Jewish Summer Fellowship in Catskill Mountains

A dozen Jewish students from across the U.S. and the U.K. are experiencing a six-week fellowship of Jewish education in New York’s Catskill Mountains. The fellowship attracts students from across the country and beyond — many of whom had little prior opportunity for formal Jewish education. 

This summer is the first that the Fellowship is taking place on newly-renovated grounds in Ellenville, New York, in the Catskill Mountains. The campus is a converted farm, with the farmhouse serving as a dormitory and dining hall and the barn converted to a synagogue and classrooms. The campus abuts vast forests; a creek runs alongside, with a waterfall’s gentle sounds providing a calming backdrop to the days of study and community. 

“Whenever I’d go to services, I would struggle to follow along,” said Edward Cohen. “I really wanted to read Hebrew.” The U.K. native just completed his freshman year at the University of Leeds, where he is studying accounting and finance. Cohen met Rabbi Michoel and Chana Sorah Danow — directors of Chabad Lubavitch at Leeds Campus.

Cohen was thirsty for more, and the rabbi recommended the fellowship. 

The Jonas M. and Sadie Rennert Jewish Summer Fellowship is a project of the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE). Founded by the Sixth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, in 1940, the NCFJE is a multi-faceted charity that protects, feeds and educates thousands throughout the New York metro area and around the country. 

The Summer Fellowship — previously known as the Ivy League Torah Studies Program — has been a summer destination for Jewish students for decades. “Designed for students with little to no formal Jewish education, the Fellowship offers a sophisticated and rigorous beginner-level curriculum,” said Rabbi Mendel Brawer, the Fellowship’s Director. “Subjects include Hebrew reading; Jewish prayer; the Chumash; Talmud 101; Jewish history; and Jewish ideas and philosophy. Students also enjoy a bevy of hands-on experiences, including how to put up a mezuzah; what goes into making a kitchen kosher; and how to tie tzitzit.”

Ezekiel Russ’s family lives in Oregon, and the closest synagogue is dozens of miles away, making Jewish study a challenge for Ezekiel. “I would be standing around in the synagogue, looking at the Siddur. I knew that you bow during the Amidah; that you cover your eyes at the Shema, but that was about it,” Ezekiel Russ said.

In the 1990s, Exekiel’s mother Liza spent a summer at the Ivy League Torah Studies Program. “Over time, things kind of got lost, but she remembered how much this program changed her when she was young,” described her son Ezekiel Russ. “And she told me that before I go to college, it’s important that I come here too.”

Ezekiel says the summer fellowship gave him insight into the “whys” of Jewish living. “I really like this program. It gave me the opportunity to learn what the prayers are, the history, how they changed, and why we say them.” 

“It gave meaning to different things I was doing.”

“When the son of an alum joins the fellowship, it’s a powerful reminder that the Torah learning and Jewish pride instilled here continue to shape families and communities for generations,” said Rabbi Shimon Hecht of the NCFJE Executive Committee.

Guest lecturers visit the campus regularly, and Rabbi Berel Bell — an author, dean, and member of Montreal, Canada’s rabbinical court — serves as the scholar-in-residence. “We’re a smaller, tight-knit group,” said Russ. “It gives us the opportunity to get the one-on-one learning, and we can ask questions whenever we want.” 

“I’m very grateful to be here; I’m learning a lot each day,” said Cohen. I’m learning a lot of Jewish ideas I never learned before.”

“I would recommend this program to anyone.”