Camp Ramah

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Camp Ramah is an organization, begun in 1947, that oversees several Jewish summer camps throughout the United States, Canada, and Israel.

It is sponsored by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the main academic hub of Conservative Judaism. Depending upon the location of the camp and the age of the campers, campers can stay for either 4 or 8 weeks (or, at a few locations, attend a day camp version). Campers engage in both educational and social activities.

The camps serve over 6,500 campers, ages 7-16, and have 1,500 staff, ages 17-25. The camps have Zionist sympathies, and Hebrew is used widely.

1 North American overnight camps
2 Day camps
3 Overnight/day camp hybrid
4 Miscellaneous
5 See also
6 Links

[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 (Utterson, 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 — the very first Camp Ramah (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. [8]

[edit] Day camps

Wheeling, Illinois. Located northwest of Chicago in Wheeling, Illinois. [9]
Melrose Park, Pennsylvania [10] is situated in the Perelman Jewish Day School, and 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 the 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), Macabbiah (color war), Yom USA (3rd July), and many more. Older campers go on overnights, while the younger campers experience varied 'undernights.' There is an arts festival at the end of camp involving a play, dances, and songs that all campers participate in. Counselors are highly experienced, and bunk sizes are limited depending on the age of the campers.

[edit] Overnight/day camp hybrid

Ramah Day Camp in Nyack-Nyack, New York (a day camp with an overnight camp-style facility, where the staff lives overnight, even though the campers go home every day). Located in Rockland County, New York, approximately 45 minutes by car from New York City. [11]

[edit] Miscellaneous

National Ramah announced in March 2006 that Camp Ramah in the Rockies was closer to reality, as it had purchased a 360-acre camp site in Deckers, Colorado (1½-2 hours by car from Denver and Colorado Springs). [12]