Fresh air, assimilation, and teaching the Jewish faith: the origins of Jewish Youth Camping
Organized youth camping became popular in the late nineteenth century against the backdrop of the Progressive Era.
Laura Weber is a writer and historian living in Minneapolis. She is a two-time winner of the Solon J. Buck Award for the best article to appear in Minnesota History (1991 and 2004) and is also a recipient of the David Stanley Gebhard Award (best article) from the Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians.
Organized youth camping became popular in the late nineteenth century against the backdrop of the Progressive Era.
The organization’s two-story brick and stucco building in North Minneapolis was a hub for radical Jewish cultural, political, and social activities for the next thirty-five years.
Founded in North Minneapolis in 1922, Beth El Synagogue relocated to St. Louis Park in 1967, following much of its congregation.
Founded in 1912 by Rabbi Samuel Deinard as part of an effort to unify the German and Eastern European Jews of Minnesota, the American Jewish World newspaper celebrated its centennial in 2012.
By Laura Weber
July 1, 2014