A Jewish summer camp is a summer camp dedicated to Jewish communities. In the United States these camps grew in popularity in the years after World War II and the Holocaust as an effort by American Jewish leaders to preserve and produce authentic Jewish culture. [1] Outside the United States, similar camps are generally organized by various philanthropic organizations and local Jewish youth movements. [2]
Jewish summer camps vary in their religious observance and affiliations; some are secular, while others have ties to Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox Jewish organizations. Some camps have ties to Zionist movements or organizations, such as Young Judaea, Betar, Habonim Dror, Hashomer Hatzair and B'nei Akiva. [3]
Jewish summer camps began near the end of the 19th century, when the Jewish population in the United States increased via immigration. It was a way for Jewish children of Eastern European immigrants to assimilate and "Americanize" at a time when summer camps excluded Jews from their ranks, as well as a way to allow children living in the city to experience the countryside. [1] [3] [4] The first Jewish summer camp, Camp Lehman, was founded in 1893 in New York. [4] Another early camp, Surprise Lake Camp, was founded in 1902, aimed towards "lower-income boys from Manhattan’s Lower East Side". [4] Early camps primarily had ties to socialist, Yiddish, or Zionist Jewish organizations. [4]
Most of the early camps also catered primarily to boys; but the Young women's hebrew association was running summer camps by 1925. [5]
After the Second World War the number of Jewish camps in the U.S. expanded as a way to preserve Jewish culture. [1] [4] This period also saw the founding of camps tied to the Reform and Conservative movements. [3] [4] Some camps, such as Camp Hemshekh, were founded specifically for the children of Holocaust survivors. [2]
Many Jewish summer camps began observing Tisha B'Av, a Jewish fast day that falls in the American summer, which had largely "fallen into obscurity among American Jews". Some camps used the day to reinforce the need for the state of Israel, while others used it to focus on past tragedies, such as the Holocaust, or on acts of charity. [1] [2] [6]
The 2010s and 2020s have seen the creation of specialized Jewish summer camp programs, for groups such as adults [7] and LGBT children. [8]
Camp JCA Shalom, Malibu, California is run by a Shalom Institute . [9] [10] [11]
American-style Jewish summer camps can also be found in other countries, such as Camp Kimama in Israel. [2] Notably, a Jewish summer camp in southern France, MahaNetzer, was founded in the mid-2010s and draws from American and Israeli influences. [12]
In 2018, 80,000 campers attended Jewish summer camps in the United States. [3] The Foundation for Jewish Camp estimates that the country's 150 non-profit Jewish summer camps are staffed by over 8,500 Jewish college-aged counselors. [2] A 2013 Pew Research study found that a third of American Jews had attended a Jewish summer camp at least once; [13] a 2021 study found that number to be closer to 40%. [14]
A 2011 study by the Foundation for Jewish Camp found that individuals who attended camp were more likely to attend synagogue regularly, donate to Jewish organizations, and have an "emotional attachment" to Israel. [15]
The Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC), formerly known as the Foundation for Jewish Camping, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving North America. It serves as an advocate and resource for nonprofit Jewish camp professionals, lay leaders, families and others interested in the field. [16]
In 2008, the Overnight Camp Incentive Program provided grant money to 18 campers to attend Pinemere Camp. The program is a joint project of the Neubauer Family Foundation, the Foundation for Jewish Camp, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. [17] [18] [19] The grants ranged from $750 to $1,250. [17] The majority of the Pinemere campers who received grants chose to return the following summer. [17]
The Rabbinical Assembly (RA) is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards for the Conservative movement. It organizes conferences and coordinates the Joint Placement Commission of the Conservative movement. Members of the RA serve as rabbis, educators, community workers and military and hospital chaplains around the world.
Mordechai Anielewicz was the leader of the Jewish Combat Organization during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; the largest Jewish resistance movement during the Second World War. Anielewicz inspired further rebellions in both ghettos and extermination camps with his leadership. His character was engraved as a symbol of courage and sacrifice, and was a major figure of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust.
Tisha B'Av is an annual fast day in Judaism. A commemoration of a number of disasters in Jewish history, primarily the destruction of both Solomon's Temple by the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Second Temple by the Roman Empire in Jerusalem.
Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah, known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany and its collaborators, and for the Jewish resistance in that period. In Israel, it is a national memorial day. The first official commemorations took place in 1951, and the observance of the day was anchored in a law passed by the Knesset in 1959. It is held on the 27th of Nisan, unless the 27th would be adjacent to the Jewish Sabbath, in which case the date is shifted by a day.
The Nine Days of Av are a time of commemoration and spiritual observance in Judaism during the first nine days of the Jewish month of Av. The Nine Days begin on Rosh Chodesh Av and culminates on the public fast day of Tisha B'Av.
