Hundreds of Ramahniks have fallen in love and married someone they met at camp or on a Ramah Israel program. Below are Ramah marriage stories from the 1980s.
Jonathan Kremer & Ellen Helfman Kremer
Ramah in Wisconsin, Ontario, the Berkshires and on Seminar gave me a love for Shabbat, Israeli dancing, and the best Conservative Judaism has to offer. I knew that I wanted to live Ramah 24/7. When I remet a Ramah Seminar peer while Israeli dancing at MIT, shared values and experience led to love and marriage.
Mark Hoffman & Judy Saffir Hoffman
We spent a day off alone together at Sturgeon Falls, Michigan.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then.
Ron Shulman & Robin Walzer Shulman
Ron Shulman and Robin Walzer Shulman at in 1976 at Camp Ramah in California and were married in 1980.
Sanford Remz & Arlene Rosenkrantz Remz
Arlene and I met as counselors in the Tikvah program. I was there after my first year of law school for my only year as a staff member.
Joshua Gould & Melodye Feldman
We were both working in the same program and met the first night of staff training. We both did not want to be in a relationship.
Edward Edelstein & Anna Dicker Edelstein
We actually don’t know exactly when we met for the first time. We shared a mutual group of friends that always went out as a group and got together frequently during the year.
Martin Cohen & Joan Freeman Cohen
Joan was Rosh Drama, attempting to put on seven shows in seven weeks. I was a lonely guy trying to learn enough Greek in one summer to start 3rd year courses at Columbia in the fall without having taken any previous ones.
Daniel Paul & Randi Heskins
Daniel Paul and Randi Heskins met at Camp Ramah in Glen Spey in 1971 and were married in 1980.
David Andrew Sherman & Julie Fishman Sherman
We met in Minneapolis (Rabbi Sylvan Kamens' front yard) where all the staff was gathering prior to our caravan drive to camp. We began dating later that summer.
Randy E. Spiegel & Debbie Krohn Spiegel
I was a long time camper and staff member at Ramah Canada. I moved to Boston.
Irwin Kula & Dana Kurzweil
We met as staff members and were part of the same social circle for a few years. In the summer of 1978 we went to a game at Yankee Stadium with friends who had tickets to the game.
Larry Wolynetz & Lori Beth Shapiro
Lori Beth and I went to camp for many years. I was best friends with her brother Joel and she was his little sister.
Steve Kane & Judy Thaler Kane
Judy was a counselor in my Edah (Solelim) in Wisconsin, and I was the Rosh Edah (would this even be legal today?!).
Larry Pepper & Dana Beth Yugend-Pepper
Dana and I knew each other for two summers before we started dating during our Nivonim summer.
Noam Arzt & Heidi Steinberg Arzt
Noam and I met in 1974 and had an immediate friendship.
We kept in touch throughout the year with reunions but it wasn't until the summer of 1975 that we became an official couple. I knew I would marry him.
Ralph Schwartz & Marci Dickman
Ralph was the Rosh Edah the summer that Marci came to Tikvah in Ramah Palmer to get experience in Jewish special education.
Steve Goldstein & Marlene Noveck
Steve Goldstein and Marlene Noveck met at Camp Ramah Berkshires in 1977 and were married in 1983.
Karl Zeff & Sheri Gordon Zeff
OK, Sheri says she first noticed me as a guy who would spent time studying college catalogs trying to figure out what I would be taking the next semester or whether I should even transfer to a different school.
Sheldon M. Levin & Nita Polay Levin
We had met a few times before, but it was definitely Ramah that brought us together! Both of us were specialists and wherever I was, there was Sheldon!
David Dropkin & Marcy Dicker
We were both working in the Tikvah program during the summer of 1981.The rest is history.
Eric Salmansohn & Marcia Bronstein
Eric attended Camp Ramah in the Poconos for over 10 years, first as a camper and then on Sports staff. In 1980, he felt he needed to try something different so he went to Palmer.
Andy Schiffmiller & Onnie Lovett Schiffmiller
Andy Schiffmiller and Onnie Lovett Schiffmiller met at Camp Ramah in New England in 1975 and were married in 1984.
Jeffrey Rabin & Amy Bernstein Rabin
I met Jeff during staff week. I thought he was a nice guy, but I wasn't interested in a relationship. Unbeknownst to me, he had a big crush on me the whole summer of 1978.
Bruce Sklover & Tamar Rader Sklover
In 1977, Bruce was assistant chef and Tamar was in charge of the dining room at Ramah Nyack. We also ran the winter weekends retreats at camp.
