S’more and S’more Jewish Summer Camps around the Bay

Camp Ramah in Watsonville is offering campers an array of four-week “intensives” this summer: scuba diving, surfing, horseback riding and musical composition. Enrollment was up in 2017, the camp’s second year, and Rabbi Sarah Shulman, the director since Day 1, said she expects it will grow again this summer, drawing third- to 12th-graders mostly from the Bay Area....“It has been a pleasure to be a part of the collaborative and collegial overnight Jewish camp community in Northern California with such supportive partners,” Shulman said.

Ramah in the NewsNRC WebmasterJanuary 26, 2018Galim

On a Mission of Hope

“Israel is just as important to the Tikvah participants and their families on this Birthright trip as it is to all those Jews who view the Land of Israel and the State of Israel as their Jewish homeland,” said Herb Greenberg, who founded the Tikvah program with his wife, Barbara, in 1970.

Tikvah/Special Needs, Ramah in the NewsNRC WebmasterJanuary 11, 2018Tikvah, Israel

Winter Camping and Fighting Addiction at America’s First Jewish Wilderness Therapy Program

“When you go out into the wilderness, you just become open to all sorts of change,” said Rabbi Eliav Bock, director of Ramah of the Rockies. “When you go into the wildness, you strip away a lot of the noise we have around us — family, drugs, bad influences. You take somebody out of normal circumstances and force them to confront who they are as a person, what their core values are.”

Ramah in the NewsNRC WebmasterJanuary 11, 2018BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy

Jewish Wilderness Therapy Launched in Colorado Rockies

BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy, an experiential outdoor education program for young adults struggling with emotional, behavioral, or academic challenges, will launch on January 24. BaMidbar is a program of Ramah in the Rockies. The therapeutic program includes four-day wilderness treks, with Shabbats spent at Ramah’s base camp. At base camp, participants will also have individual, group, and family therapy.

Ramah in the NewsNRC WebmasterJanuary 10, 2018BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy

Expanding Horizons at Day Camp

A variety of Washington-area day camps offer activities for campers to discover abilities and interests they didn’t know they have. Ramah Day Camp of Greater Washington, in Germantown, MD, allows kids to take three electives per week in addition to swimming and activities like Israeli music and dance. Electives include candle-making, cooking, robotics and engineering.

Ramah in the NewsNRC WebmasterDecember 21, 2017DC Day Camp

Extending the Ramah Mission: 7 Years of Remarkable Growth

In 2010, as part of a strategic planning process, the National Ramah Commission determined that one of its objectives would be to further leverage the Ramah camping movement brand and extend the Ramah mission beyond the scope of summer camps. Here are some of the lessons that we have learned.

Ramah in the NewsNRC WebmasterDecember 21, 2017Reshet Ramah, Amy Skopp Cooper

First-Ever Birthright Israel: Ramah Tikvah-Amazing Israel trip

A partnership between Ramah Tikvah, Amazing Israel and Birthright Israel brings young adults with disabilities to Israel

Tikvah/Special Needs, Israel and Hebrew, Ramah in the NewsNancy ScheffNovember 15, 2017Israel, Tikvah

Introspection Begins Outdoors

In January 2018, Ramah in the Rockies will open BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy, the nation’s first kosher, Shabbat-observant wilderness therapy program. BaMidbar will serve Jewish emerging adults, ages 18 to 26, who are struggling with substance abuse, trauma, mental health issues, or a failure to successfully launch into adulthood.

Ramah in the NewsNancy ScheffNovember 8, 2017BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy

First U.S. Jewish Wilderness Therapy Program To Open In January 2018

In January of this year, Ramah in the Rockies is opening BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy, the nation’s first Jewish wilderness therapy program, serving young adults struggling with trauma, mental health issues, substance abuse, and those struggling on their journey from adolescence to independent adulthood.

Ramah in the NewsNRC WebmasterOctober 26, 2017BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy