Kayitz Kef/Hebrew at Camp

Kayitz Kef/Hebrew at Camp Hebrew at Camp runs in parallel to existing camp programs; and we work with each camp to design a program that reflects its particular character.

Kayitz Kef/Hebrew at Camp, a project of the Consortium for the Teaching of Hebrew Language and Culture at Brandeis University, gives American Jewish youth the ability to converse in Modern Israeli Hebrew. Camp is an ideal setting for language acquisition as the broad range of everyday life experiences afforded by the rhythms and routines of camp more effectively initiates children into the languag

e than the typical school context; children can successfully achieve functionality in Hebrew through Kayitz Kef. Gaining proficiency in Modern Hebrew creates deep connections with the fabric of life and culture in Israel that children carry with them in the ways they experience the world and express themselves. Immersion in a Hebrew-centric environment at camp enables children to develop language skills through meaningful and enjoyable interactions with a cadre of dynamic, young Israeli counselors. In running Hebrew at Camp, camps affirm the value of Hebrew as a living language and an important part of widespread Jewish connectedness. Under the tutelage of Prof. Vardit Ringvald, Director of the School of Hebrew at Middlebury College, Hebrew at Camp is guided by the proficiency approach to second language acquisition – endorsed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and adapts it to the unique setting of Jewish summer camp. Campers experience between 120-200 hours of Hebrew-language immersion over the course of the summer.

08/13/2026

"As an educator, there is nothing in my career that I have done that brings more pride than the development and growth of Sha’ar. Hebrew is the living thread that binds the Jewish people across generations and geography, allowing us to speak to one another across time and space." Ami Hersh, Director, Ramah Day Camp In Nyack

Ramah Nyack's Sha'ar program is truly a "jewel in the crown" of the Kayitz Kef network, now nearly 50 camps across the country finding their own way to create meaningful Hebrew experiences for campers. Sha'ar shows us what is possible when Hebrew becomes a living part of camp: children not only acquire the language, but develop a love for it and experience Hebrew as a connection to Israel, to Israelis, and to Jews around the world. Kol HaKavod to Ami, his staff, and his incredible shlichim for continuing to show us the magic of what Hebrew can be at camp.

What we do rarely stops with us. This is something that the Kayitz Kef team and all of our camp colleagues take to hear...
08/07/2026

What we do rarely stops with us. This is something that the Kayitz Kef team and all of our camp colleagues take to heart every day.

The way we speak to people, the choices we make, the responsibilities we take on, and even the small decisions that may seem insignificant all become part of the community we are creating together.

Parashat Re’eh gives us a reminder that each of us acts as an individual, but never entirely in isolation. Our choices shape not only our own lives, but the people and communities around us.

Shabbat Shalom.

שבת שלום

What this weeks parasha suggests is that the consequences of our lives are often shaped by the things that happen at gro...
07/31/2026

What this weeks parasha suggests is that the consequences of our lives are often shaped by the things that happen at ground level: the small choices, habits, and interactions that can easily go unnoticed.

It is often easier to rise to an important occasion than to bring the same care and intention to ordinary moments. We may think carefully before making a major decision, but pay less attention to how we speak when we are tired, whether we follow through on a small promise, or how we treat someone when there is nothing to gain from it.

Parashat Eikev reminds us that these details are not separate from the people we are trying to become. They are how we become those people. The values we hope to live by are built through the actions we repeat, including the ones that seem too small for anyone to notice.

The double meaning of דְּבָרִים, devarim, “words” and “things”, feels especially right for camp.Camp is built through al...
07/17/2026

The double meaning of דְּבָרִים, devarim, “words” and “things”, feels especially right for camp.

Camp is built through all the things we can see: the activities, the bunks, the dining hall, the lake, the sports fields. But so much of what makes camp meaningful is created through words. It is in the way a counselor welcomes a camper, explains something for the tenth time, encourages someone to try again, or helps two children work through a disagreement.

The Hebrew verb לְדַבֵּר, ledaber, “to speak,” reminds us that speaking is also an action. The words we use do not simply describe the camp community. They help create it.

Campers may not remember every activity or every schedule change, but they often remember what someone said to them and how those words made them feel. In that sense, דְּבָרִים, devarim, really are both words and things. The words become part of the experience itself.

Shabbat Shalom

שבת שלום

Our analysis below speaks of the two elements of this week's Parasha - מַטּוֹת-מַסְּעֵי (Matot-Masei) The stick, that sy...
07/10/2026

Our analysis below speaks of the two elements of this week's Parasha - מַטּוֹת-מַסְּעֵי (Matot-Masei) The stick, that symbolizes stability and being firmly rooted and the journey, that symbolizes movement and change.

Camp holds these two ideas together. It gives children something steady to return to: familiar songs, shared traditions, close relationships, and a strong sense of belonging. At the same time, camp is a place of movement and discovery, where they try new things, meet new people, and begin to understand themselves differently.

Over the course of a summer, campers move forward while becoming more deeply rooted. They leave with new experiences, but also with values, memories, language, and connections that continue to accompany them long after camp ends.

Shabbat Shalom

שבת שלום

The detail is small, but powerful. In the census of Parashat Pinchas, the family names of Israel are surrounded by two l...
07/03/2026

The detail is small, but powerful. In the census of Parashat Pinchas, the family names of Israel are surrounded by two letters, a ה at the beginning and a י at the end. Together, those letters form one of God’s names. The rabbis read this as a sign that the identity of Israel was held, protected, and witnessed by something larger than the people themselves.

