This summer our National Director, Rabbi Shelly Dorph, led a hadracha (counselor training session) for our entering 11^th graders as part of their CIT (counselor-in-training) program. Almost every participant had been to Ramah for at least three summers. He asked them to do the following:

"In about 6 lines, I would like you each to tell me the real mission of Ramah as you understand it. What, on the deepest level, is this ‘Ramah thing’ really trying to accomplish?"

Below are some of the extraordinary responses of our kids. What a great future we have if these are our next counselors! We’ve added the National Ramah mission statement at the end so you can get a sense of how well our 16-year-olds "get it." So, enjoy!

Camp Ramah is about making people feel welcome and at home in a traditional Jewish setting. It strives to let everyone take part in traditions they might not practice outside of camp. The point of camp is to let people have fun while learning to be part of a thriving Jewish community. Camp is a place where we are encouraged to be ourselves with our best friends in the world. I love Macheneh Ramah!

The mission of Camp Ramah is to provide young children and teens with a Jewish lifestyle experience. For those children who do not come from observant homes, experiencing Shabbat and kashrut is an amazing thing. In addition, there is nothing like the friendships you acquire at camp.

The Ramah experience incorporates our Jewish practices, language and beliefs into an active society. At camp I pray three times a day, use my Hebrew vocabulary and am proud of the Jewish identity that I have. At home I live in a very integrated neighborhood, so this kind of environment does not exist. It’s nice to know that there is a place like Ramah where I have so many opportunities to expand my Judaism.

The mission of Ramah is to provide new experiences for children while helping kids to find their Jewish identity. It is a place for kids to make friends that are Jewish and practice certain Jewish traditions they may not practice at home.

The mission of Ramah is to provide an environment in which Jewish kids can create friendships with other Jewish people and at the same time, to educate and instill a Jewish foundation for all of its campers, so they consider Judaism an important part of life. Ramah is to be a community where everyone is accepted and united in their Judaism.

Ramah’s mission is to:

• Help Jewish Conservative teens meet each other, seeing other people like themselves and promoting in-marriage

• To build Jewish identity and pride

• To make people think about their Jewishness

• To help people in understanding Conservative ideology

• To instill Zionism into campers and staff.

You would like me to write that Ramah is, to me, just about Judaism. However, it is really about understanding yourself, not only as a Jew but as a person. The purpose of Camp Ramah is to allow campers and staff to experience a close sense of community while developing skills and maturing as individuals.

Ramah is about meeting people and making new friends. You learn to live with people and learn leadership and responsibility.

This camp is about creating relationships and friendships like no other. The bonds between people that are created are stronger and more valuable than any friendships I have ever had at home. Ramah is a family and a community that provides love, protection, happiness and strong Jewish identities.

Ramah’s mission is not only to teach strong Jewish values to its campers, but also teach the importance of friendships and a sense of ruach for life and Judaism. Ramah tries to give its campers a sense of fulfillment about themselves, their values, friends and how to interact with others.

The mission of Camp Ramah is to help everyone discover who they are. It is to give people a loving environment, which will allow them to feel comfortable with their personalities. Ramah is about having fun and not having to worry about real life – yet at the same time, every second is a lesson you can transfer and use in the future.

Ramah’s mission is to provide amazing summer experiences for campers and staff; to meet people from all around the world; to experience a Jewish environment that may differ greatly from their home life – and will hopefully carry over to their lives at home.

The mission of Ramah is to help parents and communities raise kids who love being Jewish and have strong Jewish identities… to bring Judaism and Hebrew into our everyday lives – our friendships, our sports, plays – everything. Ramah tries to make an impact that will last during the year and throughout a person’s life.

The mission of Ramah is to unite Jews from all different backgrounds in order for them to learn and grow. It is a place for all different people to gain important morals and values that will last forever. This is done in a close environment, which teaches the importance and value of friendship.

National Ramah Commission: Mission Statement

I. The current mission of Ramah is to create educating communities in which people learn to live committed Jewish lives, embodying the ideals of Conservative Judaism. Out of such communities, Ramah continues to "raise up" committed volunteer and professional leadership for the Conservative Movement and contemporary Jewry.

II. Ramah communities represent a powerful synthesis of educational and Jewish characteristics:

• regular study and engagement in open and continuing dialogue with Jewish texts, Halachah and values

• a participatory Judaism which fosters and nourishes ever-increasing Jewish confidence, skill, observance, Hebrew ability and a sense of joyous Jewish living

• a caring, encouraging approach to personal growth and individual religious experience which interact to form Jewish identity

• a religious commitment to social justice and the ecological welfare of our world

• a readiness to undertake reflective religious and educational innovation within the guidelines of Conservative Judaism's values and practices as set forth in Emet V'Emunah.

III. The core of Ramah's program is directed toward two target populations: Campers (ages 9-16) and Staff (ages 17-25). Since Jewish learning and living are life long, one may become a Ramahnik at various moments in life. This leads us to offer the Ramah experience to a widening circle of participants, especially alumni and the families of our campers.

IV. Ramah pursues its mission through two unique, powerful educational settings:

• The summer camp and winter-retreat settings. It is the experience of intensive immersion in a total environment of Jewish arts and culture, sports and daily living which educates toward personal commitment.

• Israel - our commitment to the renaissance of the Jewish people in its homeland is reflected in a variety of intensive Ramah programs in Israel, as well as in the staffing and programming of our camps throughout North America and the Ukraine.

V. Ramah affirms the centrality of home and synagogue as the primary institutions of Conservative Judaism. Our work carries with it the obligation to support and elevate the quality of home and synagogue life. Similarly, Ramah stands at the nexus of day school, supplementary and informal education in the Conservative Movement, where cooperative effort can advance the total educational experience of our youth.