The Sprout Camps

The Sprout Camps had quite the unusual summer! Once we all departed the NYC office and began working remotely, we brainstormed how we could best engage all of the Sprout Camps families during their time stuck indoors. From setting up bunks zoom meetings, to community wide virtual Kabbalat Shabbat’s,  Havdallah and Rikkud sessions, book clubs and virtual escape rooms, the Sprout Camps were there to support our families during this difficult time and provide meaningful, fun activities.

To stay connected with our Sprout Camps this summer we offered Sprout BaBayit  a FREE 4 week virtual program. Over the span of four weeks, we offered more than 25 virtual classes, including fitness, cooking, art, podcasting, virtual tours of Israel and so much more. With the help of more than 25 volunteer staff members, Sprout BaBayit was a tremendous success, engaging over 100 different Sprout Camps families every single day.

In the month of August over the course of 2 weeks, the Sprout Camps staff delivered special edition – Sprout Camps 2020 T-Shirts to families throughout the Northeast.  We popped up in North Jersey, Metro West NJ, Brooklyn, Long Island and Westchester. We were so excited to see our campers (from a distance!) and be able to give them a little piece of Sprout to take home and wear throughout the year.

We are proud to announce that for Rosh Hashana we are partnering with Temple Israel of Northern Westchester to produce a socially safe service at our Sprout Westchester campus.  The event is open for anyone to attend and will have shofar blowing, taschlich and a family friendly service.

For our fall program, we are offering Socially Distant Sundays at Sprout Westchester. These are courses for campers age K-5 in a safe outdoor environment led by professional instructor. Classes include art, fitness and nature.

Camp Tel Yehudah

Camp Tel Yehudah had a very successful summer of TY-fi, our three-week physically distant, socially together online session, including a special construction of the camp grounds in Minecraft!

Registration is now open for 2021 which includes our new 6-week Full Session and three 2-week Blocs.

We are also getting ready to launch Gesher TY and Gesher Israel, a new five-week opportunity for current 11th graders to spend two weeks at TY and three weeks in Israel at one amazing cost.  See more information here and stay tuned for further updates!

Camp Judea

Camp Judaea’s registration for 2021 is OPEN! With 485 campers already enrolled, we are eagerly looking forward to returning to our beautiful summer home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Hendersonville, NC.

When the reality set in that our summer season would not be able to take place in person, our team of professionals, with the support of our volunteer board members and a talented handful of college-aged staff, put together a calendar of virtual events and programs to keep our camp community connected. In preparation for the summer, our madrichim for virtual programs participated in training and program development presented by The Nachshon Project. Each Monday and Wednesday, our campers met with their madrichim online for activities and games infused with Israel and Jewish education. In keeping with tradition, our Bogrim campers and Offarim campers were paired off and participated in BO programming each Friday– it was heartwarming to witness the high-school campers teaching the younger campers about CJ traditions and already exhibiting such wonderful leadership skills. Every weekend, our community joined us for either a peaceful Kabbalat Shabbat service or an energy-packed Shira, Havdallah, and Rikkud experience. On Sunday nights, parents and campers battled it out through games of Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Bingo, and Trivia. We were joined one weekend by the Ben Gurion Heritage Institute for a virtual tour of David Ben Gurion’s home in the Negev.

Camp Judaea received a generous amount of love and support from the CJ family this summer. Members of the CJ community shared words of encouragement and support, messages of fond memories of summers past, sentiments of excitement for future summers, and two campers even made Camp Judaea the beneficiary of their tzedakah project. Lila and Gideon from Miami, FL decided to make and sell masks as their tzedakah project to celebrate their B’nai Mitzvah. They designed masks with the Camp Judaea logo and made some with tie-dye designs! After creating a website and commercial, they made their masks available for purchase and were able to raise over $1212 that they donated to CJ.

As we shift our efforts to planning for Summer 2021, we will absolutely continue to find and create opportunities to connect with the CJ community this year. We can’t wait to finally celebrate our 60th summer — together — at Camp Judaea!

Camp Young Judaea Midwest

Camp Young Judaea Midwest Summer 2021 registration is now open! We are excited that our Session 1 and Session 2 will now offer four Shabbat experiences each!

During summer 2020, CYJ Midwest transitioned to our Virtual Explorers program, which included:

• Seven weeks of virtual programming
• Eighteen dedicated staff from nine different states and Israel connecting with our campers
• More than 30 activities offered including Top Chef: Israel Edition, krav maga, camp trivia, scavenger hunts, escape rooms and more
• Engagement from over 50 current and new familiesWhat’s Happening for the 2021 season?

