one for Israelis and one for children of English-speaking tourists or Israelis (the Ramah Jerusalem Day Camp).

Additional Israel programs include USY High, a two-month program for high school juniors and seniors, and the Jerusalem Day Camp, a Ramah-style day camp for English-speaking children from abroad.

Tikva special needs programs

Since the first Tikvah program was established in 1970, the Ramah Camping Movement has provided a Jewish camping experience for special needs children. Ramah camps serve different age groups, and offer programs of varying lengths.

Ramah in New England offers inclusion bunks for special-needs and mainstream youngsters, stand-alone bunks, and a vocational training program for older children and adults. There are bunks with entrances that can accommodate motorized scooters, barrier-free bathrooms, and paved roads suitable for wheelchairs.

Program for bereaved children

Since 2003, the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces association has sponsored a summer camp program, Moreshet, for Israeli children who have lost a parent or sibling in a war or terrorist attack. The children spend the summer at Jewish sleep-away camps in the United States. In 2007, Camp Ramah in the Berkshires hosted 50 campers and staff members. The program continued in 2008, 2009, and 2010.

Notable staff and alumni

• Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve
• Wolf Blitzer, journalist
• Glenn Fine, Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice
• Moshe Greenberg, rabbi, bible scholar, and professor
• Isaac Herzog, Israeli Minister of Welfare & Social Services and Minister of the Diaspora, Society, and the Fight Against Antisemitism
• David Lieber, rabbi and scholar
• Laura Miller, Mayor of Dallas, Texas
• Jerrold Nadler, U.S. Congressman
• Marc E. Platt, film, television, and theatre producer
• Chaim Potok, Director of Ramah in California before embarking on career as a writer
• Samuel Schafler, rabbi, historian, editor, and Jewish educator
• Henry Waxman, U.S. congressman

References

1. "New Conservative survey of Camp Ramah alumni..." j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California. March 15, 2002. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
2. Fax, Julie G (November 30, 2006). "Class Notes: Camp Ramah celebrates Golden Anniversary". Jewish Journal. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
3. "Conservative Groups to Share a Roof". Jewish Exponent. September 29, 2005. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
4. "Conservative summer camps clamp down on 'Who is a Jew?'". j. the Jewish news weekly of Northern California. February 11, 2000. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
5. "Ramah reunion". Jerusalem Post. April 18, 2003. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
6. "Camp's in Season: Off the Beaten Path; Does Camp Matter? Examining the impact of summer days on Jewish lives". Jewish Exponent. June 28, 2001. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
7. "Ramah reunion". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
8. "Focus On Issues: Israelis spend their summer vacation by working at Jewish camps in U.S." Jewish Telegraphic Agency. July 26, 2001. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
9. "Camp Ramah - Beth El Synagogue Omaha, NE". Webcache. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
10. The Jewish Theological Seminary – Record Group 28: Camp Ramah
11. ^ The Jewish Theological Seminary – Camp Ramah Celebrates 60 Years of Jewish Camping
12. Kolot Ramah Winter 2010
13. Jewish Theological Seminary News
14. Jewish Agency for Israel
15. Camp Ramah marks 50 years
16. "Camp Ramah Berkshires". Ramahberkshires.org. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
17. Davis, Carin (December 28, 2006). "Camp Ramah marks 50 years | Education". Jewish Journal. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
18. Camp Ramah directors appointed
20. About Camp Ramah in New England
22. "Camp Ramah in Wisconsin – is affiliated with the Conservative Movement and National Ramah Commission operating under the educational auspices of The Jewish Theological Seminary". Ramahwisconsin.com. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
23. "Ramah in the Rockies". Campramah. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
24. "Ramah Day Camp – Wheeling, IL". Ramahday. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
25. "Ramah Day Camp in Nyack". Ramahnyack.org. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
26. "Apply for a Job". Ramahjobs. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
27. Ramah Israel Seminar, dates and accommodations
28. Camp for everyone
29. Summer camp for bereaved children
30. ^ Ramah at 60
31. Blitzer on Camp Ramah in Palmer
32. Moshe Greenberg, Ramah scholar-in-residence
33. Camp Ramah marks 50 years
34. "Deaths--Potok, Rabbi Chaim". The New York Times. July 25, 2002. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
35. Marriage stories

External links

• The National Ramah Commission
• "Research Findings on the Impact of Camp Ramah," 2004
• Ramah Programs in Israel
• Conservative Survey Shows Ramah Kids Have More Frum
• Bunk 19, Forever: Reuniting After 58 Years
• Camp Ramah marriage stories
• Ramah: The early years, 1947-1952, Shuly Rubin Schwartz, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1976
• The Ramah experience: community and commitment, Sylvia C. Ettenberg, Geraldine Rosenfield, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1989, ISBN 0873340515
• Ramah: Reflections at 50: visions for a new century, Sheldon Arthur Dorph, 1999
• "Camp Ramah and adult Jewish identity: Long-term influences on Conservative congregants in North America", Steven M. Cohen, Melton Centre for Jewish Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1998
• Lessons from Camp Ramah on the power of ideas in shaping educational institutions, סדרת המונוגרפיות של קרן מנדל, by שלמה פוקס, ויליאם נובק, קרן מנדל, Publisher קרן מנדל, 2000
• Character education in Camps Ramah: how exemplars, experiences, and environment can influence moral education in Ramah Camps, Faith Friedman, William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education, 2004
• Berakhah be-Ramah: A resource guide for Ramah camps: How to teach Birkhot hashachar to rising 4th and 5th graders, Dahlia Hagit Kronish, William Davidson, Graduate School of Jewish Education, 2005
• "A Curriculum for Character Education: Joseph Schwab and the Ramah Camps", Cohen, Burton; Pereira, Peter; Roby, Thomas; Block, Alan, American Educational History Journal, v. 32, n. 2, pp. 192-201, Information Age Publishing, Inc., 2005
• "Vision, Leadership, and Change: The Case of Ramah Summer Camps", Joseph Reimer, Journal of Jewish Education, Volume 76, Issue 3, July 2010, pp. 246-71

• Camp Ramah
• Conservative Judaism
• Jewish summer camps
• Summer camps in Wisconsin