For Rabbi Joe Menashe, an effective camp experience doesn’t stop at summer’s end. The Executive Director of Camp Ramah in California, the national camp’s Western location; working to ensure the health of the established camp and cultivating camp programs to develop the next Jewish leaders is all in a day’s work.
Read MoreAs February is Jewish Disabilities Awareness month, we are highlighting a largely unseen, yet highly valued program of Camp Ramah in the Berkshires: Breira B’Ramah. B’reira B’Ramah is a fully integrated inclusion program, for campers with the often invisible challenges of learning, emotional and/or behavioral disabilities. Breira B’Ramah campers are largely indistinguishable from their peers; they participate in all camp activities with minimal modifications. What enables these campers to be successful at camp is a group of caring, talented counselors who serve as their shadows, mentors and coaches.
Read MoreLast month, the Tikvah program for campers with disabilities at Camp Ramah in New England took a group of 12 young adults, graduates of the camper program, to Israel for a ten-day trip. This trip was not the first of its kind. In fact, every two years Ramah New England offers a Tikvah Israel trip, with many participants returning to Israel again and again for a chance to visit the Jewish homeland with their close friends from Ramah.
Read MoreAt the end of every summer, Camp Ramah Darom in Clayton, GA turns into Camp Yofi, where children with autism and their families can enjoy a week of Jewish camping fun and relaxation.
Read MoreGoing away to an overnight camp for the first time can be a nerve-racking experience for some children.
Read MoreEarlier this month I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the first Jewish Leadership Institute on Disability and Inclusion. The Institute brought together Jewish leaders from across North America who are working to make the Jewish community more inclusive of all its members, regardless of individual differences. As a young professional beginning what I hope to be a long and fulfilling career working with people with disabilities in the Jewish community, I cherished the opportunity to connect with other professionals who share my passion.
Read MoreAs I returned back to the University of Pittsburgh’s frigid campus just a few weeks ago, I couldn’t stop wishing I had never left the warmth of California and the incredible community I had shared my Shabbat with at Camp Ramah in California. As a Ramah Service Corps Fellow, I spend my time working at Congregation Beth Shalom in Pittsburgh promoting Camp Ramah in Canada and helping to bring the success of informal Jewish education experienced over the summer at Camp Ramah back to the community.
Read MoreHeading back to school in the fall after a fun-filled summer at camp has always been a bit of a letdown for kids. Who hasn’t wished that school were more like summer camp and that teachers were more like camp counselors?
Read MoreThe National Ramah Winter Leadership Training Conference at Ramah California in Ojai this past January 2-5 was truly extraordinary! This weekend training and Shabbaton were marked not only by inspirational and powerful interactions among staff members across the camps in the Ramah movement, but also by the exchange of ideas and experiences across generations of Ramah leaders.
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