National Ramah Tikvah Network:
Virtual & Alumni Programming
The National Ramah Commission coordinates and supports the National Ramah Tikvah Network by providing funding, training staff, sharing best practices, marketing nationally, connecting members of the Tikvah community, and facilitating communication and collaboration among our Tikvah and camper care directors.
Strengthening Year-Round Connections
TikvahNet Virtual Programming Hub
TikvahNet is the National Ramah Tikvah Network’s virtual programming hub. In addition to year-round programs offered by Reshet Ramah and individual camps, TikvahNet provides innovative and engaging vocational and socialization programs for current participants and alumni of Ramah Tikvah programs aged eighteen or older. To date, more than 130 current or former campers with disabilities from across the U.S. and Canada have participated in TikvahNet.
Programs take place twice a month on Zoom. Programs have included topics such as healthy living, money management, and job interviews, as well as social activities such as games and cooking classes. TikvahNet also regularly welcomes guest speakers, such as personal trainers who offer accessible fitness classes, representatives from companies that recruit employees with disabilities, and rabbis who lead Jewish learning sessions. We also encourage TikvahNet participants to lead programs they design themselves.
Positive feedback from a recent TikvahNet survey included participants “[looking] forward to TikvahNet all week,” supporting adults with disabilities to get “involved with Jewish peers,” and TikvahNet “meaning a lot” for many participants. Many participants discussed feeling proud of themselves and their peers for assuming leadership roles to lead TikvahNet activities, including leading a talent show, Jewish learning, meditation, and holiday-themed activities. Participants range widely in their ages and support needs, yet all enjoy coming together to share their love of Ramah, Judaism, and learning.
Read more: Reflections on Our Third Year of TikvahNet: How We've Expanded Social and Leadership Opportunities for Ramah Alumni with Disabilities (2023)
Tikvah Family Speaker Series
Our “Tikvah Family Speaker Series: Transition Planning and Adulthood,” launched in 2023, is continuing into 2026 with programs in February, March, and April. To date, these programs have engaged more than 150 parents of Ramah Tikvah alumni. Topics covered have included transition planning, housing, financial planning, employment, and advocacy. In addition to hearing from expert guest speakers, the speaker series has been a very helpful forum for parents to support one another.
Tikvah Alumni and Families Shabbaton
The first-ever National Ramah Tikvah Alumni and Families Shabbaton took place November 14–15, 2025 at Westchester Jewish Center, just outside of NYC. Thirty-five Tikvah alumni, parents/guardians, and staff from Ramah Canada, New England, Nyack, Poconos, and Wisconsin came together to connect and engage in meaningful programming. Many of our Tikvah alumni attendees have gotten to know each other on TikvahNet over the past five years, and this was their first opportunity to meet in person. Highlights included:
Tikvah alumni reading from the Torah and having aliyot as part of the WJC Torah service
Guest speakers for a workshop with parents on planning for the future
Peulat erev on Saturday night including dancing, glow sticks, Kahoot, and Family Feud
Feedback from our attendees reflects the large impact this Shabbaton had on Tikvah alumni and their families. Parents shared that it was “fantastic to meet other parents and be able to discuss with them their experiences in dealing with a young adult with special needs.” One parent reflected that “raising and supporting a child with special needs is a lonely experience. I felt incredibly strengthened, touched, and most importantly, understood by my fellow parents.” Another parent described the Shabbaton as changing the trajectory of her planning for her child, sharing how the Shabbaton “set me on a new course of action with [child’s name].”
When Tikvah alumni described the Shabbaton, they shared how “it was happiness,” and that they “loved seeing [their] old camp friends in person after five years, but really loved meeting everyone from the other camps in person and making new friends.” We look forward to continuing to offer these in-person initiatives and expanding our ability to serve more families in the coming years.
National Ramah Tikvah Network Facebook Group
At our early Tikvah Family Speaker Series calls, parents expressed a desire to connect with one another and find more ways to share resources. Accordingly, we continue to invite members of the extended Ramah Tikvah community—parents, siblings, staff members, alumni, and others—to join the National Ramah Tikvah Network Facebook group. Please forward this link to any Ramah Tikvah alumni, parents, siblings, former counselors, or others who might be interested.
Camp Programming
Year-round virtual Tikvah programming from our camps includes:
Ramah New England—weekly "Shabbos Is Calling," including special holiday-themed celebrations
Ramah Poconos—weekly Yedidim edah "hangouts"
Ramah Wisconsin—weekly "Shavua Tov" for vocational program participants and alumni
Training for Tikvah Participants and Alumni
In recent years, participants in our camps’ vocational training programs have attended our in-person movement-wide leadership training conferences. The vocational training track at the 2025 Weinstein Institute comprised ten adults with disabilities who will be returning to camp this summer. They joined division heads, senior counselors, rabbis, and other Ramah leaders to further develop their skills and make new friends. They took part in all large group programs and attended track-specific sessions focused on skills such as goal-setting, self-advocacy, managing downtime, and planning programs at camp.
Read: “Building Skills, Making Connections, and Preparing for Summer: Reflections from Participants on the Weinstein Vocational Training Track” (2025)