In 2007, my three daughters asked me if they could go to summer camp along with their schoolfriends. For the previous several years, I had always said no. It was far, it was costly. And summer was the only time I had vacation from work, and I wanted to spend that time with my children. I said I would think about it.
Read MoreSpeaking with interns in the Ramah Service Corps is like being immersed in a giant bubble bath. Young adults in their late teens and early 20s, their enthusiasm for serving as camp ambassadors at synagogue schools is just that effervescent and buoyant.
Read MoreFor the past two summers, Israeli Arab athletes Nadine and Fahoum have had a special task: teaching tennis and tolerance to Jewish kids attending Camp Ramah in the U.S. and Canada.
Read MoreFifteen years ago was my last summer at Camp Ramah (as a camper at least). I have returned to camp since my days as a camper; including six summers as staff along with visits to show my wife a little slice of the Judaism that resonates with me the most. This year I returned to Conover, Wisconsin as a rabbi for the very first time. Camp Ramah, referring to the camp in Wisconsin (although I am sure the other camps as well), is a place where Judaism and Jewish education are at their finest.
Read MoreEzra, part of Tikvah at Ramah California, is a program that provides vocational education (voc-ed) training for young adults with special needs. Last Monday, August 5, I had the pleasure of traveling with five Ezra participants in the van that transported them from camp to their work placements in the town of Ojai. This year, Ezra has been supported in part by a generous National Ramah grant from the Ruderman Family Foundation.
Read MoreAt the end of an inspiring few days that I spent at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin last week, Tikvah director Ralph Schwartz invited me to see some of the work placement sites in nearby Eagle River where Tikvah graduates, now part of the Atzmayim program, are working as interns.
Read MoreMajor Ruderman Family Foundation Grant Enables Post-High School Campers with Disabilities to Return to Camp, Strengthen Their Jewish Identity, and Gain Valuable Job and Living Skills to Use in Their Home Communities
Read MoreFormer soup exec from Englewood focuses on Jewish camps
Read MoreAs I travel among all the Ramah camps and have the privilege of joining many different edot for tefillah, I experience a variety of levels in the quality of the davening. Some of our leaders are better prepared and better trained, and some of our young adults are struggling to learn these new leadership skills.
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