Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps

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About Hebrew Infusion: Language And Community At American

Product Description Each summer, tens of thousands of American Jews attend residential camps, where they may see Hebrew signs, sing and dance to Hebrew songs, and hear a camp-specific hybrid language register called Camp Hebraized English, as in: “Let’s hear some ruach (spirit) in this chadar ochel (dining hall)!” Using historical and sociolinguistic methods, this book explains how camp directors and staff came to infuse Hebrew in creative ways and how their rationales and practices have evolved from the early 20th century to today. Some Jewish leaders worry that Camp Hebraized English impedes Hebrew acquisition, while others recognize its power to strengthen campers’ bonds with Israel, Judaism, and the Jewish people. Hebrew Infusion explores these conflicting ideologies, showing how hybrid language can serve a formative role in fostering religious, diasporic communities. The insightful analysis and engaging descriptions of camp life will appeal to anyone interested in language, education, or American Jewish culture. Review "Benor, Krasner and Avni have written a paradigm-shifting work that promises to reshape Jewish educators’ basic approaches to the whys and hows of language learning." -- Shaul Kelner, author of Tours That Bind: Diaspora, Pilgrimage and Israeli Birthright Tourism "What a fascinating teach-in about a subject so often discussed in passing but rarely seen up close -- the use (or not) of Hebrew in Jewish schools and camps and why (or whether) it matters to modern American Jewish identity. Finally a book about that elusive creature 'Hebrew School Hebrew!'" -- John H. McWhorter, author of The Creole Debate "A lively, evocative and wide-ranging account of American Jewry's complex and often maligned relationship with Hebrew, this important book is as much about community as it is about language. In finding creativity where others have found fault, Hebrew Infusion challenges us to rethink our assumptions about the cultural grammar of the modern Jewish experience." -- Jenna Weissman Joselit, author of Set in Stone: America's Embrace of the Ten Commandments "An extremely important contribution towards the study of a major aspect of the American Jewish Diaspora community and to sociolinguistics." -- Bernard Spolsky, author of The Languages of the Jews: A Sociolinguistic History "This engaging book delves into the use of Hebrew in the Jewish summer culture camps of the United States. While there is a call by some leaders to do Hebrew immersion to create proficient speakers, camps find immersion difficult to accomplish. Paralleling Native American language/culture camps and other language revitalization programs, infusion of heritage language allows Hebrew speakers to feel personally attached to their own beloved language by using what they know in daily conversations, even as the rest of the conversation is English. While there are differences between the situations of endangered indigenous languages vs. Hebrew for the Jewish diaspora, the many similarities establish this volume as a recommended read for everyone involved in endangered and minoritized language survival." -- Leanne Hinton, author of Bringing our Languages Home: Language Revitalization for Families "The first serious work on Hebrew in Jewish summer camps is as important a work of history as it is an ethnographic study of a range of contemporary camps. This book will become an essential work not only for those interested in Jewish American cultures, but other diaspora communities in the United States, who face remarkably similar issues. An outstanding contribution to all of those interested in language, culture, and identity." -- Riv-Ellen Prell, author of Fighting to Become Americans: Jews, Gender and the Anxiety of Assimilation “Summer camps are rarely studied as significant social and linguistic experiences. This book is a first, as it shows how the infusion of Hebrew into English in Jewish summer camps emblematically establishes local solidarity and dia