• Bigger Archery Range and new location
• New shoreline area and dock exclusively for fishing
• New agriculture program for 2021 to include chickens and gardens
• Updated tiyul (camping) program for all ages
• All camper bunks have a new paint facelift
• New bike trails within camp
• Third speedboat added to the waterski and tubing program

Looking forward to seeing you at camp in Summer 2021!

Camp Young Judaea Texas

Registration is now open for CYJ Texas Summer 2021! This coming year, we have increased our 3-week program to 3 1/2 weeks.  Thats more CYJ fun for all!

Just like the year 2020, our summer at CYJ Texas was an unusual one! After we announced that we would not be opening in-person camp this summer, we quickly transitioned to planning for our Summer Virtual Experiences. We had a fantastic team of summer tzevet who put together six weeks of innovative and fun online programming for our campers over Zoom. We went into the summer with over 200 campers registered! Some of our favorite programs were Jewish Celebrity Jeopardy, a virtual escape room, an all-camp Zoom carnival, and, of course, rikud. We were so lucky to partner with our friends in the Israeli Scouts and the Jewish Agency to bring the scouts and other Israeli staff in to run Israel education programs throughout the summer as well.

Another highlight of the summer was our “Shabbat in a Box” project. With the help of summer staff member Mia Raskin, we planned a Shabbat Across CYJ weekend for our community, with the option for our families to purchase a Shabbat box to enhance their Shabbat experience. The weekend consisted of a pre-Shabbat challah bake and Kabalat Shabbat service on Friday afternoon, and Shira Shketa, Havdallah, and Rikud on Saturday night. All these events were hosted on Zoom so the entire CYJ Texas family could join in on the fun. The box itself had ritual items such as Shabbat candles, a kiddush cup, a Havdallah candle, and some do-it-yourself projects such as a challah cover and spice bag making kit. We also curated an all-encompassing Shabbat packet that had Shabbat-friendly activities, discussion questions, and prayers to help guide families through the Shabbat weekend.

Now that we’re headed into the fall, we are in full-on planning mode for Summer 2021. We cannot wait to welcome our campers back through our gates next year!

Dear Young Judaea Community,

We at Young Judaea have been continuously monitoring the ever-changing situation as it relates to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic including guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as local Departments of Health here in the US, and government, health, and partner agencies in Israel.

We are committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for all of our participants, volunteers, and staff and our priority is always for their health and safety. First and foremost we send wishes of healing to all those in our community who are affected by this outbreak, whether they themselves are ill, have been quarantined, or are feeling the impact of the restrictions being put on us and our communities. To that end, please review important information about our programs and events below. Note that the situation is very fluid and we will communicate when any changes are made:

US Programs

Year-Round Activities

We have made the difficult decision to postpone all national and regional overnight events at this time. Given that health departments in each community are issuing slightly different guidance, we will determine whether to postpone local events on a case-by-case basis in consultation with local staff and volunteers. We have made this decision out of an abundance of caution and while we recognize that this may be disappointing, we are actively working to find ways to meet virtually and stay connected with one another until the health risks have been resolved.

We will follow up with information about specific events that have been postponed and provide information about credits for future Young Judaea events and/or refunds. If you have any questions about year round programs please contact Sandra Marks, Director of US Programs.

Summer Camps

Our camps are moving forward with planning for a wonderful summer as they monitor potential implications related to COVID-19 and are considering numerous initiatives to ensure a safe environment for all participants.

Young Judaea Global NYC Office

Our NY-based staff is transitioning to working from home and we are supporting their working remotely to ensure organizational operations continue.

Israel Programs

Year Course 2019-2020

As Israel’s quarantine policies continue to become more stringent, Young Judaea Israel staff are working around the clock to ensure that we comply with all governmental regulations while still providing our participants with meaningful programmatic experiences and academics through coordination with the relevant ministries and partner organizations. We are grateful to our students who continue to handle this fluid situation with good spirits and maturity, and are working together to create the best possible experience over the next two months.

WUJS Interns 2020

We are in regular communication with our WUJS interns in Tel Aviv and Haifa, making sure they are updated as quickly and comprehensively as possible regarding developing quarantine, travel, and public gathering restrictions. Our participants are being strongly discouraged from any private travel, and our staff are providing them with ongoing social support.

Machon and Amirim Summer Programs 2020

We know that applicants may be concerned about the implications of ongoing travel restrictions with regards to our summer Israel programs, Machon and Amirim. While we anticipate and hope that both Machon and Amirim will run as planned, we have decided to offer a refund for the registration deposit fee (if requested) and hope that doing so will help our applicants feel more comfortable when making the decision to register.

