Camp Ramah in the Poconos

Camp Ramah in the Poconos is a summer camp affiliated with the National Ramah Commission. Opened in 1950, it is located in the Pocono Mountains in High Lake, Pennsylvania (but is addressed in Lakewood, Pennsylvania, since High Lake does not have its own post office or ZIP code).

As with other Ramah camps, Camp Ramah in the Poconos is focused on Jewish education. Its program has an educational focus and includes Zionism, the Jewish lifecycle, and ritual. The camp seeks to maintain a connection with the State of Israel and uses Hebrew as the language of official instruction, communication, and education. The official prayer book of Camp Ramah in the Poconos is Siddur Lev Yisrael, authored by former director Cheryl Magen.

In the 1950s, Hebrew was the official spoken language at Ramah. At an alumni reunion in 2009, former campers, in their seventies, recalled phrases they had learned at Ramah like “Let’s go swimming,” or “Please pass the salt.”

Campers are split up into divisions by grade and age. These divisions are called Edot, the plural of the word Edah (עדה) which means group in Hebrew. The Edot which are at Ramah Poconos are:

Each Edah is led by a Rosh Edah (Unit Head) who supervises the counselors in each individual bunk.

After the two 4-week sessions conclude, the camp runs the Tikvah Family Camp. A camp experience for the entire family for families with Jewish children with developmental disorders and/or social learning disorders. The program offers parents, and their siblings the unique opportunity to together experience the magic of Jewish summer camp. The overnight program incorporates Jewish learning, recreation, spiritual reflection, and plain-old-fun in the beautiful natural environment of Camp Ramah in the Poconos.

The staff of Ramah Poconos is composed largely of former Ramah campers. Many campers to return as counselors and specialists for several summers while they are in college. After college, they can continue to come back as the head of the age groups or in other positions. Camp Ramah encourages new recruits and give staff members who recruit others a bonus payment. Staff are trained on a perpetual basis throughout the summer beginning with the week before the campers come. This "staff week" is named after and funded by an endowment in honor of Director Emeritus, Cheryl Magen. It is spent drilling safety procedures, camp rules, activity planning, and many other important things into the staff members. Throughout the summer, counselors and other staff members have Hadracha, (transliteration of הדרכה the Hebrew word for guidance) sessions that continue to train the staff in all necessary areas. Senior counselors are expected to mentor the junior counselors, so their Hadracha sessions spend a lot of focus on how to teach the younger counselors.

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