Helping Ramah Grow

(Rabbi Mitchell Cohen’s Remarks at the 2014 Rabbinical Assembly Convention)

Ramah is growing and thriving. We’ve doubled the number of campers attending our programs in 20 years. Over 10,000 campers and staff will attend a Ramah program this year, whether in our overnight camps, our day camps, our summer Seminar in Israel, or on our high school semester program in Jerusalem.

We strive to create excellence. ‎Look around this room. As with North American Jewish leadership generally, such a high percentage of our colleagues credit Ramah as a crucial factor in their Jewish growth. There is simply no better way to instill Jewish pride than camp – through fun, friends, and the luxury of time – time to play, to learn, and to be nurtured by incredible young adult role models.

To strengthen our future as a Conservative Movement and as Jews, we need to continue to grow. We need your help, as still only approximately seven percent of our kids are choosing Ramah. As Rabbi Julie Schonfeld has said, “Let’s take yes for an answer.” ‎And as Chancellor Arnold Eisen continues to say, “We need more Ramah.”

Please work with us to convince more families that Ramah is right for them. And please avoid political correctness – many other Jewish summer camps are terrific, but only Ramah will strengthen our Movement, our rabbinate, and our partner institutions like USY, Masorti, Ziegler and JTS, and so many more.

Thank you much for all your support, and let’s work together to bring hundreds more children to Ramah in the coming years.