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“Let’s hear some ruach (spirit) in this chadar ochel (dining hall)!” Sentences like this abound at Jewish summer camps around North America, alongside Hebrew songs, games, and signs. Through insightful analysis and engaging writing, Hebrew Infusion explains the origins of this phenomenon and what it says about Jewishness in America.
About the author
SARAH BUNIN BENOR is professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies at Hebrew Union College and courtesy Professor of Linguistics at the University of Southern California. Her books include Becoming Frum: How Newcomers Learn the Language and Culture of Orthodox Judaism, published by Rutgers University Press and winner of the Sami Rohr Choice Award for Jewish Literature.
JONATHAN KRASNER is the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Associate Professor of Jewish Education Research at Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts. He is the author of The Benderly Boys and American Jewish Education, winner of the National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies.
SHARON AVNI is professor of Literacy and Linguistics at Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York, and a Research Associate at the Research Institute for the Study of Language in Urban Society at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Summary
Each summer, tens of thousands of American Jews attend residential camps, where they see Hebrew signs, sing Hebrew songs, and hear a camp-specific hybrid language. Using historical and sociolinguistic methods, this book explains how camp directors came to infuse Hebrew in creative ways and how their rationales and practices have evolved over time.
