The end of the school year is upon us, and across the country, many
parents are packing their children’s trunks for summer camp. The world
of Jewish camping began as a reaction to urbanization. Those interested
in “social welfare” and the health of the children, promoted summer
getaways so children could experience nature and fresh air. Such was the
goal when, in 1893, the Jewish Working Girls Society of New York opened
Camp Lehman (later called Camp Isabella Friedman).

Originally, Jewish camps were only for Jews simply because society at
that time was more culturally segregated. However, the positive
potential of these all-Jewish environments was soon recognized. For
instance, in 1927, Camp Achvah opened as the first Hebrew-speaking camp.
Other camps, such as Camp Cejwin, surrounded children with the Jewish
culture that was being lost in the American “melting pot.” One of the
most famous of these Jewish cultural camps was Camp Massad in
Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains.

In the middle of the 20th century, the trend in Jewish summer camps
began to separate along denominational lines. The first Camp Ramah, the
camp of the Conservative movement, opened in Wisconsin (near Chicago) in
1947. The first official camp of the Reform movement, UAHC
Camp-Institute opened in 1950, also in Wisconsin. Both of these camp
movements continued to grow. There are currently 8 Ramah camps in North
America and 13 URJ Camp-Institutes. In the late 1950s, Chabad joined
the camping world when it opened Camp Gan Israel, which has grown into
the largest chain of Jewish camps in the world. Summer camps are also
very popular among the Orthodox, but as there is no umbrella
organization within Orthodoxy, they remain mostly independent
institutions.

In addition to the overnight camps, the Jewish camping world includes
many independent Jewish summer camps, as well as hundreds of day camps
(often affiliated with Federation-JCCs). Jewish camping has proven so
powerful a tool in giving children positive Jewish identities that the
Foundation for Jewish Camp was created in 1998.

Copyright © 2012 National Jewish Outreach Program. All rights reserved.