A history of Jewish summer camps

A camp counselor plays the guitar and leads children in singing at Camp Butwin in Minnesota in 1962.

University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives

Sadie Leiman is heading into her final summer at Camp Kalsman, on 300 acres in Washington state. She’s 16 and started going to this camp as a toddler while her mom worked there. And she’s looking forward to seeing friends and being on her own. But most of all, Leiman’s looking forward to Shabbat – welcoming the Sabbath every Friday night.

“When you’re at home, if you don’t have, like, I don’t know, 400 siblings – which most people don’t – Shabbat is a very private thing,” laughs Leiman. But at Camp Kalsman, she says, “it’s so many people just dancing and singing and it’s beautiful and it’s spiritual and it’s Jewish. It’s just so fun.”

Sadie Leiman (left), pictured here as a baby at Camp Kalsman in 2008 with Leah Bordman, who was attending the camp and is now a Jewish educator.

Elizabeth Dunsker

For American Jews who are often used to being in a cultural minority, having that immersive experience can be life-changing. Which was kind of the reason this all started. In the wake of World War II, when European Jewry had been decimated and American Jews were moving from all-Jewish enclaves to more integrated suburbs, American Jewish leaders worried that their culture might not have a future. And so they turned to summer camps.

Sandra Fox, a visiting assistant professor at New York…