| From the Business Office Forms, Forms, Forms... Now available online All required summer camp forms are now available online. Please log into your Ramah Account and click the Forms Dashboard to see a complete list of all required forms and their due dates. Instructions are available on each form. If you have any questions or need assistance, please call our office at (310) 476-8571, and a member of our team will be happy to assist you. Please see our website for detailed information: www.ramah.org. |
| We need YOU! Are you interested in being a madrich, madricha, or moomcheh/ moomchit during our winter programs? If so, please email Amy or Lesley. Winter program dates: February 24th-26th March 23rd-25th Contact us ASAP to let us know your interest and availability. |
| Rabbi Noah Greenberg: Artwork and Education Many chanichim and madrichim can recall their amazing experiences with Rabbi Noah Greenberg. Whether he is discussing his shtender, or teaching how to make t'fillin, Rabbi Greenberg plays an important part in our summer program. Recently, Rabbi Greenberg's ability to educate people through his craft was featured in "Mishpacha" magazine. Click here to read the full article and learn more about Rabbi Noah Greenberg. | | Blog Alert! This blog was created recently by Jay Ruderman of the Ruderman Foundation. This Foundation now supports Ramah special needs programs and has been a pioneer in advancing the cause of Jewish special needs education in North America. Please read the recent blog posting by Howard Blas about the loving "Tikvah-Mishlochot" relationship! | LimmudLA is looking for counselors for the Children's Program at the LimmudLA 2012 Conference!
Counselors will come to the conference for FREE, and will help the kids have a great conference, too.
Email yechiel@limmudla.org if you are interested, or please pass this on to someone who may be interested. Please visit limmudla.org for more information.
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Friday Night Candle-Lighting Times
(Los Angeles) Fri, Feb. 17: 5:21 p.m. Fri, Feb. 24: 5:27 p.m. Fri, March 2: 5:33 p.m. Fri, March 9: 5:39 p.m. 
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NOW is the time to register for our 2012 season! A summer at Ramah brings together friends, fun activities, Jewish celebration and learning to make a lifelong impact. Campers enjoy sports, aquatics, arts, outdoor adventures, Shabbat celebrations and lots more under the guidance of our accomplished staff members. Click here to access our online application! Click here to learn about incentives, discounts, and future "Virtual Open Houses". Questions? Contact Karmi Monsher, Outreach Coordinator, at karmi@ramah.org SUMMER 2012 DATES* 1st Session (entering grades 4-10): June 20 - July 17 2nd Session (entering grades 4-10): July 19 - Aug 15 Gesher A (entering grades 3-4): June 20 - July 3 Gesher B (entering grades 4-5): July 4 - 17 Gesher C (entering grades 3-4): July 19 - Aug 1 Gesher D (entering grades 4-5): Aug 2 - 15 *Tikvah programs begin on June 21st and July 20th respectively. |
| Join Us For A Prospective Family Tour Visit Beautiful Camp Ramah in Ojai Sunday, February 26th at 1:00 pm 
Giving thought to Summer 2012? Take advantage of our upcoming Prospective Family Tour: *Get a Feel for Camp Activities *Take a look inside a cabin and tour the facility *Meet Some of Our Staff *Get Your Questions Answered RSVP to Karmi at karmi@ramah.org |
Join Us! Virtual Open Houses Interested in a Ramah summer progra m? Join us online to learn more about our program, staff, enrollment process and more. Grab your lunch and join us on the first Wednesday of each month at 12:30pm or pour a cup of coffee and join us on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:30pm. Click on the following dates to register: Tuesday, February 21st @ 7:30pm PST Wednesday, March 7th @ 12:30 pm PST |
