Camp Ramah in New England
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Camp Ramah in New England is located in Palmer, Massachusetts, in the southern central part of the state. CRNE is one of the older Ramah camps, a group of summer camps that is part of the Jewish Conservative Movement and provide campers with a strong Jewish background, making its debut in 1953. People who go to Ramah are called "Ramahniks".
Camp Ramah in New England is actively trying to find alumni who attended Camp Ramah. The camp traces its roots to 1953, to Ramah Connecticut, followed by Ramah at Glen Spey and has evolved into Camp Ramah in New England.
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[edit] Ramah Today
The camp is broken into different age groups, or eidot (עדות) (s. edah):
Kochavim: 3-4th graders (two weeks)
Ilanot: 4-5th graders (4/8 weeks)
Solelim: 6th graders (4/8 weeks)
Shoafim: 7th graders (4/8 weeks)
Magshimim: 8th graders (4/8 weeks)
Bogrim: 9th graders (4/8 weeks)
Machon: 10th graders (4/8 weeks)as of fall 2006 newsletter
Nivonim: 11th graders (8 weeks)
Amimtzim: campers with special needs, as old as 21 (4/8 weeks)
Voc-Ed: former Amimtzim'ers who work at the camp
After Nivonim year, 12th graders go on a trip to Israel, called Seminar, and spend six weeks traveling around the country with other "Ramahniks" of the same age.
[edit] Camp Life
The camp is divided into two sides, A-Side and B-side. A-side hosts Kochavim through Shoafim and B-Side hosts the rest of the eidot along with the dining hall, infirmary, ropes course and tree house, where the younger eidot on their Etgar ("challenge"; the overnight camping trip) stay.
Palmer, as the camp is also nicknamed, has plenty of traditions including Color War (an annual sports competition within the camp led by Nivonim), yamim meyuchadim (see below), an ongoing sports rivalry with Camp Ramah in the Berkshires, Zimkudiyah (a song and dance festival), trips to Rondeau's (a local ice cream store), and singing the Camp Ramah song, Shir Ramah.
Yamim regilim ("regular days") are broken into time periods called perakim (s. perek) and each one is identified with a Hebrew letter (א, ב, ג, ד, ה, ו, ז). A regular day includes a sport, swimming, a chug (a special interest), Hebrew classes, Yahadut (Jewish history and culture) classes, free time, a period of rest, and shira or rikud ("song" or "dance"). Examples of chugim include omanut (art), nagarut (woodworking), dance, swimming, boating, and video (in which campers usually help make the video yearbook).
On Wednesdays, live-ins (non-counselors that live in a bunk) take their day off, so a committee, or va'ad, in each edah plan a special day free of regular programming called yamim meyuchadim to make up for the lack of staffing. In addition, once a session each edah takes a trip outside of the camp. Each special day is called "Yom (Name)" (Yom meaning "day"). Yamim meyuchadim can be anything from Yom Pirate to Yom Willy Wonka, Yom Random, Yom MTV, etc. Special trips have taken campers to Red Sox games, art museums, the zoo, ice skating rinks, the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA, and tons of other locations around New England.
[edit] Yom Berkshires/Yom Palmer
Every year there is a competition between Camp Ramah in New England and Camp Ramah in the Berkshires. The host alternates every year, with Palmer athletes traveling to Berkshires during the odd-numbered years and vice-versa during the even-numbered years. Sports normally played are softball, soccer, tennis, cross-country (track), swimming, volleyball, basketball, dance, Ultimate Frisbee, and recently Scrabble.
[edit] General
CRNE hosts children from Massachusetts,Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, New England, eastern New York (most notably Albany and the Hudson Valley), the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area (predominantly Maryland and Virginia). The staff are usually former campers and hail from the same territory, but there is a large number of Israelis, collectively called mishlachat. The mishlachat are counselors, live-ins , Hebrew teachers, and Yahadut teachers. They also organize programs to educate campers about Israel.
The Director is Rabbi Ed Gelb. There are approximately 600 campers and 250 staff over the course of eight weeks.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism - Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies - Jewish Theological Seminary of America - Rabbinical Assembly - Conservative Halakha - Committee on Jewish Law and Standards - Conservative responsa - United Synagogue Youth - Kadima - Ravnet - Solomon Schechter Day School Association - University of Judaism - Masorti - Camp Ramah - Koach - Criticism of Conservative Judaism - more...
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