“Can I ask you something about Jews?”
I felt my stomach turn as I looked at my non-Jewish neighbor. He’s a good guy—always quick with a smile or an eye roll when we run into each other at our daughters’ school plays or “talent” shows, or while walking our poodle-hybrid dogs and mumbling something about the weather.
But when I heard that question, I tensed up—an instinct honed by generations of history and a lifetime of being ready for what might come next.
“Of course,” I answered, bracing for a defense of Israel or a debunking of something about the Rothschilds or space lasers.
Instead, he asked: “What’s the deal with sleepaway camp? Is there something in the religion that says you have to send your kid away for the summer? My daughter doesn’t seem to have any friends around, and these places are expensive.”
I don’t remember exactly what I said, but the question stayed with me—especially after hearing Dan Senor’s recent “State of World Jewry” address at the 92nd Street Y. In his remarks, Senor identified Jewish overnight camps, along with day schools, as foundational to Jewish identity.
Reflecting on my own experience at Camp Young Judaea more than 35 years ago, I now know what I should’ve told my neighbor: “It’s not required—but maybe it should be.”
Camps help children connect to the global Jewish community
I’ve spent the vast majority of my professional life working on behalf of Jewish and pro-Israel causes. There are many reasons for that path—my Jewish day school education, BBYO, a USY trip to Israel, AEPI in college—but no influence was more formative than the four summers I spent at small, somewhat run-down camps in Ortonville, Michigan, and Nelsonville, Wisconsin.
Much has already been written about the measurable impact of Jewish camp. A recent report by the Foundation for Jewish Camp found that 94% of parents said camp helped their child connect to the global Jewish community.
Eighty percent of North American overnight staff said camp deepened their relationship with Israel and Israeli peers. Mosaic United reported that Jewish teens with strong educational experiences—such as day school and camp—showed dramatically higher support for Israel and far lower sympathy for groups like Hamas.
Only 6% of those teens expressed sympathy for Hamas, compared to 65% of teens with weaker Jewish educational backgrounds.
If you’ve ever been to Jewish camp, those numbers make intuitive sense. Judaism becomes part of the rhythm of the day—from Hebrew signs on buildings to Friday night candles by the lake (or pool). For many campers who haven’t attended day school or visited Israel, it’s their first real immersion in Jewish life—and it sticks.
But there’s something else Jewish camp gave me that’s less obvious, and just as critical: it was the first place I ever heard criticism of Israel.
Before that, Israel had been presented to me as a place of miracles and prophets, where wars were won against impossible odds and leaders were larger than life. That image wasn’t wrong—but it was incomplete.
At camp, I met my first Israelis—my counselors—who spoke passionately about their country’s flaws, politics, and disappointments. And yet their love for Israel was deep and unmistakable. Theirs was a more complex, dynamic Israel—loud, argumentative, proud, imperfect—and absolutely fascinating.
What stuck with me was not their critique, but their love. Because they loved Israel, their criticism felt authentic and grounded. That’s a stark contrast to the experience of many Jewish college students today, who often first encounter criticism of Israel from people who don’t believe the country should exist at all.
This part of the Jewish camp experience doesn’t make the brochure—but maybe it should. If we want to raise a generation that can love Israel with eyes wide open, we need to give them the tools and space to do so. And Jewish camp, with its unique mix of joy, identity, and authenticity, is one of the best places to start.
Proverbs teach us: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Maybe I should have just told my neighbor: Yes.
Dan Elbaum is the former Head of North America at the Jewish Agency for Israel. He has spent his career working on behalf of Jewish and pro-Israel causes.