Gesher Ramah is a program of the Ramah Movement that builds strong working and support relationships among the Movement’s camps and clusters of congregations in order to increase the number of children from Conservative synagogues who attend Camp Ramah. Currently, between 6 and 8 percent of children in Conservative synagogues in North America attend Ramah. Especially in light of the new specialty options, Ramah seeks to increase this number by creating strategic partnerships with rabbis and their congregations; identifying a cadre of committed volunteer parent ambassadors within each synagogue community who will represent and promote camp; organizing congregational and regional camp-style programs that generate excitement and model Ramah’s approach to Jewish education; and providing direct incentives for families to send children to Ramah. Following a successful pilot program in the Bay Area, Ramah is expanding the project to three additional regions to create viable models that can be replicated in other synagogue communities: Boston, Philadelphia, and Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota). So far, 19 synagogues have participated.
AVI CHAI concluded its general grant making on December 31, 2019.