Tagged Jewish camps

Orthodox Jewish camps won’t be allowed to open as US judge sides with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Orthodox children watch as protesters march through Brooklyn on June 3, 2020.(Angela Weiss/Getty Images)

(JTA) – A last-ditch effort by Orthodox Jews in New York to clear the way for overnight camps this summer fell short Monday as a federal judge declined to intervene against Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to keep the camps closed. The judge was responding to a lawsuit brought last… Read more »

For the few Jewish camps that are opening despite risks, finding willing families hasn’t been hard

The ropes course at Camp Modin, which has seen immense interest from parents since announcing last month that it was opening this summer. (Courtesy of Camp Modin)

(JTA) — This week, as he prepares to open Camp Modin and administer coronavirus tests to its hundreds of campers and staff, Howard Salzberg is still fielding 50 calls a day from parents who want to send their kids. That’s because Modin, a small, unaffiliated Jewish camp in Maine,… Read more »

A different kind of protest movement: Orthodox children rally to open New York summer camps

Orthodox children in New York City are rallying to have their camps open amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Screenshot from Twitter)

(JTA) – Protesters have been a daily sight in Brooklyn over the last few weeks. But the protesters blocking traffic Thursday on the streets of the New York City borough’s Orthodox neighborhoods were a little younger than usual. Their shouting — “We want camp!” — quickly made their aim… Read more »

With hope fading and regulations tightening, more Jewish camps set to cancel

Rising sixth-graders at Camp Ramah in California on the beach during an overnight trip. The camp has said "we cannot open camp in mid-June or run our summer sessions as scheduled." (Courtesy of Ramah in California)

(JTA) — At the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, and as recently as a couple weeks ago, some Jewish camps had hoped they could run for part of the summer. For a growing number of camps, that hope now appears to be vanishing. Two Conservative Ramah camps look increasingly… Read more »

These Jews are running summer camps for refugee children

The kids at the St. Louis camp spend most of their time playing soccer or doing arts and crafts. (Courtesy of St. Louis JCRC)

(JTA) — When he signed up to be a counselor at a Jewish-run summer camp for refugee children, Isaac Eastlund expected to confront trauma. Instead, when he would come up to his campers, a couple months or years removed from fleeing Afghanistan or the Democratic Republic of the Congo,… Read more »

Deluxe Jewish camps missing the point

Figure skating, private baths, passports, gold medal coaches? The new Jewish summer camp models (“Jewish camps invest in improvements for our gilded age,” AJP, 3/18/16) left me feeling dismayed. What do these activities have to do with helping our Jewish youth feel more connected to Judaism? The costs of… Read more »