Shabbat

Shabbat at Camp Ramah is a truly magical experience.


Ask any Ramahnik, and they will eagerly tell you how peaceful, joyous, and spiritual a Shabbat at Ramah can be. At Ramah, the Shabbat experience doesn’t feel like a hard thing to do. There is no pull from the outside world, from technology, from the secular, from the other distractions of our busy modern lives. This allows everyone at Ramah to embrace the Shabbat experience like nowhere else in their lives, and to deeply love this happy time spent with their friends.

On Friday afternoon, our entire camp community gathers together in our beautiful wooded grove in the center of camp to welcome Shabbat with Kabbalat Shabbat, one of the most beautiful of all prayer experiences. Our Shabbat meal is considered by many campers to be their favorite meal of the week, not just for the especially delicious menu (and our famous fudgy brownies for dessert) but also for the raucous and ruach (spirit)-filled shira (song) session, led by our oldest campers.

On Saturday, our campers enjoy a traditional Shabbat. They relax, swim, play sports, spend time with friends, rest and play. As Shabbat winds down, our oldest campers lead the entire camp in gorgeous, melodic Seudah Shlishit tunes. Hearing the voices of all of our campers, young and old, raised together in song, and seeing everyone swaying arm-in-arm, is a highlight of the week.

 

We conclude Shabbat with havdallah. Holding hands outside in some of camp’s most beautiful spots, singing the beautiful Ramah havdallah tune together, is a moment that all Ramahniks treasure.

 

Hear the story of the origin of our Ramah havdallah tune, written by a camper and a staff-member: