FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RAMAH CAMPING MOVEMENT AND YOUNG JUDAEA
RECEIVE GRANT FROM JIM JOSEPH FOUNDATION
TO CREATE NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR YOUNG ALUMNI LEARNING

Learning hubs to be established in

Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

New York, NY (October 14, 2014)--In a first-ever program partnership, the Ramah Camping Movement and Young Judaea have announced the Learning Hub project. This new initiative will actively engage young professionals in ongoing Jewish learning organized by camp alumni peers in four cities - Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The initiative, which will be funded largely by the Jim Joseph Foundation with an investment of $250,000 over two years, will aim to connect camp alumni to serious Jewish learning and to greater engagement within their Jewish communities.

"We anticipate that these peer networks, based upon strong camp connections but open to all, will create other opportunities for social and Jewish engagement far beyond monthly learning sessions," said Rabbi Mitchell Cohen, Director of the National Ramah Commission. "We are grateful to the Jim Joseph Foundation for taking the lead on this exciting project, and for helping us to continue to expand our year-round program for young adult alumni. Building upon ongoing cooperative efforts with Conservative Movement partners, Ramah will reach out to include alumni of USY, JTS, Schechter schools, and others."

Building upon the success of Reshet Ramah, the Ramah initiative for alumni and community engagement, and Young Judaea's recent efforts to reconnect with alumni from around the country, the Learning Hub project will help both movements to expand their outreach and activities in four regional centers with large camp alumni populations. "Both Ramah and Young Judaea are deeply committed to Israel engagement and Jewish identity building," said Simon Klarfeld, Young Judaea Executive Director, "so the partnership will help us create a baseline for young adult Jewish learning in a variety of forms."

"This is truly an innovative program that leverages the lasting power of Jewish camp to help young adults connect with peers and engage in Jewish learning," says Sandy Edwards, associate director of the Jim Joseph Foundation. "From evaluations of numerous programs, we know that peers are key influencers of young adults choosing to opt-in to--and to remain active in--Jewish life. Ramah, Young Judaea, and Jewish camps across the country develop incredibly strong, lifelong relationships. The Learning Hub builds on these camp friendships and experiences, empowering young adults to shape their ongoing Jewish journeys."

Ramah and Young Judaea are identifying local funders who will invest in the Learning Hubs and help contribute to the sustainability of the program in the near future. The first two local partners to join the project are the Emanuel J. Friedman Philanthropies and The Morningstar Foundation, which have each provided $20,000 grants to help build the Washington, D.C., Learning Hub over the next two years.

About the Ramah Camping Movement

Ramah is the camping arm of Conservative Judaism. Together, our programs provide Ramah experiences for more than 10,300 children, teens, and young adults annually. The National Ramah Commission of The Jewish Theological Seminary provides oversight, educational planning, and coordination on behalf of the network of Ramah camps throughout North America and Ramah Programs in Israel.

For more information, visit www.campramah.org.

About Young Judaea

Founded in 1909 as America's first Zionist youth movement, Young Judaea provides high-quality and thought-provoking experiential programming through which Jewish youth and young adults build meaningful relationships with their peers and develop a lifelong commitment to Jewish life, the Jewish people, Israel and each other. Our life-changing camp, year-round and Israel experiences foster an open and pluralistic environment that encourages mutual respect and understanding between diverse groups of Jews and empower our chanichim (participants) by imbuing them with the self-confidence, independence, problem-solving skills, knowledge, and other tools they need to make informed choices for themselves and the communities they will help to shape.

For more information, please visit www.youngjudaea.org.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Nancy Scheff, Director of Communications

National Ramah Commission, Inc. of The Jewish Theological Seminary

Phone: (212) 678-8881

[email protected]

Ayelet Margolin, Director of Marketing and Communications

Young Judaea

(917) 595-2100 x 216

[email protected]

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