The New Promised Land: Maine's Summer Camps for Jewish Youth ...

Traditionally, Jewish Americans have been very supportive of each other.
One way that they did this was through the mid-nineteenth century
landsmanschaftn, or “hometown associations that thrived in every large Jewish
community, functioned as benevolent societies.” 197 A group of Jews who came to
America from the same place, most often in Central and Eastern Europe, would form
these associations in order to help each other and to help the newcomers who had
just arrived. For example, a new immigrant from Bialystok could turn to his
landsmanschaft when he first arrived to find help looking for a job, to find housing,
and to meet other people in his situation. The landsmanschaft was also a place for
the new immigrants to turn during difficult times, when they needed a doctor or
when they needed a loan. Another way that Jews supported each other was through
employment. For example, in New York City, “Jews dominated the [garment]
industry from the top to the bottom.” 198 In other words, Jews owned the factories
and made a point to employ other Jews. While this often created divisions within the
Jewish community, most clearly seen in the garment worker strikes that erupted in
New York, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Baltimore in 1909, the fact that Jews at the
top of the industry tended to hire Jews nevertheless illustrates the phenomenon that
Jews felt a need to support their own.
Given the Jews’ mutual support, it makes sense that Jews would want to do
business with each other when they could. Therefore, it is no surprise that Jews
supported each other in the realm of summer camps. The directors of Camp
Kennebec, Charles Edwin Fox, Louis Fleisher, and Milton Katzenberg, grew up
197 Diner, The Jews of the United States, 138.
198 Ibid, 109.
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