Portion of Press Release:
Study confirms that Ramah alumni are much more highly engaged in Jewish life than other Jews of similar backgrounds
NEW YORK, NY (February 9, 2017) – The Ramah Camping Movement announces the results of “The Alumni of Ramah Camps: A Portrait of Jewish Engagement.” This survey of more than 5,000 camper alumni was conducted by Professor Steven M. Cohen of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the Berman Jewish Policy Archive at Stanford University. The study found that the alumni of Ramah camps are highly engaged in Jewish life, years, and decades after having attended a Ramah camp in North America. The study compares Ramah camper alumni to children of inmarried Conservative parents who responded to the 2013 Pew study of Jewish Americans (“the Pew comparison group”). Professor Cohen states that “…Camp Ramah has been critical to building a committed and connected core of Conservative and other Jews in North America and Israel….At a time when North American Jews are contending with challenges to their numbers and commitment of the engaged ‘Jewish middle,’ Ramah is critical to sustaining those numbers and fortifying that commitment.”
About the Ramah Camping Movement
Ramah (www.campramah.org) is the camping arm of Conservative Judaism. Together, our programs provide Ramah experiences for more than 11,000 children, teens, and young adults annually. The National Ramah Commission of The Jewish Theological Seminary provides oversight, educational planning, and coordination on behalf of the network of Ramah camps throughout North America and Ramah Programs in Israel.
