Alumni Spotlight: Sharon Schoenfeld + Dr. Vardit Ringvald

Young Judaea

July 30, 2026

For Sharon Schoenfeld, Young Judaea has been more than a chapter in her life. It has been a thread running through nearly every stage of her personal and professional journey. Sharon joined Young Judaea at age 12 and went on to become involved in regional YJ, attending Tel Yehudah, serving on the National Mazkirut, going on Year Course, and working at Camp Sprout Lake. In the early 1990s, she became Young Judaea’s Education Director, an experience that helped shape her decision to make Aliyah in 1996.

Sharon lived in Israel for 11 years, working for Young Judaea for eight of them in roles ranging from summer programming to Merkaz Hamagshimim for young Judaea’s combination absorption and community center for young English speaking Olim. Becoming fluent in Hebrew was an important goal and played a significant role in her professional and personal success. After returning to the United States, she continued her work with YJ, eventually serving as Director of U.S. Programs.

Today, Sharon has brought together many of the passions that first took root in Young Judaea: Hebrew, Israel, experiential education, and camp. Through her work with Kayitz Kef, Sharon helps Jewish camps create deeper, more intentional opportunities for campers to experience Hebrew as a living language.

Kayitz Kef was conceived of and supported by the Areivim Philanthropic Group under the leadership of Rabbi David Gedzelman, a Young Judaea parent. When Sharon joined the organization, the program was working with 12 camps. Today, Kayitz Kef supports Hebrew immersion programs and engagement programs at over 50 day and overnight camps across North America. Including strong partnerships with CYJ Texas, Camp Judaea, CYJ Midwest, CYJ Sprout Lake, and Tel Yehudah. Sprout Brooklyn Day Camp has developed one of the strongest Hebrew immersion programs in the entire Kayitz Kef network.

“We really change the use of Hebrew at the camps from ‘word of the day’ to something a lot deeper,” Sharon said.

That can look different at every camp because Kayitz Kef begins with what is already there: the people, the places, and the times when Hebrew can naturally become part of camp life. Who are the Hebrew speakers? Where can Hebrew fit into activities and routines? When are the moments in the day when it can be used with real meaning and intention? From there, camps build Hebrew into sports, gardening, cooking, signage, songs, and everyday interactions. The goal is always bigger than vocabulary. It is about using Hebrew to deepen relationships and strengthen campers’ connection to Israel and Israelis.

Sharon’s journey is closely connected to her longtime mentor, Dr. Vardit Ringvald, a leading expert in Hebrew pedagogy and teacher training. Vardit first came to Tel Yehudah in 1972 as a 16-year-old tzofah and was asked to engage campers in Hebrew, an experience that helped shape her life’s work in Hebrew education. Ten summers later, Sharon was a camper there, beginning her own journey toward Israel and Hebrew. Vardit has guided her throughout her development as a Hebrew educator.

For Sharon, this work is deeply connected to Young Judaea’s Zionist mission. “If Young Judaea is a Zionist movement, and they are still bringing shlichim to camp and teaching kids about Israel, then Hebrew is a great way to create a bridge,” she said. “There’s no disconnecting Israel from the Hebrew language.”

Research has backed up what Sharon has seen firsthand. A 2022 study found that campers in Hebrew immersion programs ended the summer with stronger Hebrew skills, closer relationships with their counselors, and a stronger connection to Israel and Israelis.

Decades after her own first experiences in Young Judaea, Sharon is bringing her work back to the camps and movement that played such an important role in her own path. Through her work with Kayitz Kef, she is helping a new generation of campers experience Hebrew not just as something they learn, but as a living part of camp and Jewish culture.

The connection between Vardit’s summer at Tel Yehudah in 1972, Sharon’s experience there ten years later, and the work now taking place across Young Judaea camps and others demonstrates how Hebrew experiences at camp can shape lives, careers, relationships, and Jewish identity across generations.