Camp Boiberik was a
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
cultural
summer camp founded by
Leibush Lehrer
Leibush L. Lehrer (1887 - 1964) was a leading Yiddish pedagogue, writer, philosopher and lyricist. He authored several books on education, psychology, and literature. Born in Warsaw, he emigrated to the United States in 1909. From 1919 until his ...
in 1913. In 1923 the camp purchased property in
Rhinebeck, New York
Rhinebeck is a village (New York), village in the Rhinebeck (town), New York, town of Rhinebeck in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 2,657 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie, New York, Poughkeepsie– ...
where it would remain until closing in 1979. It was the first Yiddish secular summer camp in America at the time.
Affiliated with the
Sholem Aleichem Folk Institute, after
Sholom Aleichem, Boiberik was a secular, apolitical institution which emphasized
Yiddishkeit or Yiddishkayt, or Eastern European
Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
Jewish folk culture, including
songs,
dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
,
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
in the tradition of the
Borscht belt,
theater, and
humor
Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...
. Although non-religious, Boiberik observed
shabbos and kept a
kosher kitchen.
Boiberik had interactions with and was somewhat similar to
Camp Kinder Ring.
The name 'Boiberik' appears as a town in which the ''
Tevye'' stories by Aleichem are set, as a fictionalization of the resort town
Boyarka.
In 1982, the former campgrounds were purchased by the
Omega Institute which currently resides there. Omega hosted a reunion of former campers in 1998.
References
*''A Worthy use of summer: Jewish summer camping in America''. Jenna Weissman Joselit, National Museum of American Jewish History (Philadelphia, Pa.) National Museum of American Jewish History, 1993
*''The New Joys of Yiddish: Completely Updated''. Leo Rosten. Random House, Apr 14, 2010
*
*''Rhinebeck''. Michael Frazier. Arcadia Publishing, 2012
*''Raising Reds: The Young Pioneers, Radical Summer Camps, and Communist Political Culture in the United States''. Paul C. Mishler. Columbia University Press, 1999
*
*''A Bibliography of Jewish Education in the United States''. Norman Drachler. Wayne State University Press, 1996
*''We Remember with Reverence and Love: American Jews and the Myth of Silence after the Holocaust, 1945-1962''. Hasia R. Diner. NYU Press, Apr 1, 2009
*''The Tribe of Dina: A Jewish Women's Anthology''. Melanie Kaye Kantrowitz, Irena Klepfisz. Beacon Press; August 31, 1989. p. 37
The Secular Yiddish School and Summer Camp: A Hundred-Year History Barnett Zumoff. ''Jewish Currents''. August 9, 2013.
External links
Camp Boiberik Home Page hosted by
MIT Media Lab's
Mitchel ResnickAbout Omega: Camp Boiberik Omega Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boiberik, Camp
Defunct summer camps
Jewish summer camps in New York (state)
Secular Jewish culture in the United States
Yiddish culture in New York (state)
Borscht Belt