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Nostalgia about summer traditions notwithstanding, Jewish camps have changed dramatically from a generation ago. Camp’s value for Jewish education and identity-building is now a major focus of communal attention. Major Jewish foundations, federations and organizations are investing heavily in the sector. Many camps have become more intentional about incorporating Jewish learning, Shabbat and Israel into their programming. They’ve also evolved to meet families’ changing expectations and demands: offering a wider range of choices of all kinds (from food to activity to session length); providing more frequent updates and communications to parents; accommodating numerous medical requirements and allergies; and placing greater emphasis on safety and security.

Julie Wiener reports on the lively discussion ignited by Michael Siegal, the chairman of Jewish Federations of North America, who pledged to raise $1 billion over the next decade for a Jewish revitalization plan with tuition-free Jewish preschool as its centerpiece in his address to JFNA's General Assembly in Jerusalem last month. Many Jewish early childhood professionals don’t see free tuition as a viable or effective strategy.

Harlem Hebrew Language Academy Charter School in Manhattan and Sela in Washington, D.C. are among three new schools affiliated with the New York-based Hebrew Charter School Center (HCSC) opening this school year: the other one, in San Diego, opened last week. Another Hebrew charter school, Eleanor Kolitz Hebrew Academy, opened this month in San Antonio, replacing a Jewish day school.

The Sefaria Project is about building the future of Jewish learning in an open and participatory way. Sefaria is building a free living library of Jewish texts and their interconnections, in Hebrew and in translation. Its scope is Torah in the broadest sense, from Tanakh to Talmud to Zohar to modern texts and all the volumes of commentary in between. Sefaria is created, edited, and annotated by an open community.