We have all heard these sentiments expressed before: “Camp was my child’s best Jewish experience,” “Camp changed our lives,” “”I love Camp Ramah!” What was special about hearing these words last week was that they came from Ramah camper alumni with disabilities and parents of campers with disabilities. These families never dreamed that they could have a Jewish camp experience.
Read MoreOn the second day of Rosh Hashanah, we read the moving haftarah from Jeremiah 31:14, with the following words: “Kol b’Ramah nishma—A voice is heard in Ramah.” Could this be the origin of the name “Camp Ramah,” founded in Conover, Wisconsin, in 1947? I have yet to find a document that discusses the reasons why our founders chose this name; many speculate that this haftarah provides the answer. While we might reject this reference given its context—Rachel weeping for her exiled children, refusing to be comforted—the following verses add consolation and hope: “There is hope for the future, said the Lord, and your children shall return to their borders—v’shavu vanim ligvulam.”
Read MoreThe National Ramah Commission has released the results of a new strategic planning survey conducted to document the impact of Ramah special needs programs. Ramah’s leadership in the field of Jewish special needs camping dates back to its first Tikvah program in 1970, the first program of its kind.
Read MoreIn 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.
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