'Unessay' By Allan Levine

In Allan Levine’s article “How a Summer Camp Taught Me What It Means to be Jewish in North America,” Levine highlights his personal experiences of how attending Camp Massad, a Jewish summer camp, positively influenced him growing up as a Jew in North America during the 1960s. Levine wrote this article to educate and reminisce on the importance of Jewish summer camps to Jewish youth and culture. Levine defines and explains jargon specific to individuals who have attended Jewish summer camp to ensure those unfamiliar with the topic understand his points. An example is when Levine explains the meaning of the phrase “Ruach,” meaning spirit, a term familiar to those who have attended Jewish summer camp. Levine draws on personal experiences to convey

He states, “My two children went to the camp, and I have served on its board. It has remained dear to my heart to the present day.” This demonstrates how Jewish camp has become a familial rite of passage for many American Jews, and sending Jewish youth to a Jewish camp is a fundamental factor in strengthening Jewish identity. What this source reveals about my “Unessay” topic is that it demonstrates the positive impact attending Jewish camps had on Jewish youth, specifically in the post-WWII era, when Americans who identified as Jewish decreased as a result of assimilation and intermarriage. For Levine, Massad taught him “What it meant to be Jewish in North America.” Levine made lifelong Jewish friends that “50 years later still laugh and endlessly reminisce about various escapades,” speaking Hebrew within the camp, and participating in “Maccabiah,” to name just a few examples. Regarding fears of Jewish intermarriage, many Jewish camps encouraged (or at least did not prohibit) “hooking up” among campers and counselors. At Massad, Levine experienced that “First-year counselors– who were essentially living together (in separate cabins, of course) were attracted to each