It was the fall of 1922. Louis Hurwich had no experience running a camp. But his wife Leah did. At the end of the 30’s Louis Hurwich thought they should rent a small place that would serve as a summer camp and would not be expensive. They thought to try it for just one summer. Because of the depression, building had ceased and well-kept places were not available for rent. Louis Hurwich kept trying to sell his idea of a Hebrew summer camp.
Interestingly, most local Hebrew Jewish educators were against it. They felt that during the school year, students were balancing a double load each day and adding on to that a summer program would be too much. Teachers wanted to give their kids a vacation during the summer instead of more Hebrew classes.
As time went on, Louis Hurwich became more and more convinced that a summer study camp would achieve two things: greater depth of students’ knowledge AND to create a warm religious atmosphere. He was a Hebraist at heart. He was part of this ambitious attempt to create a vital Hebrew culture in America. He was motivated by the Zionist conviction that building a Hebrew movement in the Diaspora communities was essential to securing the dream of Jewish life in Eretz Yisrael.
Enter Hebrew Teachers College.
ואז מה קורה? – And Then What Happens?
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