Jewish Philadelphia’s
Summer Camp
Album JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
T he fi rst Jewish summer camp in the United States was opened in New York by the Jewish Working
Girls Vacation Society in 1893.

Th e early camps grew out of a larger social reform movement, which held that children needed
to be taken out of their newly industrialized, smoke-choked cities to enjoy the fresh air of the country.

Today, 128 years later, Jewish summer camp has become a central plank of institutional Jewish life in
the United States. More than 80,000 Jewish children attended a camp in 2018 and, for many of them, the
connections they have to their camps are multi-generational, deeply-held and central to the formation
of their Jewish identity.

Th ere are Jewish camps for every affi nity, denomination and region. Th ey model kibbutzim, educate
on Zionism of this or that stripe and even take their campers to Israel. A 2013 survey found that one third
of American Jews had attended Jewish overnight camp.

Last summer, the pandemic prevented many of these camps from functioning as they typically did;
for some, the summer was canceled altogether. Now, as mass vaccinations continue and public safety
measures are relaxed by the week, 2021 might look a lot closer to normal.

To celebrate the return to something-like-normalcy for a key portion of American-Jewish life, we
asked Jewish Exponent readers to send us photos of their camp days. Th ey responded with gusto. ●
Elliot Miller, top row, second camper from right, at Silver Arrow Day Camp
in 1957. Miller is vice president of Beth Sholom Congregation.

Edward Levy, top row, far right, at Camp Arthur in 1931.

Courtesy of Suzanne Levy
Courtesy of Elliot Miller
6 JUNE 2021
THIS SUMMER
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Alxyzt / iStock / Getty Images Plus
jbernstein@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740



Haim Klimoff at Camp Galil in 1947.

Courtesy of Dodi Klimoff
Financial advice
from a
knowledgeable neighbor.

E. Matthew Steinberg
Managing Director – Investments
(888) 800-1152
matthew.steinberg@opco.com Serving Investors in
Philadelphia and South Jersey
for 27 Years.

Clients able to invest a
minimum of $500,000 are likely
to best utilize our services.

Rabbi Charles Sherman and Leah Hurowitz
Sherman at Ramah in Glen Spey (now called
Camp Ramah in New England) in 1970. They
were engaged that summer at camp.

This material is not a recommendation as
defined in Regulation Best Interest adopted by
the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is
provided to you after you have received Form
CRS, Regulation Best Interest disclosure and
other materials. ©2021Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Transacts Business on All Principal Exchanges
and Member SIPC. 3414611.2
Courtesy of Leah Hurowitz Sherman
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM THIS SUMMER
JUNE 2021
7