A banner at Camp Kinderland shows how social justice values and Yiddishkeyt were integrated.

Jewish summer camps loom large in the formation of identity for many American Jews.  When it came to choosing a camp for your children, there were a number of factors to weigh: language, socio-political views, location, and cost. Many New York Yiddishist organizations created summer camps to help people get out of "The Big City" for the summer. The Sholem Aleichem Folks Institute, known for its commitment to Yiddish literature, founded Boiberik in 1923. That same year, Camp Kinderland was founded and was eventually associated with the Ordn Shuln with communist leanings. A few years later, across the lake from Kinderland, the Workmen's Circle found a home for their socialist summer camp, Kinder Ring. The Farband, Labor Zionists, created their summer home, Kinderwelt around the same time. Camp Hemshekh was the Bund's summer camp, founded in 1959 by Holocaust survivors. All the camps, at one time or another, had an adult/family side, which functioned more or less as a resort, for anyone too young or old to be a camper. Kinderland and Kinder Ring exist to this day, though they are no longer located across the lake from one another.

Each camp was a world unto itself.  Specific traditions like plays, cheers, lectures "untern boym" (under the tree), and Shabbes ceremonies taught campers what was important: social values, fun, and Jewish culture.  One idea is universal among lifetime-campers: their camp was the best. 

Below, listen to campers of all periods and camps tell about the friendships, memories, values, and loves they found at camp, which have lasted a lifetime.

• To see full interviews of these and other interviews, visit the project's digital archive here.
• For more information on the Wexler Oral History Project, click here.