Hebrew Immersion in Camp

There’s a small buzzing slice of Israeli culture right in the heart of Rockland County. Up the winding country roads of Nyack, on a sprawling green estate, it’s 8:30 AM, and Israeli music is blasting. Hundreds of children in colorful T-shirts, shorts and sandals are running towards the central field to dance to Tel Aviv’s latest hits. Welcome to Sha’ar, Camp Ramah’s Areivim Hebrew at Camp program: seven weeks designed to instill Hebrew language fluency in young children through full language immersion. Here, roughly half of the campers are from day school, half are from public school, and some are from charter schools. Their knowledge of Hebrew is varied: some come from Israeli homes, while others don’t know a word of Hebrew when they first enter camp.

Israel and Hebrew, Ramah in the NewsNRC WebmasterJanuary 17, 2016Nyack

Reflections on Teaching at Ramah, Summer 2015

I spent time this summer teaching at Ramah Nyack and Ramah Wisconsin, and very much enjoyed being at both camps and teaching staff. Even more than the teaching, talking to college students one-on-one outside the formal shiurim was even better. Quite a few of them wanted to talk to me about one thing or another.

Blog/ReflectionsNRC WebmasterAugust 18, 2015JTS, Wisconsin, Nyack, Summer 2015

On Tisha B’Av, ex-ultra-Orthodox Jew mourns destruction of ‘personal temple’

NEW YORK – For Srully Stein, Tisha B’Av is about more than commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples: It represents the loss he faced after he decided to leave the ultra-Orthodox community he was born into.Hailing from a rabbinical dynasty, Stein, 23, grew up in an ultra-Orthodox family in Williamsburg, New York. At age 18 he met his wife for just a few moments before they were engaged. They had a son, but he dreamt of college and the world outside his insular community. After struggling with conflicting feelings, Stein left the insular community and divorced his wife.

Ramah in the NewsNRC WebmasterJuly 24, 2015Nyack, Reshet Ramah

And his name shall be Avishai…

Shira spent her first summer as a member of our Israel delegation in 2006. Tall, energetic, and charismatic, Shira was the type of young woman who seemed to run instead of walk, always with a bounce in her step. She was and remains a passionate young educator, drama teacher, and baseball player.

Israel and Hebrew, Blog/ReflectionsNRC WebmasterFebruary 20, 2015Amy Skopp Cooper, National Ramah, Nyack, Israel

A Return to Camp Ramah

he campers and staff of Camp Ramah in Nyack danced with the crazed enthusiasm of people who had just won a $100 million jackpot. It was just past 9 a.m., the last Friday of camp in Rockland County, New York, and the Hebrew song playing was fittingly called "Lo Normali." I could not help but think that this amount of energy was freakish.

Ramah in the News, AlumniNRC WebmasterAugust 18, 2014Summer 2014, Nyack

4 Camps in 5 Days

What a privilege it is to visit our camps! My summer travel began this week with a visit to four camps in five days, all sources of great inspiration.

Blog/ReflectionsNRC WebmasterJune 27, 2014Mitch Cohen, Summer 2014, Nyack, Berkshires, New England, Darom

In Hebrew Immersion Day Camps, Summer Fun Augmented With Learning

It used to be that parents who wanted to expose their children to conversational Hebrew over the summer had to travel to Israel. Now a growing number of American Jewish day camps are offering Hebrew-immersion programs, where kids do the standard day camp activities — swimming, arts and crafts, music, zip-lining and field trips — but “hakol b’ivrit.”

Israel and Hebrew, Ramah in the NewsNRC WebmasterFebruary 19, 2014Hebrew, Nyack

Inspiration at Joint Ramah-URJ Fellowship Training

As 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.

Blog/Reflections, Staff Leadership TrainingNRC WebmasterJanuary 22, 2014Nyack, URJ, National Ramah

New Initiative Seeking to Improve Hebrew Literacy Among American Jews

For the first 3 1/2 weeks of the summer, one group of 5-year-olds at Ramah Day Camp in Nyack, N.Y., was “very quiet” as the children went about the typical camp activities, according to Amy Skopp Cooper, the camp’s director.

Israel and Hebrew, Ramah in the NewsNRC WebmasterDecember 2, 2013Hebrew, Nyack