Danny Lipnik & Paula Pascoe Lipnik
We met at a square dance on the tennis courts. I was shy so I had my bunkmate Lynda Taller tell Danny that I liked him.
Chuck Perlow & Judy Lipnik Perlow
Chuck Perlow and Judy Lipnik Perlow met in 1969 at Camp Ramah in Canada at were married in 1984.
Noam D. Zelman & Susan Hirsch
Good friends in 1967, a couple in 1968. Lost contact after a few years, until we met for a drink in Atlanta in 1984. Talk about bashert!!
Stuart Goss & Yael Scharf Goss
Stuart Goss and Yael Scharf Goss met in 1984 at Camp Ramah in California and were married in 1985.
Stuart and Yael's daughter, Roni, also is a Ramah marriage, you can see her story here.
Ronald Goss & Michelle “Mimi” Haligman Goss
Ronald Goss and Michelle "Mimi" Haligman Goss met in 1983 at Camp Ramah in California and were married in 1985.
David Apothaker & Carol Mendelsohn Apothaker
We met as staff working in the same edah.
Steven Schwartz & Iris Toker Schwartz
We were introduced by a mutual friend during the summer of 1983.
Mark Cooper & Amy Skopp Cooper
Mark and I met as roshei edot at Camp Ramah New England. I had been working at the camp for several years. Mark is an Ojai product who came to New England when fellow Ojai staff member, Gil Graff became director of New England.
Joshua Skoff & Ilana Hoffer Skoff
We had each been campers and staff at different Ramah camps for years, as had our siblings. We had each been in Washington, DC in 1983, going to the same shul, at different times of the year, and not met.
Morry Re’em (Scholick) & Adina Friedman Re’em
Morry Re'em (Scholick) and Adina Friedman Re'em met at Camp Ramah in New England in 1985 and were married in 1987.
Bob Mindel & Sheila Yossem
Bob Mindel and Sheila Yossem met at Camp Ramah in New England in 1977 and were married in 1987.
Richard Gavatin & Linda Spitzer Gavatin
We met at Camp Ramah in Israel in the magical summer of 1968. We were both 15.
Marty Goldberg & Sharon Zabitsky Goldberg
Marty Goldberg and Sharon Zabitsky Goldberg met in 1984 at Camp Ramah in California and were married in 1987.
Offer Isseroff & Nava Zwi Isseroff
Offer Isseroff and Nava Zwi Isseroff met at Camp Ramah in the Poconos in 1986 and were married in 1987.
Michael Goldberg & Sandra Polin Goldberg
Michael Goldberg and Sandra Polin Goldberg met at Camp Ramah in the Poconos in 1976 and were married in 1987.
Marc Swatez and Elise Rice Swatez
We first met at USY International Convention and started dating on Tisha B'Av that summer at camp when we were both counselors for Solelim.
Giora Shimoni & Lisa Katz Shimoni
Lisa (Columbus, Ohio) spent the summer working at camp before going to Israel to study at the Schechter Institute and Hebrew University.
Mark Greenberg & Missy Hecker Greenberg
Missy had broken her ankle and was homebound. She came for visiting day, and her friends convinced her to stay and work for the second month.
Aaron Jaffe & Claudia Grossman Jaffe
Aaron had been a camper at Ramah for many years and was away on Seminar when I spent my first summer at Camp Ramah in Canada, in 1980.
Steve Golden & Shira Sky Golden
We were both on staff the summer of 1986. Steve worked as a counselor in the Tikvah program and Shira was a counselor for a Bogrim girls' cabin.
Michael Weiner & Lisa Shiner Weiner
Michael Weiner and Lisa Shiner Weiner met at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin in 1982 and were married in 1988.
Larry Mishkin & Judy Teibloom-Mishkin
Larry Mishkin and Judy Teibloom-Mishkin met in 1975 at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin and were married in 1988.
Jay Reisbaum & Tara Spitz Reisbaum
Tara and I met when we were part of the Chavurah program as camp waiters in '79. We did not start dating until the next summer when I was a Mador and she worked in the kitchen.
Brad Hirschfield & Becky Klawans Hirschfield
Although we are both from Beth El in Highland Park, we didn't get to know each other until we were both on staff in the Northwoods.
Andrew Barnett & Vivian Matusow Barnett
We originally met as campers but did not really date until we were reunited as Ramah staff. Ramah has shaped who we are as individuals and as a couple.
Michael Joseph Small & Sheila Berk Small
Thanks to a Fourth of July talent show, we met as counselors in 1985 at Wisconsin. Being at camp let us discover that we had similar values, interests and a love for Jewish life.