Camp Ramah
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Camp Ramah (Hebrew: מחנה רמה) is a network of Jewish summer camps operating in the United States, Canada, and Israel.
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[edit] History
During the 1940s, Jewish Theological Seminary established several programs to reconnect Jewish youth with the synagogue and cultivate American-born Jewish leadership. One of these programs was Camp Ramah. [1]The first camp opened in Conover, Wisconsin, in 1947, under the aegis of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the academic hub of Conservative Judaism. The program was drawn up by Moshe Davis and Sylvia Ettenberg of the JTS Teachers' Institute.
In October 2007, Sylvia Ettenberg was awarded Pras Ramah (the Ramah Prize) as part of Ramah's 60th anniversary celebrations. [2]
[edit] Today
Today, Ramah camps are attended by over 6,500 youngsters, ranging in age from 7-16, with a staff of 1,500 counselors, co-counselors, specialists, and teachers. [3] In addition to typical summer camp activities, Ramah camps offer a unique educational program focusing on Judaism, Zionism, and Hebrew-language instruction on different levels. Every camp has a corps of "shlichim," or emissaries from Israel, on staff (known as the "mishlachat").
Camp Ramah offers sleep-away camps with an option to stay for either 4 or 8 weeks, day camps with busing, an Israel summer tour program for teenagers, a day camp in Jerusalem for American and Israeli children, and a variety of high school programs in Israel.
[edit] North American overnight camps
- Camp Ramah in the Berkshires (Wingdale, New York). Located on Lake Ellis, 90 minutes north of New York City by car. Serves the metropolitan New York/New Jersey area. [1]
- Camp Ramah in California (Ojai, California). Located in the hills of Ojai, California, 90 minutes north of Los Angeles by car. Opened in 1956. [2] Alumni include Chaim Potok.[3]
- Camp Ramah in Canada (Ullswater, Ontario). Located in the Muskoka Region of Ontario, 2 hours north of Toronto, on Skeleton Lake. [4]
- Camp Ramah Darom (Clayton, Georgia). Located in 122 acres in the Appalachian Valley near Clayton, Georgia, 2 hours north of Atlanta. [5]
- Camp Ramah in New England (Palmer, Massachusetts). Located approximately 1½ hours west of Boston and 45 minutes east of Amherst and Northampton. [6]
- Camp Ramah in the Poconos (Lakewood, Pennsylvania). Located in the mountain region of Wayne County in Northeastern Pennsylvania, 3 hours driving time from both New York City and Philadelphia. [7]
- Camp Ramah in Wisconsin (Conover, Wisconsin). Located in the lake region of Northern Wisconsin, 18 miles north of Eagle River, 350 miles from Chicago, and 240 miles from Minneapolis, on the shores of Lake Buckatabon. The first Camp Ramah. [8]
[edit] Ramah Israel Seminar
- Summer program for teenagers in Israel combining intensive touring, lectures, and Jewish educational activities. The home base is the Israel Goldstein Youth Village, known in Hebrew as Havat Hano'ar Hatzioni, in Jerusalem.
[edit] Former Camps
- Camp Ramah in Glen Spey (Glen Spey, Lumberland, New York). Located in Sullivan County, New York, 2 miles from the Delaware River. Opened in 1967; closed in 1971. On June 16, 1976, after the camp had stood empty for several years, a fire broke out in the kitchen-dining hall and destroyed many buildings. The Glen Spey fire department burned down the rest of the camp as a training exercise in 1982.[9]
- Ramah Community Program in Israel. Established in the summer of 1968, the Community Program was an Israel summer tour for teenagers along the same lines as the Ramah Seminar, but organized in groups hailing from different American Jewish communities.
[edit] Day camps
- Ramah Day Camp -- Chicago (Wheeling, Illinois). Located northwest of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois.[10]
- Ramah Day Camp -- Philadelphia (Melrose Park, Pennsylvania). Located in the Perelman Jewish Day School. It has use of nearly all the grounds of the extensive campus. The camp shares a pool with Jewish Federation Day Care Center, and also rents an Olympic-size pool from an apartment complex less than five minutes away. Activities include sports (soccer, football, baseball, T-ball, archery, gymnastics, basketball, hockey, etc.), swimming (twice a day - instructional and free), art, drama, nature, cooking, Judaic studies, music, and dance. Special events include Rick Recht concerts, Yom Yisrael (a carnival celebrating Israeli culture, history, and people), Maccabiah (color war), and Yom USA (3rd July). Older campers go on overnights, while younger campers have 'undernights.' An arts festival is held at the end of the summer, combining drama, song, and dance. [11]
- Ramah Day Camp in Nyack (Nyack, New York). Located in Rockland County, New York, approximately 45 minutes by car from New York City. A day camp at which the staff remains overnight, though the campers, aged 5-14, go home every day. A new swimming pool was recently added, bringing the number of pools to three.[12]
[edit] New Camps
National Ramah announced in March 2006 that it plans to open a Camp Ramah in the Rockies. A 360-acre camp site has been purchased in Deckers, Colorado (1½-2 hours by car from Denver and Colorado Springs). [13] Plans are also in the works for a new camp in northern California.
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[edit] Links
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