New Research Reaffirms Jewish Camp Promotes Community and Individual Growth
NEW YORK — New research by Rosov Consulting, sponsored by The Jim Joseph Foundation, reaffirms that Jewish camp is a “Powerful Jewish Learning Experience” that promotes community and individual growth. The report is the latest evidence showing how Foundation for Jewish Camp and its network of over 300 day and overnight camps transform the lives of young Jews by helping them grow and explore their identity.
Through a series of virtual focus groups, researchers interviewed 48 people between the ages of 25 and 35 who participated in some combination of Jewish camp, youth groups, campus life, and post-grad community. Nearly two-thirds of study participants attended camp at some point. Their reflections converged around the many life-long benefits of the Jewish camp experience, such as:
- Jewish Learning
- “I feel like there’s a lot of prayers that I know in my core because of camp and not necessarily because of Hebrew school and Sunday school.”
- L’Dor Va-Dor
- “All of the camp songs that you’d sing on Shabbat… you take with you for the rest of your life. And I have a son who goes to Jewish preschool now and he is singing these songs, and we sing them together in the car…”
- Independence, Joy, and Friendship
- “I gained the value of joyous Judaism, social connections… just having a community of people that you get to just be with, [is] just amazing.”
- Connecting to Jewish Identity
- “Camp really helped me understand the importance of Jewish community and continuing involvement with the Jewish community after my bat mitzvah. If it weren’t for camp, I would not have done Hillel in college. I would not have joined Moishe house.”
- “I really feel connected to my summer camp. I think it has given me the foundation to feel at home in a lot of different Jewish spaces.”
“50 years ago, I first attended Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, and it changed my life. It’s gratifying to hear so many participants in this new study detail how it changed theirs,” said Jeremy J. Fingerman, CEO of Foundation for Jewish Camp. “We’re grateful to The Jim Joseph Foundation for all of their support, and to Rosov Consulting for illuminating the long-lasting, wide-reaching benefits of Jewish camp.”
“These are very positive outcomes that show how five organizations are integral in creating a vibrant Jewish communal ecosystem throughout key life stages for the young Jews they serve,” wrote Stacie Cherner, Director of Research and Learning at the Jim Joseph Foundation, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “The Jim Joseph Foundation is eager to engage in more cross-portfolio evaluations to build our base of knowledge and understanding about shared outcomes across the field.”
The study zeroed in on common outcomes among Jewish experiences from camp to college and beyond, such as helping young people find and become part of the Jewish community, achieve personal growth, and form deep and lasting friendships. At the same time, the study highlighted the opportunity for exploration as a particularly strong element of the camp experience.
“Camp, as already noted, is a place to stretch, to experiment and to explore new experiences, in Jewish and personal terms. This is the theme to which alumni consistently returned most often when talking about camp,” said Rosov Consulting in the study. “They recollect experiencing joy and Jewish learning, and they celebrated the friendships formed, but it was the personal growth they experienced thanks to being given the space to explore that exceeded all other outcomes.”
Belonging, leadership, joy, and identity — four of the core building blocks highlighted in the new study — will be central themes at FJC’s 2024 Leaders Assembly, which will convene over 800 Jewish camp leaders and advocates from around the world on December 9th to December 11th in Chicago. Rosov Consulting will be present to share more detailed findings from this study.
About Foundation for Jewish Camp
FJC advocates for over 300 day and overnight camps that provide nearly 180,000 campers and counselors each summer with a meaningful, personal, and lifelong connection to Judaism. FJC is the only public 501(c)(3) charitable organization solely focused on Jewish camp. jewishcamp.org
Media Contact
agoldstein@ninetywest.com for Foundation for Jewish Camp
About The Jim Joseph Foundation
The Shimon Ben Joseph Foundation, commonly known as the Jim Joseph Foundation, (the Foundation), is committed to the legacy of its founder, Jim Joseph, z”l. The Foundation was established in 2006 as a private foundation, classified legally as a California Public Benefit Corporation. The Foundation is devoted exclusively to supporting Jewish education of youth and young adults in the United States.
About Rosov Consulting
Founded in 2008, Rosov Consulting is a professional services firm helping foundations, philanthropists, and nonprofits in the Jewish communal sector meet their goals, assess progress, and make well- informed decisions to enhance impact. Working at the nexus of the funder and grantee relationship, our expertise includes evaluation and applied research, strategy development, launching new philanthropic initiatives, and systems coaching. We utilize our range of life experiences and knowledge to best serve our clients.