Year Course 2020-2021 and WUJS Fall 2020

We are continuing to plan for Year Course 20-21 and WUJS Fall 2020, and looking forward to welcoming our participants in Israel at the end of the summer.

Alumni Events

At this time many of our alumni programs and gatherings are being postponed or cancelled. We will continue to communicate any event updates. If you have any questions please contact Andi Lewittes, Director of Development.

Young Judaeans have always stepped up in challenging times- this is no exception. We will navigate these changes to our programs and prepare for what lies ahead as a community and having the resources to respond effectively and responsibly is key, so please consider making a donation to help us handle the many unanticipated costs we are incurring because of the COVID-19 situation. Your help will enable us to continue to offer our programs as broadly and as widely as possible. You can make your donation here. Thank you for your support during this unprecedented time

Please bear with us as we work through this rapidly-changing situation. And, most importantly, stay safe and healthy.

Simon Klarfeld

Executive Director,
Young Judaea Global

In Hadracha, Tel Yehudah campers create a real world activist campaign to make an impact around today’s most important issues, from Israel advocacy and fighting anti-Semitism to combatting human trafficking and poverty. As the oldest participants at Tel Yehudah, Hadracha campers are also trained in practical leadership (hadracha) skills and have opportunities to lead camp-wide activities including Maccabia (Color War), Shabbat activities and peulot (recreational and educational activities) for the rest of camp. Hadracha goes to Washington, DC for a three day activism and fact-finding mission to learn more about what is being done around specific political issues. 

Benji Lovitt
Camp Young Judaea Texas
and Camp Tel Yehudah alumnus

This essay originally appeared on Foundation for Jewish Camp

In 2006, I left my Jewish communal job in New York and made aliyah. This week, I fly to the US to perform standup comedy shows about Israel for Jewish organizations. Neither of these things would have happened if not for my experiences at Young Judaea summer camps. My Jewish identity, connection to Israel, leadership and communication skills, and so much more are a result of my journey which began as a camper, then a staff member, and continue to this day.

Today, my friends are camp directors, camp parents, and Foundation for Jewish Camp employees, and have done wonders to improve the camping world over the years. I can only imagine how camp has evolved since my first summer in 1984.

Without further ado, here are the top 10 ways camp has changed since the ‘80s:

10 – The chadar ochel now includes a Starbucks.

9 – Camp cheers downloadable via Soundcloud.

8 – “Today is the last day of camp. To capture the current moment, you’ll now write yourself a text message which will be sent to you in 5 minutes.”

7 – Loud, colorful outfits are worn ironically for theme parties, not because they don’t know better.

6 – OUT: Name labels on clothing. IN: Campers connected to lost socks via Bluetooth.

5 – The bunk cleanup wheel now includes the KonMari method for cubby organization.

4 – Archery and ceramics replaced by coding and podcasting.

3 – Tsofim caravan performance includes autotune and smoke machine.

2 – Kids no longer terrified by ghost stories but by having to go three weeks without Instagram.

1 – It’s even better now!

Since making aliyah in 2006, comedian/educator Benji Lovitt has performed for audiences around the world including Jewish Federations, summer camps, JCCs, Birthright Israel, and more. His perspectives on Israeli society have been featured in media outlets such as BBC Radio, USA Today, and the Times of Israel. Benji is a graduate of Camp Young Judaea-Texas and Camp Tel Yehudah.

TY campers make a difference on the Hill

Check out Sprout Brooklyn Day Camp‘s trip to Governor’s Island – we can’t wait to see where they go next!

Who comes out on top at this year’s Maccabiah Session 1 at Camp Young Judaea Texas? You’ll have to watch to find out!

By Gaby Faigenblat, Machon ’18 Participant

This week was insane! We did so much I don’t even know where to start. One of the most challenging things I had to do this week was wake up at 4 am to hike Masada. It was exhausting to have to hike with only 5 hours of sleep. As challenging as that was I learned a lot from it, most importantly that there is a lot more to Israel than meets the eye. I learned this while doing a street photography workshop with a man named Jonnie. He told us to go up to Israelis on the street and ask them what they love and what they hate about Israel and all the answers were so diverse. It really opened my eyes to how locals really see the land us diaspora Jews see as perfect. We also went to the Dead Sea and we got to put the mud on our faces and it felt amazing. We got so many cute pictures, and after I washed it off my skin was softer than anything I have ever felt in my life. This week was so much fun and I can’t wait to see what next week brings!

So they don’t miss out on all the opportunities that life offers