Digital Library
Connecting to Israel Through Hebrew Findings from a Study of Hebrew Immersion at Camp
Topic:
Antisemitism & Antizionism
Principal Investigators:
Nathaniel Rabb, Alexander M. Levontin, Adam Berinsky, Gordon Pennycook, Thomas H. Costello, David G. Rand
Study Date:
2025
Source:
Rosov Consulting
Key Findings:
This report describes an effort to utilize a special research opportunity to explore the Ramah Day Camp in Nyack. Since 2013, Nyack has also been home to Sha’ar, a special-track Hebrew Immersion program in which all of the programming is conducted in Hebrew and in which an intensive effort is made to build the campers’ proficiency in Hebrew communication. The researchers aimed to understand if the study of modern spoken Hebrew is associated with increased attachment to the State of Israel and identity formation.
Perceptions of Israel and Israelis
1. Hebrew Immersion campers attribute greater and more varied meaning to Israel. When prompted to assess the extent to which their child describes Israel in terms of a series of images of the country, the parents of Hebrew Immersion participants were significantly more likely to select higher ratings on the 5-point scale than parents of non-Immersion children. This pattern is consistent across a wide variety of images, whether religious (“the birthplace of the Jewish people”), social (“a fun vacation destination”), or personal (“a place with close friends/family”). 2. Hebrew Immersion campers view Israelis as real people more positively. 3. Hebrew Immersion campers feel more connected to Israel.
Perspectives on Hebrew
1. Hebrew Immersion campers are more proficient in Hebrew, in terms of understanding and speaking. 96% of Immersion parents perceive their child to be capable of understanding basic sentences, and simple or advanced conversations in Hebrew, compared to only 58% of parents of campers in the general, non-Immersion Nyack program. 2. Hebrew Immersion parents are more likely to attribute their child’s proficiency to their participation in the program. 38% of Hebrew Immersion parents state that the Hebrew Immersion program either contributed “a great deal” or “excessively” to their child’s Hebrew fluency level. This compares with just 5% of the parents whose child was in the non-Immersion program. 3. All Nyack campers feel positively about Hebrew; Hebrew Immersion campers are more positive about sharing their Hebrew at home. 4. Hebrew Immersion parents are find a great importance in Hebrew’s usefulness for connecting with Israel and Israelis.
Attribution
1. Hebrew Immersion parents more strongly attribute their child’s positive attitudes to their experiences at camp.
Methodology:
Two surveys were developed: one for campers and one for the parents of campers who had attended Nyack since 2013, provided the current/former camper was now in third through seventh grade. The surveys were designed to gather data about features of the respondents’ home circumstances, such as whether they speak Hebrew at home, that might have a bearing on campers’ perceptions of Israel and Israelis; their assessment of Hebrew gains made at camp; and camper’s attitudes to Hebrew.
The parent surveys asked respondents to reflect on the experiences and perceptions of a specific child in their family regardless of which Nyack program they attended. The camper survey asked respondents to reflect on their own experiences and perceptions. The parent survey was fielded to 1,237 family units, 134 of which had a child in Sha’ar, and 1,103 did not. Recipients were asked to ensure that only one parent per family completed the survey. In addition, parents were asked to forward a camper survey link to whichever of their children attended Nyack since 2013.
Forty-five (45) parents whose child had attended Sha’ar responded to the survey, a 34% response rate; 126 parents whose child had not attended Sha’ar responded to the survey, an 11% response rate. Just 46 campers responded, of whom 4 had attended Sha’ar. Because the camper response pool was so small, we were not able to make comparisons between Sha’ar/non-Sha’ar campers.
Respondent Profiles
1. Hebrew Immersion participants and non-Immersion participants both have limited exposure to Hebrew at home. 2. A higher proportion of Immersion participants attend Jewish day school (74%) than do non-Immersion participants (53%). 3. The majority of parents with a child in the Immersion program also have at least one child who attended the general, non-Immersion Nyack program. 4. Immersion and non-Immersion families are very similar in terms of their engagement with Jewish organizations.