Jewish communities across Europe are raising children in a moment of real pressure: antisemitism is rising, assimilation is accelerating, and the question of how to make Jewish identity feel meaningful and worth holding onto has never been more urgent. One answer arrived last summer in the form of a four-star hotel on a Greek waterfront.
Yael Camp, now in its fifth year, is the flagship experiential program of the Yael Foundation, a global philanthropic investor in Jewish identity and educational excellence. Each summer, two 11-day sessions bring together Jewish youth from across Europe for an immersive program built around identity, leadership, and connection.
Jewish summer camps have long been a cornerstone of North American Jewish life; in Europe, that infrastructure has historically been much thinner. Yael Camp was built to fill that gap with a program that matches the scale of the ambition.
Global Jewish community, not just a summer camp
The Yael Foundation works from a simple premise: that a Jewish child in Kyiv, Lyon, or Nicosia deserves access to the same quality of Jewish experience as one growing up in a major Jewish hub. Yael Camp is where that premise becomes a reality every summer.
Campers arrive from more than 20 countries – from France and Cyprus, to Ukraine and beyond. For many, it is the first time they have met Jewish peers from outside their own country. Within days, the differences in language, background, and Jewish practice become less significant than what they share. Friendships form across borders; WhatsApp groups stay active long after the summer ends.
“I would like to share how deeply our students are impacted by Yael Camp,” said Sarah Cohen, the assistant principal of France’s Chné-Or School. “Throughout the year, they speak about it constantly and ask if they will have the opportunity to attend again.”
For many participants, these international friendships are the most lasting part of the experience. They also do something that the classroom struggles to replicate: They make the global Jewish community feel real and personal. Students go home with friends who hail from a dozen countries, and they develop a sense of Jewish belonging that extends well beyond their own community.
Not a ‘one size fits all’ approach
A core philosophy of the Yael Foundation – and one that runs through every aspect of Yael Camp – is that there is no single blueprint for Jewish identity.
The camp makes no attempt to impose a single model of Jewish engagement. It has no pre-set agenda, no one bar to clear. Every child is unique, and the camp is designed to help each one find the connection that feels authentic to them.
“There is no single model of Jewish identity,” said Chaya Yosovich, CEO of the Yael Foundation “With Yael Camp, we are creating a space where young people can explore what their Jewish identity means to them, in a way that is personal, relevant, and connected to a broader global community.”
The result is that identity becomes something campers feel they have chosen rather than inherited or has been assigned. That sense of personal investment tends to stick.
Mentorship through living Jewish values
Much of what makes Yael Camp successful happens in the margins – in conversations between sessions, the way a counselor handles a difficult moment, the tone set around the Shabbat table.
The counselors at Yael Camp are chosen as much for who they are as for what they know. They are curious, committed, and deeply engaged in their own Jewish lives. This shows up in how they run an activity, how they sit with a homesick camper, and how they mark Shabbat at the end of a long week. Jewish living becomes visible to campers because the people around them are actually living it.
The camp is structured to give young people real responsibility. Through collaborative challenges, shared decision-making, and opportunities to step up for their peers, campers practice the kind of leadership that travels home with them. This shows up months later in how they conduct themselves at school, in their communities, and in their Jewish lives.
“Our vision has always been to create more than just a summer getaway,” said camp director Eliya Kelaty. “It’s a space where young Jews from across Europe strengthen their identity, feel proud of their heritage, and build friendships and connections that will last a lifetime.”
A world-class experience
Yael Camp 2025 took place in a four-star hotel on a Greek waterfront. That choice is a statement of intent, and 2026’s camp site should be similarly impressive. The camp places significant emphasis on quality and infrastructure.
The Yael Foundation applies the same standard to Yael Camp that it applies to every investment it makes: Excellence is non-negotiable. From programming and facilities to staffing, security, and logistics, every element is designed to give families confidence and give students an experience they will talk about for years.
The Yael Foundation applies the same thinking to camp that it applies across all its work: Relationships matter more than transactions, and the goal is always long term. The 11 days at the camp are where things start.
Through social media, special events, and year-round engagement, the community holds together across borders and time zones. Campers go home with friends they expect to keep.
“For many, especially those who would not otherwise have access to a summer experience like this, it is something they don’t want to leave. They feel incredibly fortunate to meet others from around the world and to be part of something bigger than themselves,” said Cohen.
Over time, what emerges is something the Yael Foundation set out to build from the beginning: a generation of young European Jews who know one another, scattered across 20 countries, and connected by a shared experience of what Jewish life can feel like at its best.
Strengthening Jewish identity in a challenging era
Yael Camp sits within the broader mission of the Yael Foundation, which operates in more than 45 countries and invests hands-on – with key performance indicators, site visits, and long-term commitment – in Jewish schools, educators, and communities that traditional philanthropy has often overlooked. The foundation embeds itself in the places it funds, building relationships over years rather than disbursing grants and moving on. Yael Camp operates on the same logic.
It reflects the vision of the foundation’s founders, Uri and Yael Poliavich: a world where every Jewish child, in every community, has access to elevated, inspiring, top-tier Jewish education and experiences that fuel a vibrant, confident Jewish people.
With antisemitism rising across the continent and Jewish communities in many countries shrinking, the stakes around Jewish identity formation have rarely felt higher. Yael Camp offers a deliberate counterweight: an experience designed to make being Jewish feel like something worth being proud of, in the company of peers who feel the same way. For the hundreds of campers who attend each year, what begins in a hotel lobby in Greece tends to travel home with them.
As one parent reflected: “This is the greatest opportunity for children to be part of this community.”
The Yael Foundation is building that future, one school and one community at a time. Yael Camp is where young people get to feel what it looks like.
This article was written in cooperation with the Yael Foundation.