Camp Young Judaea Midwest Director Dan Ravitch grew up in a small Jewish community in Benton Harbor, Mich., but found his true Jewish home hundreds of miles away on Stratton Lake in Waupaca, Wis.
After trying some of the “big camps,” nothing matched the feeling he discovered at CYJ Midwest. The small, family-style camp became his gateway to understanding Judaism as something much larger and more diverse than what he knew at home.
Ravitch spent five summers as a camper at CYJ Midwest, then continued through the Young Judaea pipeline: Camp Tel Yehudah, the teen Israel summer program, and the Young Judaea Year Course gap-year experience.
“I love this program, and it turned me into who I am,” he said.
A year of learning and volunteering across Israel led him to make aliyah. He later enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces, serving as a field commander in an Iron Dome unit.
He remained in Israel for about 12 years, earning a bachelor’s degree in education, sociology and anthropology, with a focus on informal educational theories of learning in American Jewish summer camps. That academic work matched his lived experience: the belief that camp can shape identity, leadership and community involvement far beyond a single summer.
Today, as director of Camp Young Judaea Midwest, Ravitch leads a small, pluralist Zionist camp that draws about 100 campers per session. The camp is part of the broader Young Judaea youth movement, active since 1908 and historically tied to Hadassah. CYJ Midwest shares programming with sister camps in New York, North Carolina and Texas, and sends teens on to Tel Yehudah for a dedicated high school camp experience.
Ravitch describes CYJ Midwest as a “family-sized” camp where everyone knows each other and where values and education are woven into daily life rather than taught in classrooms. The camp’s five pillars are pluralism, Zionism, Jewish identity, social action and peer leadership. Campers come from across the country and from overseas, including Israel and Puerto Rico, and from a wide range of Jewish backgrounds.
“We’re not affiliated with any of the synagogue movements,” Ravitch said. “We bring campers from all over, from any Jewish background. We don’t identify Judaism a specific way. We take anyone who says they’re raising Jewish kids and allow them to participate in our programs.”
The camp is kosher and Shabbat observant, with an emphasis on helping all campers feel included. Ravitch stresses that counselors, who are close in age to the campers, “run the show,” reflecting Young Judaea’s focus on peer leadership.
Social action is a central part of the mission. Recent projects have included Yom Tikkun Olam activities in Waupaca, such as volunteering locally and delivering challah and babka to neighbors around the lake as a gesture of gratitude and community-building.
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Did you know?
Data confirms that Jewish camp builds Jewish identity, leadership and community, according to the Foundation for Jewish Camps.
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