The Three Weeks or Bein ha-Metzarim is a period of mourning commemorating the destruction of the first and second Jewish Temples. The Three Weeks start on the seventeenth day of the Jewish month of Tammuz—the fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz—and end on the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av—the fast of Tisha B'Av, which occurs exactly three weeks later. Both of these fasts commemorate events surrounding the destruction of the Jewish Temples and the subsequent exile of the Jews from the land of Israel. According to conventional chronology, the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II occurred in 586/7 BCE, and the second siege of Jerusalem (70) by the Romans, in 70 CE. Jewish chronology, however, traditionally places the first destruction at about 421 BCE: see Missing years for more information.
Tu B'Av is a minor Jewish holiday. In modern-day Israel, it is celebrated as a holiday of love, akin to Valentine's Day. It has been said to be an auspicious day for weddings.
American Jews or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% identify as Sephardic, and 1% identify as Mizrahi. An additional 6% identify as some combination of the three categories, and 25% do not identify as any particular category.
Jewish studies is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history, Middle Eastern studies, Asian studies, Oriental studies, religious studies, archeology, sociology, languages, political science, area studies, women's studies, and ethnic studies. Jewish studies as a distinct field is mainly present at colleges and universities in North America.
After the fall of Communism in Poland in 1989, Jewish cultural, social, and religious life has experienced a revival. Many historical issues related to the Holocaust and the period of Soviet domination (1945–1989) in the country – suppressed by Communist censorship – have been reevaluated and publicly discussed leading to better understanding and visible improvement in Polish–Jewish relations. In 1990, there were 3,800 Jews in Poland, 0.01% of Poland’s population, compared to 3,250,000 before 1939. The number had dropped to 3,200 in 2010.
The Jewish Federation (JFED) is a secular Jewish non-profit organization found within many metropolitan areas across the United States with a significant Jewish community. They provide supportive and human services, philanthropy, financial grants to refugees around the world, humanitarian and disaster relief, host leadership conferences and fellowship opportunities for women and youth, charitable drives, help those in need navigate comprehensive resources, and provide outreach to at-risk Jewish populations in 70 countries worldwide, and more. While the Jewish Federation was created to primarily service Jewish communities, they also provide for other communities. All federations in North America operate an annual central campaign, then allocate the proceeds to affiliated local agencies. There are currently 146 Jewish Federations, the national umbrella organization for the federations is the Jewish Federations of North America, in the United States.
Camp Ramah is a network of Jewish summer camps affiliated with the Conservative Movement. The camps operate in the United States, Canada, and Israel. All Ramah camps serve kosher food and are Shabbat-observant.
Camp Ramah in Wisconsin is a Jewish summer camp based in Conover, Wisconsin, on Upper Lake Buckatabon. The Wisconsin camp was the first of the Ramah camps, established in 1947 by Rabbi Ralph Simon, under the direction of Conservative educator Henry Goldberg, with nearly 100 campers. It was sponsored by the Chicago Council of Conservative Synagogues and the Midwest Branch of the United Synagogue.
Siddur Sim Shalom refers to any siddur in a family of siddurim, Jewish prayerbooks, and related commentaries, published by the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
Camp Massad was a Zionist Jewish summer camp in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, which closed in 1981. Massad's founder, Shlomo Shulsinger, emphasized Hebrew language as a key value in a multi-denominational Zionist Jewish environment.
Camp Stone is a Jewish summer camp located in Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania. It is affiliated with Bnei Akiva, a Religious Zionist youth movement. The camp encourages aliyah, or emigration to Israel.
Pinemere Camp is a Jewish overnight summer camp for children in grades 2–10. Its 300 campers are primarily drawn from the United States.
Canadian Young Judaea is the largest Zionist youth movement in Canada. The movement was founded as the youth wing of Canadian Hadassah-WIZO and the Zionist Organization of Canada in 1917, and is affiliated with HaNoar HaTzioni. Young Judaea operates five Jewish summer camps across Canada.
Never Again Action is a Jewish political action organization in the United States that uses civil disobedience and nonviolent methods to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The organization derives its name from the slogan 'never again' which is often used in reference to the Holocaust.
Yehuda Kurtzer is president of the Shalom Hartman Institute. He has written and lectured widely on Jewish history, Jewish memory, leadership in American Jewish life, and the relationship between American Jews, Israel and Zionism. In 2012, he was named one of the "36 under 36 young educators, thinkers, social justice activists, philanthropists and artists reinventing Jewish life" by The Jewish Week.
Since 1951, Camp JCA Shalom has provided enriching experiences
Transformative experiences through communal living, outdoor learning, community & camp magic For over 70 years, Camp JCA Shalom...
