Archive Committee Traces Origins
of Beth El Synagogue Summer Session

With summer approaching, the Archive Committee has decided to research the origins of a venerable institution at Beth El Synagogue for over fifty-five years—the day camp. We have combed through decades of Bulletins in search of articles, ads, and photographs that captured the recreational experiences enjoyed by the thousands of youngsters who have attended our camp, now known as Beth El’s Summer Session.

Beth El’s summer program was launched in July 1951. At the time, Beth El consisted of both a synagogue, which was located on Union Avenue in downtown New Rochelle, and a community center, located on the four and one-half acres of the former Ernst Estate in the North end of the city, where our synagogue stands today. A May 1951 Bulletin ad proudly announced that Beth El was responding to “the needs of our community” by offering a weekday afternoon summer session for boys aged six to ten and girls aged six to eleven. The fee for the entire two-month Summer Day Program, as it was then known, was 25 dollars per child for Beth El Synagogue members and 35 dollars for non-members. Activities included arts and crafts, storytelling, nature study, gardening, track and field, movies, and dramatics.

The September 1952 Bulletin reported that the day camp’s second season grew to include seventy-five children. Camp Director Morris Silberman noted that campers participated in “a program of athletics . . . a variety of quiet and group games, contests, carnivals, talent shows, camp fires, . . . and so many features which cannot be described in this brief space.” A “special taxi service” provided transportation for thirty-five of the campers “whose parents were unable to bring their children personally to the Center grounds.”

By summer 1960, Beth El Synagogue Summer Day Camp, as it was then called, provided swim instruction in a twenty-foot above-ground pool for almost one hundred campers between the ages of four and ten. Fees for the eight-week, half-day program had increased to $105 for Beth El members and $130 for nonmembers. Transportation was an additional five dollars per week. The September 1960 Bulletin reported that one of the summer’s highlights “was the integration of all the camp’s activities within a Jewish framework. Campers celebrated an Oneg Shabbat every Friday afternoon . . . Hebrew was encouraged, and Israeli songs and dances were widely taught.”

For those of you who have wondered about the in-ground swimming pool adjacent to our synagogue’s parking lot, we have some answers! Our 30’ by 60’ outdoor pool was built for the 1965 camp season. Designed to facilitate swim instruction to young children, the pool has a depth of only a foot and a half at its shallow end and reaches just three and a half feet at its deep end. The day camp celebrated another first in 1965. In addition to its half-day afternoon program, the camp offered the option of a full-day program, with lunch included. A morning half-day option for children three to five years old was added during the following summer.

Since 1994, Beth El Summer Session, as the day camp is now known, has been under the leadership of talented director Julie Rockowitz. Mentored by Jack Gruenberg, who so skillfully served as camp director throughout the 1980s, Julie works tirelessly with assistant director Erica Leventhal and their enthusiastic staff to introduce innovative programming each summer. Over 200 children, aged three to seven, from towns all over Southern Westchester and Riverdale participate in half-day, extended-day, and full-day programs geared to their age groups. According to Julie, “we strive to develop in children a love for outdoors, creativity, positive self-esteem, as well as respect for self, others, and the environment.”

Guided by the catch phrase “Discover the Fun,” the award-winning Summer Session now offers a wide range of traditional camp activities, such as arts and crafts, music and dancing, sports, swimming, and playground fun. The children also enjoy cooking, karate, and many “special days,” such as Car Wash Day, Let’s Go to Israel Day, and Truck Day. A new program called “Adventure” brings a book series to life for the children throughout the summer. Nutritious, hot, kosher lunches are served daily to extended-day and full-day campers, and a weekly Oneg Shabbat with challah is celebrated each Friday. Accredited by the American Camp Association, the Summer Session has a staff to children ratio of 1 to 4; an on-premise registered nurse, a position shared by Elaine Holland and Robin Kaphan, who have worked at the camp for thirteen and twenty years respectively; and a swim instruction staff certified by the American Red Cross.

The Beth El Synagogue Summer Session is proud to provide a safe, enriching, and fun-filled recreational experience in a Jewish environment for young children. Limited enrollment for the coming summer is currently available. Interested parents should contact Julie Rockowitz, 914-235-2700, extension 256, as soon as possible.