(JTA) – A growing number of Ramah summer camps have canceled their sessions, the latest in a lengthening list of Jewish camps that will not run this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Six are sleepaway camps and one is a day camp.  The camps, which are affiliated with Conservative Judaism. Among those closed are Ramah in New England and its associated day camp, and Ramah Sports Academy, an athletics camp in Connecticut. The decisions mean all of Ramah’s 10 overnight camps will almost certainly be closed this summer. Collectively, the camps serve thousands of campers. They join dozens of other Jewish camps, including other Ramahs, that have canceled their summers due to the pandemic. In some cases, government regulations prohibit the camps from opening, while some camps have decided that opening would pose an unreasonable health risk.

Only a few Jewish camps have announced that they intend to open.

Main Photo: Campers at Ramah Day Camp in Nyack, N.Y., participating in a pilot Hebrew immersion program in 2013. (Ramah Day Camp)