Study confirms that Ramah alumni are much more highly engaged in Jewish life than other Jews of similar backgrounds.
The Ramah Camping Movement announces the results of “The Alumni of Ramah Camps: A Portrait of Jewish Engagement.” This survey of more than 5,000 camper alumni was conducted by Professor Steven M. Cohen of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the Berman Jewish Policy Archive at Stanford University.
Read MoreLittle slices of magic are witnessed at Camp Ramah. "The most satisfying thing is to see kids smile and discover something new about themselves," said Rabbi David Soloff, director of Camp Ramah from 1975 to 2009, and now its CEO. "We had a softball league, and there was this kid that was not popular and kind of shy. In the last inning with a man on base, the kid is at bat. Remarkably he gets a hit, and he scores and he gets on his teammates' shoulders. He had broken through."
Read MoreIs summer really right around the corner?
Though it certainly doesn’t feel like it, kids planning to return for year two at Camp Ramah Northern California are already talking to their friends about attending, coordinating their schedules, and eagerly anticipating more adventures on the beach, in the nearby mountains and elsewhere.
Read MoreOver 100 senior counselors, rashei edah, Tikvah staff and Service Corps Fellows gathered in Ojai, California to participate in the four-day Winter Training Leadership Training Conference, featuring several tracks for young Ramah leaders.
Read MoreCamp Ramah in California has closed escrow on property adjacent to its Ojai, California, facility. The new land on the northern border will extend the camp to the north and west from its current location and bring the total camp acreage to 445 contiguous acres.
The purchase of the 174 acres of additional property will enable Camp Ramah to grow with the changing needs of current and future summer campers as well as service non-summer retreat needs. The new property will be preserved in its natural state and used to enhance nature experiences and camp programming.
Read MoreTucked into the Ojai Valley of Ventura County are some of the most pristine and beautiful locations in Southern California — an idyllic place to go to summer camp or unwind on a retreat.
Now, thanks to the purchase of 174 acres of additional land that will increase its size by 40 percent, Camp Ramah in California hopes to do an even better job of taking advantage of its setting near the hills of Ojai. The Jewish sleep-away camp, which is part of the Camp Ramah network of Jewish camps associated with the Conservative Movement, announced Dec. 15 that it
closed escrow on the property, which was acquired for just over $1.8 million, according to Rabbi Joe Menashe, the camp’s executive director.
Rabbi Resnick has been at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires in Wingdale, N.Y., for 29 years; for most of that time he’s been the camp’s director. He has just stepped down from that exhilarating but exhausting post to become the camp’s first senior engagement and planning director.
He loves Camp Ramah.
The memory of those buses is sweet. “You have worked for 10 months for that hour, to get those kids to camp,” he said. “I was the first face they saw in camp.
Read MoreA recent huge outbreak of forest fires in these backwoods drew firefighters from all over the country to battle the huge blazes. And Camp Ramah Darom, near ground zero for this battle, played host to these contingents, who made the Jewish institution their temporary home. In doing so, the firefighters forfeited their morning bacon, among other things, to observe the laws of kashrut. Sleeping in bunks that were too small for them, they even haggled over who got top and who got bottom. And they befriended the camp’s staff; many have connected on Facebook and have hunting trips and reunions planned for the near future.
Read MoreIf you’ve ever been to a Jewish summer camp, you probably have memories of lifelong friendships, campfire sing-a-longs and the excitement of getting a package from home.
But did you get a chance to run the camp for a day with your teenage friends? Perform a Broadway musical all in Hebrew? Customize your camp day with your favorite activity? Speak nothing but Hebrew for an entire summer?
Four popular Wisconsin Jewish summer camps offer these and other special activities along with the usual lake swimming and Shabbat celebrations.
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