Reflections on Family Camp 2019

Over Memorial Day Weekend, 50 families joined us at Camp Ramah in New England for an inter-generational Ramah Family Camp program. During the four days that we spent together, we created an intentional and caring kehillah (community). We were happy to welcome new-to-Ramah families, young alumni families, and everyone in between. Participants enjoyed a meaningful and relaxing Shabbat filled with davening, family activities, and peaceful relaxation.

At the beginning of the weekend, we challenged our families to disconnect in order to reconnect. We explained that Family Camp was the opportunity to disconnect ourselves from the hectic outside world of deadlines, work, and emails, and in return reconnect ourselves to our family, friends, and Jewish ritual. Just as we do in the summer, we separated our community from the world beyond camp and in return focused on the Jewish family experience within the gates of Ramah.

As we said during the weekend, Family Camp is Ramah for the whole family. While toddlers and children were engaged in age-appropriate Ramah programming, adults had the opportunity to participate in any number of our adult activities. These included boating in our Agam (lake), learning with one of the many rabbis that were in residence for the weekend, or even just relaxing and reading a book on our Migrash (field). At night, babysitting (shmirah), allowed for adults to engage in fun and engaging activities such as paint night, trivia night, and much more!

Family Camp 2019 was a blast and we hope that many of you will join us next May for Family Camp 2020 at Camp Ramah in New England! If you are interested in learning more about our Family Camp program, please contact Simon Luxemburg at simonl@campramahne.org.