We are a specialty camp that combines the excitement of developing one’s skills and passions in a specialty area with the full experience and magic of a traditional Ramah summer camp. Come help us make waves in Northern California as we create an unforgettable camp experience and community together!
Growing up, I always wanted to go to a Jewish sleepaway camp. However, I was intimidated by the well-established camps nearby, worried that I wouldn’t know the traditions or fit in. So, when Ramah Galim opened in 2016, it felt like the perfect opportunity to finally attend camp and help to build a community from the ground up. That first summer, I barely knew anyone, but everyone else was in the same boat. We saw camp as a blank canvas, ready to be filled with traditions, culture, friendships, and community. There was an unspoken understanding that what we did that summer would lay the foundation for the camp’s future. Camp quickly became a home, a place where I felt truly comfortable and fully myself.
One of the many names of the festival of Sukkot is Z’man Simchateinu – “Time of our Joyousness”. On the holiday of Sukkot, we are given an explicit charge to be joyful. As the Torah says, וְשָׂמַחְתָּ֖ בְּחַגֶּ֑ךָ…וְהָיִ֖יתָ אַ֥ךְ שָׂמֵֽחַ – “You shall rejoice in your Festival…and you shall have nothing but joy.” (Deuteronomy 16:14,15). We are instructed to build temporary dwellings and find abundant joy in moving our lives into them for a defined period; eating, sleeping, working and spending time connecting with friends and family.
Deret Musselman, Director of Community Care and Inclusion at Ramah Galim, traveled to Israel last month as a staff member on the National Ramah Tikvah Birthright trip to Israel.
My journey with Ramah started 6 years ago with our Tikvah program. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined myself traveling to Israel with a group of adults with special needs. Reflecting on the last 10 days, there is no other way that I would have liked to experience Israel for the first time.
We are excited to announce that the Ramah Sports Academy will be included as a new speciality track option at Camp Ramah Galim in Northern California this summer. After five years of operations in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, Ramah Sports Academy (RSA) is moving west! Not only will this change give athletes access to our breathtaking campus on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, RSA campers will be part of a vibrant summer community – joining with over 180 Ramah campers each session for social, recreational, and religious programming outside of their sports majors.
With pride and excitement, we announce Camp Ramah in Northern California’s new Board of Directors.
Our volunteer leadership provides strategic direction and oversight for Ramah, ensuring that our Camp is able to serve families in Northern California and beyond and advance our mission to provide transformative Jewish summer experiences.
On the day I arrived at camp this summer, I heard something that stuck with me.
Rosh Edah Maya Wasserman shared, “I came back to Ramah Galim this summer because I realized after my experience here in 2021 that this place is where I become by best self.” I imagine that many of us who have spent significant time at a Jewish overnight summer camp can probably relate to these profound words. For me, they struck so poignantly in my final days as Director of Ramah Galim both as a meaningful reflection on the transformative community we have built for so many individuals, and because I remember feeling this same way after my first experience at Ramah many years ago.