Camp Achvah

Camp Achvah (Hebrew: מַחֲנֶה אַחֲוָה, romanized: Maḥaneh Aḥva) was the first Hebrew-speaking summer camp in North America.[1][2]

Camp Achvah
מַחֲנֶה אַחֲוָה‎
Location
Information
TypeJewish summer camp
Founded1927 (1927)
FounderSamson Benderly
AuthorityNew York Bureau of Jewish Education
GenderCo-educational
LanguageHebrew

History

Achvah was founded in 1927 at Averne, Long Island by Samson Benderly,[3] then director of the New York Bureau of Jewish Education, as a summer camp for members of his Kvutzah fellowship program. The Dalton Plan-inspired program, which at its height included about fifty members,[4] brought together a select group of graduating high school students for Jewish study and leadership training.[5] The camp moved to a one-hundred-acre site in Godeffroy, New York, in 1929.[6]

Unique to the camp at the time was its immersive Hebrew environment,[7] which resulted in high rates of fluency. Along with sports, music, and dramatics, Achvah's curriculum included Hebrew debating clubs and reading circles.[1] The camp was also known for its mass pageants, including the dramatization of several tragic events in Jewish history for Tisha B'Av.[8][9]

With the onset of the Great Depression, and the dissolution of the Kvutzah in 1932, Achvah opened up as an ordinary summer camp to all Jewish elementary and secondary students. It ceased operating entirely in Hebrew, and began focusing on informal Jewish and Zionist education in place of formal study.[1][4] By 1936 Achvah had a population of over 500 children.[9]

Notable alumni

See also

References
  1. Krasner, Jonathan B. (2011). The Benderly Boys and American Jewish Education. Waltham, Mass.: Brandeis University Press. pp. 276–281. ISBN 978-1-61168-293-9.
  2. Mintz, Alan L. (1993). Hebrew in America: Perspectives and Prospects. Wayne State University Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-8143-2351-9.
  3. Cohen, Burton I. (2007). "Jewish Camping". In Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred (eds.). Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference. ISBN 978-0-02-866097-4.
  4. Sarna, Jonathan D. (2006). "The Crucial Decade in Jewish Camping" (PDF). In Lorge, Michael M.; Zola, Gary Phillip (eds.). A Place of Our Own: The Rise of Reform Jewish Camping. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. pp. 34–35. ISBN 978-0-8173-5293-6.
  5. Gannes, A. P.; Soshuk, Levi (1949). "The Kvutzah and Camp Achvah". Jewish Education. 20 (3): 61–69. doi:10.1080/0021642490200315.
  6. Dushkin, Alexander M. (1949). "The Personality of Samson Benderly — His Life and Influence". Jewish Education. 20 (3): 6–15. doi:10.1080/0021642490200305.
  7. Benor, Sarah Bunin; Krasner, Jonathan; Avni, Sharon (2020). Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps. Rutgers University Press. pp. 56–57. ISBN 978-0-8135-8875-9.
  8. Nathanson, Moshe (1949). "Dr. Benderly as Impresario". Jewish Education. 20 (3): 77–78. doi:10.1080/0021642490200318.
  9. Citron, Samuel J. (1949). "Dr. Benderly's Love of Drama". Jewish Education. 20 (3): 70–74. doi:10.1080/0021642490200316.
  10. Zarnow, Leandra Ruth (2019). Battling Bella: The Protest Politics of Bella Abzug. Cambridge, Mass. ISBN 978-0-674-73748-8. Bella got an initial taste of Zionist kibbutz living at Camp Achvah, a summer camp Soshuk once attended run by the Bureau of Jewish Education in Godeffroy, New York.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. Mark, Jonathan (January 17, 2018). "Legends of Jewish Music Remembered". The New York Jewish Week. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Moving to New York, Nathanson […] worked as the music counselor at Camp Achvah, the first Hebrew-speaking sleep-away camp.
  12. "Obituary: Isaiah Zeldin". Los Angeles Times. January 28, 2018. Archived from the original on July 25, 2021.
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