For a few weeks each summer, Jewish children around the world experience something immensely powerful. They live openly, confidently and joyfully as Jews.
At Jewish summer camp, they do not need to explain their identity or wonder whether expressing a Jewish view will leave them isolated. They are surrounded by other young people who share their experiences, questions and sense of belonging.
That environment does more than create happy memories. It shows children how natural and enriching Jewish life can feel.
After this summer’s Yael Camp, the most geographically diverse Jewish camp in the world, where 600 children came together from 21 countries, the results were deeply encouraging.
A parent survey conducted after this year’s camp found exceptionally high satisfaction with the experience. It also pointed to an exciting next step: finding more ways to carry the confidence, friendships and sense of belonging created at camp into children’s lives throughout the year.
Parents were asked to assess their children’s resilience and self-confidence when facing criticism of Israel or Judaism in everyday life. This received the lowest score recorded in the survey, identifying a clear area in which educators, families, communities and Jewish organizations can work together to strengthen Jewish resilience.
For everyone who cares about the Jewish future, this is a call to build on what is already working.
The results show how much confidence Jewish children can develop in a supportive environment. They also highlight the opportunity to reinforce that confidence as children navigate schools, social circles and online spaces during the rest of the year.
Camp gives children a few weeks of feeling completely at home in who they are. The goal now should be to help that feeling travel with them into the communities where they live and into the many settings that shape their daily lives.
Young Jews facing a complex, polarized world
Young Jews today encounter a complex and often polarized world. They may come across distorted accounts of Jewish history, hostility toward Israel, antisemitic stereotypes, or pressure to distance themselves from parts of their heritage in order to gain social acceptance.
These encounters are not always explicit. They may take the form of a joke, a political slogan, a classroom discussion or a social-media post shared by friends. At other times, young people may feel an expectation to answer for the actions of a country thousands of kilometers away simply because they are Jewish.
In those moments, knowledge matters enormously, but it is only one part of resilience. Children also benefit from the confidence to speak, the emotional strength to handle disagreement and the reassurance that they belong to something much larger than themselves.
The survey also reflected the great variety of Jewish opportunities available to children locally.
A child in a large Jewish center may have access to schools, youth movements, synagogues and cultural programs. A child in a small or emerging community may be one of only a handful of Jewish pupils in their school. Their circumstances differ, and so will the combinations of support that help them flourish.
One parent from Germany described Yael Camp as “water in the desert, a source of inspiration, connection, and renewed Jewish identity.”
It is a beautiful description of what an immersive Jewish experience can provide. It also points to the possibility of extending that inspiration through sustained relationships, accessible resources, and meaningful opportunities for connection throughout the year.
When parents were asked what a city-based continuation of camp should prioritize during the school year, two answers stood out. They wanted their children to remain connected to an international network of Jewish peers, and they wanted support in strengthening their children’s identity and connection to their local Jewish communities.
Parents are offering a constructive direction: help the spirit and relationships of camp take root at home.
This can take many forms. It can mean meaningful year-round engagement, international peer networks that keep camp friendships alive, support for educators and families, local community activities, leadership opportunities and digital resources that reach children wherever they live.
It also means giving young people the language to articulate what being Jewish means to them and helping them understand Israel through history, culture, peoplehood and personal connection, not only through the lens of conflict.
Most importantly, resilience does not require aggression or absolute certainty. A confident Jewish child should be able to ask difficult questions, encounter disagreement and still feel secure in belonging to the Jewish people.
This work must also be locally sensitive.
There is no single program that can serve every Jewish community equally. Children in New York, Berlin, Buenos Aires and Lisbon face different circumstances. The strongest approach will bring together schools, families, synagogues, youth movements, community organizations and informal educators in ways that respond to local realities while connecting every child to a shared Jewish story.
The message from parents is both important and hopeful. It reflects what Jewish educators and families across countries and continents already understand: resilience is strongest when children encounter reinforcing sources of knowledge, belonging, friendship and pride throughout their lives.
Summer camp can be transformative. It can show children what Jewish belonging feels like when it is joyful, natural and shared. That experience can become a foundation upon which many other forms of engagement are built.
Our opportunity is to build a bridge between the extraordinary environment of camp and the ordinary rhythms of daily life. Through partnership and a range of complementary measures, we can help children return to their schools and communities carrying their confidence with them.
A few weeks can ignite a Jewish identity. Working together throughout the year can help it grow, deepen and endure.
The writer is CEO of the Yael Foundation, a global philanthropic initiative dedicated to promoting and expanding Jewish education around the world.