That image gives us a way to think about Jewish identity today. What surrounds Jewish life now? What are the letters, so to speak, that help hold us in place?

For some, it is family memory. For others, it is study, ritual, community, or the rhythms of the Jewish calendar. And for us, it is Hebrew and Camp of course! These are not extras around the edges of Jewish life. They are part of the frame that makes Jewish identity livable and enduring. And they are different for all of us.

The Torah’s image suggests that identity is strengthened by what surrounds it. A name needs context. A person needs memory. A people needs practices, language, stories, and communities that help carry it forward. Our task is to ask what we are placing around Jewish life now, and whether those surroundings are strong enough, meaningful enough, and alive enough to help the next generation carry its name.

Shabbat Shalom from Kayitz Kef!

The image of engraving in this week's parasha gets at something important about what Jewish education is really for. Tea...
06/26/2026

The image of engraving in this week's parasha gets at something important about what Jewish education is really for. Teaching isn't just a transfer of information: A teacher filling up a student with content and sending them on their way. The deeper work is helping learning take root: in the way a child speaks, the habits they form without thinking, what they reach for when they imagine the world, what they feel responsible for. Judaism, Hebrew, a connection to Israel, these can't stay at arm's length, things encountered once a week and then set aside. They need to become part of how a child actually shows up in Jewish life, not as subjects to study but as a way of being.

That's the real aim of education: not just to teach what Judaism says, but to create the kind of environment where Jewish life becomes something a child carries from the inside. Something lived, not just learned.

Shabbat Shalom

שבת שלום

For many campers, Parashat Korach is one of the first parshiot they encounter at camp. It comes right at the beginning o...
06/19/2026

For many campers, Parashat Korach is one of the first parshiot they encounter at camp. It comes right at the beginning of the summer, when cabins are just becoming cabins, staff are still figuring each other out, and everyone is learning what it means to live as a community.

The parasha opens with the words וַיִּקַּח קֹרַח / Vayikach Korach / “And Korach took.” But the Hebrew is strange. The Torah says that Korach “took,” but it does not say what he took.
Onkelos understands וַיִּקַּח / vayikach / “he took” as וְאִתְפְּלֵג / ve’itpaleg / “he separated himself” or “he created division.”

That changes the meaning. Korach’s problem was not only that he wanted something. Wanting respect, responsibility, or a voice is not wrong. The problem was that his wanting pulled him away from the community. His לקיחה / lekichah / taking became מחלוקת / machloket / conflict.

That is a powerful lesson for the beginning of camp. Everyone wants to feel seen. Everyone wants to know where they belong. But Korach reminds us to ask: does what I want help me become part of the community, or does it separate me from it?

At the start of the summer, Korach reminds us that community is not something we take from. It is something we choose to build.

שבת שלום

Shabbat Shalom

In Parashat Shelach, פרשת שלח (Parashat Shelach), the Torah uses the word לתור (latur), to explore. But we often remembe...
06/12/2026

In Parashat Shelach, פרשת שלח (Parashat Shelach), the Torah uses the word לתור (latur), to explore. But we often remember the story through a different word: מרגלים (meraglim), spies.
That difference matters.

A מרגל (meragel) enters a place looking for danger, weakness, and what might go wrong. Someone sent לתור (latur) enters with curiosity, looking to discover, understand, and notice what is good.
In modern Hebrew, לתור (latur) is still understood, but it is a higher-register word, used more poetically and only rarely in everyday spoken Hebrew. The idea, though, lives on in a very familiar modern Hebrew word: תייר (tayar), a tourist, and תיירים (tayarim), travelers or explorers.

Camp is one of the places where children learn to become תיירים (tayarim). They explore friendships, Jewish life, Israel, community, Hebrew and who they are becoming.

Especially now, we need spaces where children can approach Hebrew, Israel, and Jewish identity with curiosity rather than fear.
May this summer help us raise תיירים (tayarim): children who are open-hearted, connected, and ready to find meaning.

שבת שלום

For the past few months, our Kayitz Kef / Hebrew at Camp team has been looking at each week’s parasha and finding Hebrew...
06/05/2026

For the past few months, our Kayitz Kef / Hebrew at Camp team has been looking at each week’s parasha and finding Hebrew words, phrases, and ideas that connect to the work we do in Jewish education.

And honestly, each week I am reminded that this is not hard to do.

No matter what kind of Jewish educator you are, and no matter what background you bring, there is always a way in. There is always a word, an image, a question, or a moment in the parasha that helps us think about our work, our campers, our staff, and the communities we are helping to build.

This week, in Parashat Beha’alotecha, we read about the lighting of the menorah. Rashi explains that the priest had to keep tending the flame until it was strong enough to rise on its own.

Well, this rang true for me in many ways, but especially because so many camps are getting ready to open.

So much of education is exactly that. We guide, support, encourage, model, and sometimes hold the light steady until a child, a counselor, a staff member, or a community begins to shine on its own.

That is the work. Not to control the flame, but to help it grow strong enough to keep burning.

To all of our camp partners opening on Sunday, Monday, or in the coming days: wishing you the most wonderful summer. May your campers and staff find joy, confidence, connection, and light. And may all the flames you help kindle this summer continue to rise on their own.

Shabbat Shalom!
שבת שלום

Address

253 West 35th Street 4th Fl
New York, NY
10001

Telephone

+19299004001

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Kayitz Kef/Hebrew at Camp posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Kayitz Kef/Hebrew at Camp:

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category