The camp is divided into two sides: A-Side and B-Side. A-side hosts Kochavim through Shoafim and B-Side hosts the rest of the
edot along with the dining hall, infirmary (marp), ropes course, tree house, Beit Midrash complex, the Beit Am Gadol (the basketball complex that is also used for other ceremonies), the farm, and the garden. The oldest edah, Nivonim, is housed in a building complex called the K'far.
Palmer Palmer, as the camp is also nicknamed, has a number of traditions, including Color War (Yom Sport), an annual sports competition within the camp;
yamim meyuchadim, "special days"; an ongoing sports rivalry with
Camp Ramah in the Berkshires; musicals performed by the four older edot entirely in Hebrew (in 2025:
The Wizard of Oz was performed by Bogrim '25
Aladdin was performed by Machon '25 and
Despicable Me was performed by the greatest Edah of all time Niv '25); and singing the Camp Ramah song,
Shir Ramah. They play the rival camp in the Berkshires on "Yom Roo" under the unofficial mascot, the "Palmer Fighting Roos." The "Roo" has its own songs as well as merchandise. The oldest edot participate in a camping trip known as "etgar" (the Hebrew word for challenge); older edot are given the opportunity to travel off the grounds and choose from a number of
hiking, canoeing, biking, rock climbing and rappelling, and
spelunking trips. Their reputation has been noted and recognized by the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
Shabbat Shabbat is given a great deal of attention, with all of the camp gathering together for Friday night services and dinner. Saturday morning services are held within each edah, with senior staff members often giving
Divrei Torah to the campers. On Friday nights, Nivonimers lead
shira and on Saturday night, they lead
Seudat Shlishit. Also, on Friday nights Nivonimers have the chance to give "Shabbos Stories" which are short speeches about life lessons usually learned in camp. The entire camp keeps Shabbat. Many of the sports teams that will participate in Yom Roo will practice with Saturday afternoon games, usually against staff members, and
Mincha is held for all of B-side.
Havdalah is held by edah, and B-side has Israeli dancing sessions, called
Mandatory Fun Time (MFT) immediately following
Havdalah each Saturday night. Occasionally
Havdalah will be with the whole camp.
Yamim Ragilim Yamim ragilim ("regular days") are broken into time periods called
perakim (s.
perek) and each is identified with a Hebrew letter (א, ב, ג, ד, ה, ו, ז). A regular day includes a sport, swimming, a
chug (a special interest),
Hebrew and
Israeli culture classes,
Limud (Jewish history) classes, free time, a period of rest, and
shira or
rikud ("song" or "dance"). Examples of
chugim include
omanut (art),
nagarut (woodworking), dance, swimming, boating, a variety of sports, time on the high adventure ropes course, and video. In 2007, a number of new adjustments were made to the schedule, including an extra period known as bechirot (free choices), during which campers may choose from a number of activities in which to participate; shortened perakim for Hebrew and Yahadut, and a rotating two-meal schedule. Camp Ramah Yahadut is renowned for its ability to integrate formal learning with experiential education. The staff includes leading educational professionals from local synagogues and prep-school institutions such as
Gann Academy in Waltham, Massachusetts. Campers describe their educational experiences at Ramah as "meaningful" and "not like Hebrew school under the trees at all." Since 2015, bunk counselors also have an "anaf." This is a specialty which they run an elective for two hours on
yamim ragilim.
Anafim may include
omanut (art), sports, serving as lifeguards, working on the ropes course, and many others.
Y'mei Meyuchad Once a week, non-counselor staff members take their day off, so the counselors in each
edah plan a special day free of regular programming called
yamim meyuchadim (special days) to make up for the lack of staffing. Each special day is called "Yom (Name)".
Yamim meyuchadim can be anything from Yom Pirate to Yom
Willy Wonka, Yom Random, Yom
MTV, etc., all with special programs and activities planned by the staff members. In some years, once a session each
edah takes a trip outside of the camp. Special trips have taken campers to
Red Sox games, art museums, the zoo, ice skating rinks, the
Basketball Hall of Fame in
Springfield, Massachusetts, and other locations around
New England. In recent years, the entire camp goes to
Six Flags New England once a summer. Every year, one
Yom Meyuchad is planned entirely by Nivonim campers, the oldest edah. They plan a camp-wide color war (
Yom Sport), made up of four teams (
adom: red,
lavan: white,
kachol: blue, and
yarok: green) according to a certain theme. Recent themes include shapes (each color being a different shape),
Inside Out,
Mario Kart,
The Avengers, Cereal Mascots, and many more. Beginning with a dramatic breakout in the afternoon before the
Yom Meyuchad, a
relay race called
Apache usually occurs next after all campers have time to get into their assigned team colors. Over the roughly 27 hours, meals will be themed (i.e. silent lunch, only use spoons, eat like a dinosaur, etc), and campers will participate in various activities to try and earn points for their team. At the end of
Yom Sport, closing ceremonies occur, where each team presents a team song (usually with parts in English and parts in Hebrew) and dances (usually including an A-side dance, a hip-hop dance, an acrobatic dance, a captains dance, and full team dance, although varies by team and year). A winner is then declared by the Nivonim campers serving as judges, often performed in a comical and dramatic re-enactment of a scene related to the theme. ==General==