Camp Massad (Poconos)
Encyclopedia
Camp Massad was a Jewish summer camp, which originated as a day camp in 1941 with 30 campers, and eventually grew to three sleep-away camps in the Pennsylvania Poconos serving over 1100 campers. Massad's creator, Shlomo Shulsinger, emphasized Hebrew language as a key value in a multi-denominational Jewish Zionist environment.

Here's a picture of the staff in 1941: http://www.panix.com/~moskowit/Camp%20Massad%201941.jpg. Shlomo and Rivka Shulsinger are at the right of the picture.

Given the goal of an immersive Hebrew-language environment, Massad became the locus for a good amount of new Hebrew vocabulary, e.g. to describe American sports. Massad's focus on spoken and written Hebrew extended to publishing a literary periodical and a hardback Hebrew-English dictionary.

Like many Jewish summer camps founded in the 20th century, Massad offered parents the opportunity to put their children in a bucolic setting, an appealing alternative to the sweltering cities, where Polio was a concern.

Massad's influence on other major Jewish camps was significant. The founder of Ramah
Camp Ramah
Camp Ramah is a network of Jewish summer camps affiliated with the Conservative Movement. The camps operate in the United States, Canada, and Israel. Ramah camps serve kosher food and are Shabbat-observant.-History:...

 attended, and Camp Morasha and Moshava
Camp Moshava
There are several Jewish summer camps named Camp Moshava, including:*Camp Moshava *Camp Moshava *Camp Moshava...

 both modeled themselves after it.

The camp shut down in 1981. The Tannersville
Tannersville, Pennsylvania
The village of Tannersville, in Pocono Township, Pennsylvania, is the site of the popular Camelback Water Beach & Ski Area. It is in the Eastern Standard time zone. Elevation is . As of 2000, the population of Tannersville was 2,784....

 grounds are used during the winter for snow tubing, but you can still see the remains of many of the bunks and the dining room there.

The Massad movement also created four camps in Canada (Montreal, Winnipeg Beach, and Torrance), two of which (Camp Massad of Manitoba and Camp Massad of Montreal
Camp Massad (Montreal)
Camp Massad is a Canadian Hebrew-speaking Jewish and Zionist summer camp for campers aged 7 to 16 located in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec in the Laurentian Mountains. It was founded in 1947, with the creation of Massad Alef on Lac Quenouille, Quebec...

) still exist.

The three volumes of "Kovetz Massad" document Camp Massad's culture and history. The first volume, published in New York in 1978, focused on Massad summer camps in the United States. The second volume, published in Jerusalem in 1978, was dedicated to Hebrew camping in North America, including a historical survey of several Hebrew camps and sociological data on the integration of Massad alumni into Israeli society. The third volume, published in Jerusalem in 1991, is a pictorial history of Camp Massad's forty years.

Notable alumni

  • David Berger
    David Berger (professor)
    David Berger is the dean of Yeshiva University's Bernard Revel Graduate School, as well as chair of Yeshiva College's Jewish Studies department...

  • Noam Chomsky
    Noam Chomsky
    Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...

  • Alan Dershowitz
    Alan Dershowitz
    Alan Morton Dershowitz is an American lawyer, jurist, and political commentator. He has spent most of his career at Harvard Law School where in 1967, at the age of 28, he became the youngest full professor of law in its history...

  • Menachem Golan
  • Blu Greenberg
    Blu Greenberg
    Blu Greenberg is an American writer specializing in Modern Judaism and women's issues. She is the author of On Women and Judaism: A View from Tradition and Black Bread: Poems, After the Holocaust ....

  • Hillel Halkin
    Hillel Halkin
    Hillel Halkin is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestselling Letters to an American-Jewish Friend: A Zionist Polemic and Across the Sabbath River: In Search of a Lost Tribe of Israel. He is a prominent translator of Hebrew and Yiddish Literature into English, including...

  • Ephraim Kanarfogel
    Ephraim Kanarfogel
    Ephraim Kanarfogel is a professor and dean at Yeshiva University and one of the foremost experts in the fields of medieval Jewish history and rabbinic literature, as well as an ordained rabbi and Torah scholar.-Education:...

  • Ralph Lauren
    Ralph Lauren
    Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive; best known for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.-Early life:...

  • Jay Lefkowitz
    Jay Lefkowitz
    Jay Lefkowitz is an Orthodox Jewish American politician and lawyer. He is a senior partner at the Kirkland & Ellis law firm, and he also served as President Bush’s Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea.-Career:...

  • Haskel Lookstein
    Haskel Lookstein
    Rabbi Haskel Lookstein is an American Modern Orthodox Rabbi who serves as the spiritual leader of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and principal of the Ramaz School.-Early years:...

  • Michael Mukasey
  • Dennis Prager
    Dennis Prager
    Dennis Prager is an American syndicated radio talk show host, syndicated columnist, author, and public speaker. He is noted for his conservative political and social views emanating from conservative Judeo-Christian values. He holds that there is an "American Trinity" of essential principles,...

  • Joseph Telushkin
    Joseph Telushkin
    Joseph Telushkin is an American rabbi, lecturer, and author.-Biography:Telushkin attended the Yeshiva of Flatbush, was ordained at Yeshiva University, and studied Jewish history at Columbia University....

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