Ramah and United Synagogue Youth (USY) have both played incredibly important roles in shaping my Jewish identity, fostering the development of lifelong friendships, and influencing the core values I cherish […]
Archive | Alumni Reflections
RSS feed for this sectionEvery Ramah alumni story is different, but the message is always the same: the lasting impact of Ramah is incredibly powerful. Read what others have written and share your own story as well! To submit a reflection please email [email protected]
Berkshires | California | Canada | Darom | New England | Northern California | Nyack | Poconos | Rockies | Wisconsin
Former Camps: Connecticut | Glen Spey | Maine
Rela Mintz Geffen’s Reflection
Following camp we left for Israel for Michael’s fourth year of rabbinical school. It was just after the Six-Day War and an amazing time to be living in Jerusalem. We […]
Carol Fanger Bell’s Reflection
I am sure that your essays about Ramah experiences usually come from those who came to Ramah as children. I found Camp Ramah as an adult, yet it has influenced […]
Laura Miller’s Reflection
Years ago we decided that it would be very nice to have all eleven kids on my husband’s side of the family attend the same camp. Because my sister-in-law in […]
Rabbi Stuart Kelman’s Reflection
Robert Alter, Robert Chazan, Ray Arzt, David Mogilner, z”l, Walter Ackerman, z”l, Gloria (Sussman) Silverman, z”l, Zalman Schachter Shalomi, Zvi Dershowitz, Saul Wachs, Shmuel Leiter, z”l, Gladys Gewirtz, Shalom Schwartz, […]
Rabbi Shelly Switkin’s Reflection
In 1947, all Chicago area summer camps began on Monday, June 30, because in those days, the Chicago public schools finished on the last Friday in June. The old Chicago […]
Jonathan D Sarna’s Reflection
Unless you teach him how to swim, I won’t take him back home again!” This was the warning supposedly issued by my late father, Professor Nahum M. Sarna, z”l, to […]
Bill Taubenfeld’s Reflection
Growing up, all I wanted to do was play sports in my backyard or at school with friends. So when I was ten years old and my parents told me […]
Ben S Bernanke’s Reflection
I did attend Camp Ramah one summer. It was a good experience for me, as there were relatively few Jewish young people in the town (Dillon, South Carolina) where I […]
Mayer Stiebel’s Reflection
In 1947 I was a sixteen-year-old in the Machon. My last summer was 1951, when I had the uniquely combined positions of camping and canoeing counselor and third cook. In […]