In a classroom on Camp Ramah’s sprawling campus, nestled against the mountains of Ojai, a bearded rabbi moves enthusiastically between tables of chattering children.Spread on the tables are small, origami-like black boxes; leather straps; long, white calf hairs; and Ziploc bags containing parchment scrolls inscribed in Hebrew.
Read MoreMikayla, a rising 11th grader, wasn’t planning to return to Camp Ramah in the Poconos this summer. She was heading into the challenging junior year of high school and already had college on her mind. She thought it was time to start building her resume, to do the typical things that we think impress college admissions officers, like interning at a company or research lab, or volunteering in a faraway country. Then she thought again.
Read MoreSince the first Ramah Tikvah program opened in 1970, the Ramah Camping Movement has continued to be a pioneer in the field of inclusion of Jewish campers with disabilities. The National Ramah Tikvah Network of programs (Tikvah, Breira B'Ramah, and Camp Yofi) now operates in all Ramah camps across North America, offering the inspirational Ramah camp experience to Jewish children, teens, and young adults with a wide range of learning, developmental, cognitive, and social disabilities.
Read MoreWhen Gabe Scott-Dicker, 30, lost his mother last year, he found him-self wondering where he was going to say Kaddish.Like most in his generation, he does not belong to a synagogue. Raised in West Caldwell, New Jersey, and now living in Manhattan, he visited many and felt welcomed by all. But none of them felt quite right. “What I really wanted was that feeling you get at camp,” he realized. “I wanted that Friday night Camp Ramah experience again.”
Read MoreI 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.
Read MoreCamp Ramah in Conover continues the Atzmayim Program for its 12th year, teaching campers job skills through area businesses. The vocational program, designed for campers with special needs, trains older teenagers and young adults for colunteer and paying jobs at worksites throughout the Eagle River area.
Read MoreThe National Ramah Commission is delighted to announce that the William Davidson Foundation has awarded a $530,000 grant to Ramah to renew the funding of the Ramah Davidson Detroit Fellowship for an additional two years.
Read MoreA new Jewish summer camp is coming to Northern California. Camp Ramah NorCal will open next summer near the shores of Monterey Bay with plans to host as many as 300 campers over three sessions, camp director Sarah Shulman told J. Registration is expected to open in late August. Camp Ramah is the camping arm of the Conservative movement. It currently operates eight overnight camps and five day camps in North America and Jerusalem, including one in the Southern California city of Ojai that has drawn kids from throughout the Western U.S. and Canada since opening in 1956.
Read MoreNEW 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.
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