Jewish Life & Learning

The Wexler Lecture on Jewish History: The Jews of Summer

Name: The Wexler Lecture on Jewish History: The Jews of Summer
Start: 2024-02-12T19:30:00-05:00
End: 2024-02-12T20:30:00-05:00
Location: Hybrid

Adults (18+)

Date : Monday, Feb 12

Time : 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Location : Hybrid

How did camp become an integral part of American Jewish life? In this free lecture, Sandra Fox explains how a sense of cultural crisis birthed a rite of passage for Jewish children across the country. Virtual and in-person options available.

How did camp become an integral part of American Jewish life? The Jewish obsession with sleepaway camping began in the decades directly following the Holocaust, when Jewish leaders pinned their hopes on summer camps as a way to preserve and produce authentic Jewish culture.. Adults’ fears, hopes, and dreams about the Jewish future inflected every element of camp life, from the languages they taught to what was encouraged romantically and permitted sexually. But children and teenagers also shaped these sleepaway camps to mirror their own desires and interests. In this lecture, Sandra Fox explains how a sense of cultural crisis birthed a rite of passage for Jewish children across the country.

This program is a part of the annual Wexler Lecture series made possible by the Edlavitch DCJCC’s Bernard Wexler Fund for Jewish History. Free to attend, but registration is required – in-person and virtual options available. Please contact Rabbi Atara Cohen at acohen@edcjcc.org with any questions.

About the Speaker: Sandra Fox is the Goldstein-Goren Visiting Assistant Professor of American Jewish History at New York University, and director of the Archive of the American Jewish Left in the Digital Age. Her research interests include American Jewish history, the history of youth and childhood, Yiddish culture, and the history of sexuality. Her book is The Jews of Summer: Summer Camp and Jewish Culture in Postwar America (Stanford University Press). In addition to her research, Sandra is the founder and executive producer of the Yiddish-language podcast Vaybertaytsh: A Feminist Podcast in Yiddish.

couple roasting marshmallows over small burners.

Join Our Email List

Stay updated on what’s happening at the EDCJCC with the insider track on events, family programs, fitness and more.

The Wexler Lecture on Jewish History: The Jews of Summer

Related Events

Join Our Email List