FAQ's

Camp Ramah in the Poconos is nestled in the Pocono Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Our summer address is:

Camp Ramah in the Poconos – 2618 Upper Woods Road – Lakewood, PA 18439

For complete directions to camp, please contact our winter office at 215-885-8556 or info@ramahpoconos.org.

Most of our campers arrive via charter buses, which depart from key locations within our region. If your child lives in Philadelphia, South Jersey, Baltimore, MD, or Livingston, NJ, we typically have charter buses leaving from these areas. Final bus locations are determined prior to each camp season. Campers living outside these regions often come by family car, or other arrangements and arrival by car is available to any camper. We are happy to discuss all travel possibilities with you and your family.

Yes, Camp Ramah in the Poconos offers financial aid packages for families who are in need of assistance in sending their child to camp. We work hard to ensure that almost every child can attend our camp programs. Scholarship forms are accessible in your Camp in Touch account, after an application has been submitted and your camper is enrolled. We also suggest you contact your local Rabbi, your Jewish Federation, and the Foundation for Jewish Camp’s ‘One Happy Camper’ Scholarship to see if you are eligible for a new-camper incentive.

Camp Ramah in the Poconos can accommodate almost any allergy. Our nut sensitive kitchen does not use any peanuts or tree nuts in any of our food preparation during the course of the summer. We have a special diets team in our kitchen and are able to accommodate lactose intolerance and certain wheat allergies as well. If you have any questions regarding your child’s allergies, we would be happy to put you in touch with our year-round nutritionist. Please contact our Director of Camper Care, Rachael Abrams at rachaela@ramahpoconos.org

Camp Ramah in the Poconos complies with the National Ramah Medical Subcommittee policy requiring full compliance with national immunization guidelines for all campers and staff. Campers and staff are asked to submit written documentation of their immunization schedules in order to attend camp each summer. We do not allow for any exceptions or exemptions. Updates specific to each summer will be shared with families closer to the start of the summer.

Yes. Enrolled families have access to an optional Bunk Request form in their Camp in Touch account. Campers may make up to 3 requests (one request for our oldest campers.) Whenever possible, we try to honor those requests, though we cannot guarantee that requests will be honored. Please read more about our Bunking Philosophy here.

Camp Ramah in the Poconos has a long-standing tradition of medical excellence. This starts with our top-notch staff of doctors and nurses, overseen by our Medical Director and Nurse Administrator, who live at camp and are available 24/7 to our campers and staff. In addition to ensuring that your child receives their necessary medication, our staff is responsive to day-to-day needs during daily sick call, as well as during times of emergencies.

Yes! We are happy to offer a number of different options for campers with special needs. Whether at our Day Camp or our Tikvah Family Camp, and with a residential and inclusion program at our overnight camp, we believe strongly that our camp community should be inclusive. If you are interested in determining which program might be right for your child, please contact Orlee Krass, our Tikvah Director, at orleek@ramahpoconos.org regarding your family’s specific situation and we will do everything possible to ensure a successful summer for your child at Camp Ramah.

We encourage parents to write letters to their children or sign up for our email service which delivers your emails to your children up at camp. These letters and emails are delivered 6 days a week. In turn, your child will write regular letters and postcards to you, encouraged by our tradition of Yom Do’ar (Mail Day) when every camper writes a letter home twice a week. Parents are also encouraged to reach out to their child's yoetzet (camper care liaison) regarding any concerns or questions throughout the summer. Please click here to learn more about the role of the yoetzet.

We offer scheduled tours of camp during the camping season for you, your family, and your child to come and experience Camp Ramah in the Poconos for yourselves. These day-tours will give you a taste of what a Day in the Life of Ramah would look like for your future Ramahnik. We also offer a Prospective Family Day at our overnight camp facility each summer, a chance for you and your child to visit camp together! Tours can be scheduled through our office by contacting info@ramahpoconos.org

Each child is unique, and as a result, we are happy to have an individual conversation to help you determine when is the right time for your child to begin overnight camp. There is a certain level of independence that helps children to succeed at camp, including the ability to take care of their self-care needs, to be able to fall asleep on their own, to make their own, safe choices and to understand what it means to reside in a communal living environment. It is also important that you're child demonstrate some level of enthusiasm about attending camp, even if there is also some hesitancy. We teach campers that they can feel more than one feeling at a time - you can be excited for camp and miss your family. We work hard to provide and intentional environment during the first few days of camp in order to help campers acclimate to this new environment that we hope will feel like home in no time!

We are proud to offer a program that works for campers from a variety of different religious backgrounds. We have a wide variety of campers who come from homes that are very secular all the way to homes that are observant. Approximately 40% of our campers attend Jewish Day School, and the other 60% attend private or public schools. We work hard to ensure that there are opportunities for everyone to learn and participate in the ways that they find meaningful.

Ramah is a Jewish educational institution; central to our mission is our goal of teaching campers about Judaism — Jewish and Israeli history, culture, music, Hebrew, t’fillot (prayer), and so much more. Much of this is woven into the fun that campers have with their friends at camp. It is our goal that our campers have a great time at camp and without realizing it, they absorb the educational aspects that we strive to teach.

We have t’fillot (prayers) every morning. These are designed to be inclusive and welcoming to all, regardless of familiarity or exposure. We focus on teaching prayers, tunes, the meaning of the words and the choreography of the service. Our services are filled with ruach (spirit/energy) and lots of singing, so that the experience is fun and interesting for our campers! We also pride ourselves on providing unique, creative t'fillah experiences that are engaging and developmentally appropriate. Each edah (division — grade-level) at camp has t’fillot on their own aside for Shabbat, which we welcome together with the entire camp community.

Every year in between our sessions we offer a Visitors’ Day where parents, grandparents, friends and alumni can come and visit camp. More information about Visiting Day is shared with enrolled families as we approach the summer.