Campers enjoy pro-Israel programming at URJ Camp Harlam in the Poconos. (Courtesy of URJ Camp Harlam)
The modern world can often feel awash in anti-Israel sentiment.
The American Jewish Committee’s 2025 State of Antisemitism in America Report found that nearly half of American Jews were afraid to express support for Israel online. The Anti-Defamation League’s 2025 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents discovered that almost 50% of the incidents in the United States were related to the Jewish state. And just the other day, Vice President JD Vance told Israeli cabinet members that they had no other allies outside of the U.S.
Reform Jewish kids, especially in the Philadelphia area, where there is no Reform day school, are less likely to attend educational institutions that will explicitly and deeply combat this sentiment. They are not typically day school students.
But the Union for Reform Judaism attempts to give them that Israel-related education each summer. The movement’s camping arm, the URJ Camps, brings Israeli campers and counselors to the U.S. every year, and since Oct. 7, 2023, it has started welcoming more of both.
More than 450 Israeli campers and staff members are attending Reform movement camps this summer, according to Lisa David, the executive director of URJ Camps. URJ Camp Harlam, based in Kunkletown in the Poconos, has 35 Israeli staff members and 14 Israeli campers in 2026. It had 27 and four, respectively, in 2023, the summer before the Oct. 7 attack.
“I think that at a time where our campers and staff get lots of mixed messages from the media and social media and other sources, we have found that the face-to-face experience is critical for the needs of Israel,” said David, who lives in Jenkintown. “It’s been so effective at opening people’s eyes to the truth.”
David acknowledged that Reform kids often “don’t have as many opportunities” to engage with their peers from the Jewish state.
“If they’re in a Jewish day school, I think it’s more common,” she said.
But the URJ Camps are working to provide more opportunities for deep connection.
“I think at a minimum they are sharing who they are and their families and their day-to-day life,” David said. “And beyond that, when it’s more appropriate, they share more of their stories from their life in Israel.”
Campers enjoy pro-Israel programming at URJ Camp Harlam in the Poconos. (Courtesy of URJ Camp Harlam)
Amir Douk, a 24-year-old resident of Hadera, is an assistant unit head at URJ Camp Harlam. He has now served as a staff member in three of the past four summers at the Pocono-based institution.
Douk said he keeps coming back “because of the connections I make here.”
“They last not only for the summer, but I remain in contact with them throughout the year,” he added. “They help me through some very challenging times back home.”
He also spoke of the benefits that have been espoused by American Jewish camping directors for generations.
“It’s just the authenticity of this place that helps you disconnect from all the cynicism of day-to-day life,” Douk said. “I feel like everyone needs that.”
The Hadera resident’s first summer actually came before Oct. 7. When the attack happened, he was flooded with texts from his Harlam friends. They asked how he was doing, if his family was safe and if any of them needed a place to stay.
The Israeli said he could “feel that they meant it” on a personal level. Douk also could sense that their relationship with him was overcoming any opinion or perception they may have seen before.
“People were seeing news about Israel, and the first thing that came to mind was, hey, I know someone from there. They knew me as a person and they cared about me,” he said.
Through his summers at Camp Harlam and the relationships he’s built, Douk has also gained respect for American Jews. Israelis often get credit for building a Jewish state in a dangerous region, but American Jews are more often surrounded by antisemitism and anti-Zionism in their day-to-day lives.
“That’s a privilege we have,” Douk said. “I feel like they deserve so much respect.”
Harlam campers only live in the Poconos for three and a half weeks every summer. David and the organization understand that a month is not nearly enough time to offer a full education on the Jewish state.
While there are Israel-related programs and conversations, the connections are paramount.
“We want to introduce the relationship so they have a desire to keep learning,” David said.