Ramah Camping Movement
RAMAH AT 70:
GROWTH AND INNOVATION
Ramah Darom Opening Day 2016
Ramah Darom Opening Day 2016
More than 11,000 campers and staff will participate in Ramah's 70th summer season, which starts today with the opening of Camp Ramah Darom in Georgia and the Chicago-area Ramah Day Camp. Tomorrow is opening day for Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. Over the next several weeks, all of our nine overnight camps, five day camps, and our Israel Seminar will begin. 

We are delighted that our newest overnight camp, Camp Ramah in Northern California (Ramah Galim), will open on June 21. Enrollment has surpassed all of our expectations for this first season, with 254 campers registered to date! Located at the beautiful Monterey Bay Academy on the Pacific coastline just south of San Francisco, Ramah Galim will offer specialty programming in ocean exploration, adventure sports, and performing arts, under the leadership of Rabbi Sarah Shulman and an outstanding group of staff members.
Ramah by the Numbers 2016
  • More than 160 campers will attend the new Ramah Day Camp of Greater Washington, D.C., during its second full summer of operation. The Ramah Day Camp, run by Camp Ramah in New England and directed by Rabbi Rami Schwartzer, is located at the Wellspring Conference Center in Germantown, M.D. 

  • Three new Tikvah programs--at Ramah Poconos (opening summer), Ramah NorCal (opening summer) and at Ramah Darom (second summer)--join the expanding National Ramah Tikvah Network of programs for campers, teens, and young adults with disabilities. 

  • Among our 2,900 staff members, more than 1,700 university and graduate students will work as counselors, teachers, and specialists, and will bring the magic of Ramah back to their university campuses and home communities. 

  • In a new pilot program, 11 Ramah teens will spend two weeks volunteering at Camp Ramah Yachad in Ukraine. 

  • More than 1,100 individuals will participate in one of the programs offered by Ramah Israel this year, including 165 participants on Ramah Israel/Poland Seminar this summer; 35 students who recently returned home from Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim (TRY), our high school semester program in Israel; and hundreds more who are attending Ramah Israel Institute's trips for synagogues, school groups, and families, and the Ramah Jerusalem Day Camp. 
With the help of many Federations, foundations, and the Foundation for Jewish Camp, the support of many of our partner Conservative synagogues, and the extraordinary efforts of our camps' professional leadership, boards of directors, and individual donors, Ramah has been able to meet the financial needs of the overwhelming majority of families seeking a Ramah experience for their children. Please click here to contribute to a Ramah scholarship fund.
 
As we begin our 70th summer of intensive Jewish identity-building within the fun, informal atmosphere of excellent summer camping, all of us at Ramah feel privileged to have this opportunity to contribute to the powerful experiences that influence the lives of more than 11,000 participants in our various camps and programs.
 
Wishing everyone a safe, enjoyable and meaningful summer, 

Mitch Cohen
Rabbi Mitchell Cohen, DirectorAmy Skopp Cooper, Associate Director
 National Ramah Commission, Inc. of The Jewish Theological Seminary
About the Ramah Camping Movement

Ramah is the camping arm of Conservative Judaism. Together, our programs provide Ramah experiences for 11,000 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.