Yes! If your child is enrolled in school in Israel, you receive a 20% discount off the FULL price based on ONE child. This only applies for Israeli residents with children IN Israeli schools.
The Hebrew speaking Ramah camp is located on the same campus as the English speaking camp. It is meant for Israeli campers entering grades 1 through 6 only. If you would like information about the camp or to register, please contact the Ramah office at 02-966-6200. Once information is available, it will be posted here as well (in Hebrew) for download.
We use a variable rate, based on the day that you send your payment. Please use xe.com, as it is a reliable and updated exchange rate site.
The youngest group of campers is entering Kindergarten in the fall (Gan Hova in Israel). We follow the Israeli school system cutoff, which is based on the child’s Hebrew birthday. In Israel, children must turn five by 1 Tevet to enter kindergarten. If your child turns 5 by December 1, you have no need to worry! If not, please contact us to see whether he/she meets the cutoff.
Most activities are just a short walk — under five minutes — from one another. The majority of our activities take place on the grassy area between the Ramah offices and the tennis courts, in a block of nearby classrooms, and at the pool and basketball courts.
While there are vending machines and there is a kiosk on campus, we ask that our campers not bring money except on field trip days. On those days, campers may bring up to 25 NIS to purchase a treat for themselves.
Transportation to camp is not provided. The 22 and 4 bus lines both come to the campus, and it is a short cab-ride or easy walk from Rehavia, Talbieh, the German Colony, Baka, and Old Katamon.
Approximately five days a week, campers are at the Goldstein campus, where they participate in specialist-led activities (arts & crafts, sports, drama, music, Israeli dancing, etc.), group time and swim. On trip days (once per week) campers depart after Tefillah and return to camp in time for lunch.
Specialists and counselors teach Israeli children’s sport games, such as Mahanayim, Gaga, and Chaye Sarah, in addition to relay races, flag football, obstacle courses, soccer, basketball, tennis, flag football, capture the flag, and other games. We also have a Sports Fitness program, where campers exercise in a fun way.
Security is always Ramah’s top priority. The Goldstein Youth Village is completely surrounded by a security fence, with guards at any open gate. For all trips we adhere to the strict security policies established by Israel’s Ministry of Education governing field trips for public school children. All trips are cleared in advance, and again just prior to the day’s program, with the appropriate authorities. All travel is by chartered bus and a guard who is also a trained medic accompanies the group on all trips when deemed necessary by the Ministry of Education.
Campers have approximately one hour of swim four days per week. When we can, we offer instructional swim to weak and non-swimmers who are attending the day camp for at least two weeks. The Goldstein campus has two pools: a full size pool and a shallower children’s pool. The pools are indoors, with a sliding glass wall and roof that opens to the outside. A swim evaluation is held for all new campers on Sundays. The pools are staffed by certified lifeguards and counselors are in the pool with their campers, providing extra supervision.
Programming at the camp is done in English, but Hebrew is incorporated into many activities and songs. Hebrew vocabulary and phrases are used and dialogue with Hebrew speakers is encouraged, but familiarity rather than fluency is the objective.
There are several Jewish learning programs around the city that are open to tourists. You might check out those offered by the Conservative Yeshiva, the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, or the Hartman Institute.
Yes. Camp provides a daily (parve) mid-morning snack of a roll and drink, which many parents choose to supplement with chips, a fruit, a granola bar, or something of that nature. Ramah will provide a hot lunch daily (except on Fridays), at which vegetarian food may be requested in advance. Sometimes counselors plan food-related activities for their group time, and in those cases the food is kosher dairy or pareve. During the 9 Days, parents may also request vegetarian entrees for their children. Food-related activities following lunch will be pareve, of course. Supervision by the Jerusalem Rabbinate.
Tell us about it. Remind your child to be vigilant about checking labels before purchasing any snacks on field trips and asking about questionable food in the cafeteria. There are no milk or nut products in any food served at camp.Please send an epi-pen or other allergy medication and request a medical release form from the Camp Director.
Ramah tries to ensure that children and staff drink a minimum of 1.5 liters of water during camp each day. We recommend that older campers carry at least 750ml of water, while younger campers should carry a 500 ml bottle, which they can refill during the day. Please write your child’s name in permanent marker or nail polish on the PLASTIC part of the bottle, not the paper wrapper. The tap water in Jerusalem is safe to drink and tastes just fine. However, if your child will not drink the tap water in Israel, please send enough bottled water for the entire day (but know that your child will need to carry this water with him/her).
The camp is supervised by a Director and an Assistant Director who each have extensive experience and training in Informal Jewish Education, camping, and education. The minimum counselor to camper ratio for our youngest campers is 1: 6, and it does not exceed 1:8 for our oldest campers. Senior staff members are post-army or are college students; junior staff members are most often Israeli high school students who are entering at least 11th grade. Most staff members are Israeli residents who are fluent in English and conversant in Hebrew and have had prior experience working with children, usually in the framework of camp and/or youth movements. All counselors go through an intensive training seminar prior to the beginning of the camp season and participate fully in all camp activities throughout the summer. Specialists have had experience working and teaching in their particular fields.
Our counselors and specialists are Israelis or foreigners who have spent the entire previous academic year studying in Israel. Ramah does not provide housing or a travel stipend for foreign applicants. Following the pattern of most Israeli day camps, applications will be processed starting approximately in March/April. If you are interested in pursuing employment with the day camp, please follow the link to Join our Staff.
The camp is designed for English-speaking children entering Kindergarten through eighth grade. (Minimum age: 5 years). Approximately 20-25% of our campers are the children of English-speaking Israelis, while the remainder come from the United States, Canada, and other English speaking countries. When there is sufficient interest, we offer a CIT (Counselor in Training) program for rising 9th and 10th graders.
We’re sorry, but we cannot accommodate the needs of preschool age campers. Many local preschools offer day camps for younger children, and we can give you some referrals. One preschool which many of our families have sent to is Gan Discovery, located in Baka. They accept 3 and 4 year olds for the summer.
If your child does not speak and understand English, he or she will not be able to register for camp. The purpose of the camp is not to provide an English immersion program for Israelis or others who would like to learn English, but rather to provide a fun, stimulating environment for Israeli campers who want to maintain their English abilities and for foreign campers who want an authentic Israeli experience, but in English. Campers’ English need not be perfect, but it must be sufficient to engage in day-to-day activities in English.