| How To Bring A Little Taste Of Ramah Into Your Home During our summer sessions, chanichim (campers) have the opportunity to participate in various chuggim (electives), ranging from drama and photography to cooking and krav m'gah (self defense). In one of our chuggim, Outdoor/Ropes Course instructor Amir Firestone taught chanichim to make fresh tea using the ingredients found around camp and in our new organic garden. Chanichim have been eager to share this recipe with family and friends, and now, courtesy of Amir, we are able to share it with you! Please feel free to share with us your thoughts on this recipe, and send pictures of you preparing and enjoying this tea to info@ramah.org! Ingredients:  Black Sage Mint Fennel (seeds and leaves) Lemons Sugar Ice Water Supplies: 1 Pitcher Cups (for drinking the final product) Hot water source 1 Mixing spoon 1 Strainer or filters Procedure: Step 1: Pour hot water into a pitcher filled with fresh mint, sage, and fennel (seeds and leaves) Step 2: After about a minute, take out the sage (because it will become bitter if steeped too long) and squeeze in lemon juice. Step 3: Pour in sugar to taste. Mix Step 4: Dump a lot of ice cubes into the pitcher until it is almost full. Step 5: Strain and serve. Note: If the pitcher is made of plastic, use something different to hold the tea until after Step 4. Step 6: Pour, drink, and enjoy! | | Leaving Your Legacy 
Because YOU, and others like you, choose to create a legacy with Ramah TODAY, we can imagine Camp Ramah 50+ years from now. Over a century old, Ramah continues to welcome generations of campers, strengthen connections to Jewish tradition and create special friendships that will last a lifetime. It continues to thrive after all this time thanks to those who thought ahead decades earlier and decided to leave a legacy with Ramah in their estate plans. A planned gift to Ramah offers you the opportunity to be remembered by future generations as one who helped make a difference. While there are numerous options available, the simplest way to leave your legacy is by bequest. You may name Camp Ramah in California as the beneficiary in your will or living trust in the following ways: A Specific Bequest specifies that Camp Ramah will receive a designated sum, or a particular number of shares of stock, or a piece of real estate, etc. A Percentage Bequest specifies that a predetermined percentage of your estate will go to Camp Ramah.
A Residuary Bequest directs that everything remaining in your estate (after all other bequests have been distributed) will be directed to Camp Ramah. Please be sure to check with your professional advisor for the proper wording and/or to seek additional advice in meeting your charitable and financial goals. If you have already included Ramah in your estate plans, we'd love to know! We'd be honored to welcome you into the Alon Binyamin Legacy Circle and recognize your thoughtful generosity. If you'd like to discuss the creation of a bequest, or explore the numerous other planned giving options, please contact Ilana Ormond, Director of Development, at We would be truly honored to steward your legacy for generations to come! |
| | Reflections from Israel by Rabbi Joe Menashe |
| It'd been a decade since my summer work at Camp Ramah, and yet much of my entry back into the community has felt familiar. My favorite example is that the smell walking into the office at camp had not changed since my last summer in 1999. It was not a bad smell, just distinctive and the experience was oddly comforting, reminding me of many late night meetings during my years on staff in Ojai. However, the single change over the years that surprises me the most is the growth and impact of our mishlachat - the young Israelis who come to work at Ramah for the summer as "ambassadors" for Israel. Each summer a couple dozen Israelis, who have passed a highly competitive application process, serve our community teaching about Israel, and working on the ropes course, at the pool, in a myriad of chuggim, and even as madrichim for our older campers. I can neither understate the impact these Israelis have on our American campers and staff, nor can I under represent how fundamentally transformative the Ramah experience is on the shlichim. While Ojai is nearly 8,000 miles from Jerusalem, our summer experience feels intimately connected to the sacred beauty and complex nuances of our homeland. Amy and I recently returned from Israel where we had the opportunity to visit many of our Ramahnikim in Israel and interview a new class of talented and diverse Israelis who are going to join 15 returning members of our mishlachat. We look forward to welcoming these shlichim into our Ramah California community and, after returning from Israel, are excited as ever for an incredible kayitz 2012. L'hitra'ot, Rabbi Joe | | B'shalom, The Camp Ramah in California Year-Round Staff 
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