How Dr. Jonathan Krasner helped Gann students rethink language, connection, and belonging
Have you ever been to Jewish summer camp? While the activities and landscapes may differ, close your eyes and they all sound strangely familiar. If you’ve ever been a Jewish kid sleeping in a camp bunk, chances are you heard announcements like: “Chanichim (campers), after you finish Nikayon (clean up time), go to the Beit Am (assembly hall) for your last chug (activity).”
There are lots of Hebrew words. But is it actually Hebrew?
According to Dr. Jonathan B. Krasner, it isn’t really Hebrew — and it doesn’t need to be Hebrew to serve a meaningful purpose. In a recent presentation to students in Gann’s Jewish Studies Scholars Program, he explained that although camp language is filled with Hebrew vocabulary, “if you look at the actual syntax and grammar, it’s an English sentence.”
Baseball vocabulary posted at Camp Massad (Courtesy of Camp Massad Alumni Association and Elena Neuman Lefkowitz)
Dr. Krasner, a scholar of American Jewish history and education at Brandeis University (and a founding faculty member at Gann), has spent years studying this phenomenon and co-authored a book called Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community in American Jewish Summer Camps on this topic. His research shows that at Jewish summer camps, Hebrew vocabulary is not taught only in classrooms or grammar lessons. It is woven into everyday life: in songs, on signs, in nicknames, and in the small phrases campers use without even thinking. Campers may be speaking mostly in English, but those shared Hebrew words become part of the culture and signal that you belong.
The point, he explained, is not Hebrew fluency. It is connection. Language has the power to build relationships, strengthen identity, and create meaning at camp, at school, and in everyday life.
This challenge of language learning is not unique to Hebrew. Duolingo, for example, boasts over 100 million monthly active users, many of whom can rack up vocabulary streaks, earn XP, and protect their daily goals, but still struggle to hold a basic conversation. Linguistic purists have made similar critiques of “Camp Hebrew,” calling it limited or incomplete. Dr. Krasner invites us to see it differently. What may look like failure from a grammatical standpoint is actually success in building identity and community.
The Hebrew used in camps, he argues, “connects you to your camp, to the Jewish people in general, and even to Israel.”
This idea resonated deeply with Gann students, many of whom have grown up in Jewish summer camps themselves. Hearing how language functions in real Jewish spaces invited them to reflect on their own experiences and to see Hebrew not only as an academic subject, but as a living part of who they are becoming.
Dr. Krasner’s visit brought students into a high-level conversation about a fascinating Jewish cultural phenomenon. His work felt both familiar and eye-opening and modeled the kind of thoughtful, inquiry-driven Judaic learning that defines the Gann classroom.
Dr. Jonathan B. Krasner is co-author of Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community in American Jewish Summer Camps (Rutgers University Press, 2019), winner of a National Jewish Book Award.