The Power of Jewish Camps: A Research Conference
At a conference hosted by the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis University exploring the question “What makes Jewish residential camps such powerful educators of their campers and young staff?,” Alex Pomson led a session on Israel at Camp, highlighting learnings from research in this space. In partnership with UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, Rosov Consulting conducted research on the Israel-related outcomes associated with spending time at camp. This research found that camps were producing less powerful outcomes than expected, and this session was an effort to make sense of these findings and to explore ways in which camp leaders can be more effective in this field.
The Power of Jewish Camps: A Research Conference brought together researchers and practitioners to focus on four key elements of Jewish camp life–celebrating Shabbat, using Hebrew language, building connections to Israel, and raising voice in song–to explore how Jewish camps can learn from the past and imagine new educational possibilities for the future.
Learn more about Israel education at camp in this November 2018 Journal of Jewish Education article co-authored by Pomson and Nettie Aharon, “What’s Happening at the Flag Pole? Studying Camps as Institutions for Israel Education.”
