Dr. Sandy Fox Presents: "The Jews of Summer: Zionism and Cultural Preservation in American Jewish Summer Camps"

After the Holocaust, American Jews anxiously debated how to preserve “authentic” Jewish culture, fearful that affluence, assimilation, and suburbanization threatened the Jewish future. They pinned their hopes on summer camps, many of which used Zionism as their main ideological tool, conceiving of their camps as miniature versions of Israel. Sandra Fox will show how adults' fears, hopes, and dreams about the Jewish future inflected every element of camp, from the languages taught to what was permitted romantically and sexually.