Mission + History

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Eisner Camp is rooted in a long history and rich traditions of excellence. A second home to 550 children each session, campers come together to experience the fun and magic of Jewish camping from across the Northeast.

The Eisner Camp Community (sometimes referred to as “The Bubble”) offers a fun, supportive environment where campers can explore, challenge themselves, and develop their passions. At camp, kids of all abilities and backgrounds strengthen their Jewish identities, all while surrounded by expert staff and beautiful facilities.

Our caring and committed staff members (many of whom were campers themselves) strive to enrich the campers’ experiences by helping them build lasting friendships. These relationships provide encouragement and support and offer the opportunity for every camper to realize their full potential.

Our campus-style facility and tech-free environment allow campers to embrace the challenge of learning new skills in athletics, aquatics, the arts, and outdoor adventure programs. Along the way, campers learn communication, collaboration, creativity, grit and empathy – the predictors of success in camp, school and beyond.

In addition to daily activities and special events, campers and staff immerse themselves in a wide range of innovative Jewish pursuits and creative spiritual experiences that are the soul of Eisner Camp. Campers from different backgrounds join together to create an intentional, meaningful community.

From the youngest of our campers to the oldest of our Machon (Counselors-in-Training), every child who spends a summer at Eisner Camp returns home a wiser, more self-confident, a bigger part of our community and more connected to the Jewish community.

Eisner Camp is more than a summer of fun, it is an experience that lasts a lifetime.

Hineini – Here I am

… I am here to strengthen my own self-esteem and that of everyone in the camp community.

… I am here to strengthen my own Jewish identity and spirituality and that of everyone in the camp community.

… I am here to strengthen my connection to the Eisner community and the Jewish community and to help everyone around me to do the same.

… I am here to do as much as I can, in the time that I have, in the place that I am, and to inspire others to join me in this holy work.

לֹא עָלֶיךָ הַמְּלָאכָה לִגְמוֹר, וְלֹא אַתָּה בֶן חוֹרִין לִבָּטֵל מִמֶּנָּה.

For it is written: “Lo alecha hamlacha ligmor, v’lo ata ben horin, l’heebatel mimena.”

“You are not required to complete the work, nor are you free to ignore it.” Pirke Avot 2:16

Our intimate (tech-free and parent-free) environment allows campers to embrace the challenge of learning new skills in athletics, aquatics, the arts, and adventure and nature programs. What campers don’t realize, is they are learning communication, collaboration, creativity, grit and empathy – the predictors of success in camp, school and beyond.

In addition to daily activities, inter-camp games, and special events, campers and staff immerse themselves in a wide range of innovative Jewish pursuits and creative spiritual experiences that are the soul of Eisner Camp. Campers from different backgrounds join together to create an intentional, meaningful community.

Eisner Camp is more than a summer of fun, it is an experience that lasts a lifetime.

HISTORY OF EISNER CAMP

Eisner Camp’s history dates back to long before it was a summer camp. From farm to estate to school to summer camp, the property that is now Eisner Camp has a rich history as an important part of life in the Berkshires.

Pre Gate House

1749

Rev. Samuel Hopkins becomes the first person believed to settle the land near 53 Brookside Road. Hopkins was the first pastor of the Congregational Church of Great Barrington. In 1788, Elisha Blinn bought the property to be used as farmland.

1813

Daniel Wilcox is the first person to develop the property and run it as a farm. Wilcox previously owned a water mill and clothing factory and built a house on the present-day location of the Manor House, as well as the avenue of elm and maple trees that line the driveway of 53 Brookside Road. Wilcox is believed to have owned the property through 1852.

Leavitt Farm

1852

David Leavitt (sometimes referred to as Lewitt) buys the property and coins the term “Brookside Estate” or “Brookside Manor” as the name for the property. Leavitt held two esteemed positions during his career as the CEO of the American Exchange Bank and CEO of the Housatonic Railway. Leavitt took on incredible agricultural pursuits, but most notably constructed a cascading barn on the property which housed livestock, grain, farming machinery, and a saw mill. The barn construction was started in 1852 and cost approximately $120,000. In all, the barn was seven stories tall, two below ground and five above ground. There were few other structures like it in the country. On July 7, 1885 the barn caught fire and was burned to the ground. The livestock were saved, but most everything else was destroyed.

LeavittCascadBarn

1887

first manor

William Stanley purchases the estate. Stanley was an inventor and is best known for pioneering alternating current, also known as AC power. His most famous invention was the induction coil, a coil that makes AC current possible. In his life, Stanley was granted 129 patents for various electrical related products. Because of Stanley’s work, Great Barrington, MA was one of the first municipalities in the U.S. to have working electric street lamps. Stanley was the owner and principal of the Stanley Electric Manufacturing Company (originally part of Westinghouse), which was purchased by General Electric in 1903. Aside from his inventions in electrical engineering, Stanley invented the steel vacuum bottle in 1913, which we all now know as the “Thermos.” Stanley remained in Great Barrington until his death in 1916, but sold the property in 1908 to William H. Walker. Sometime in the early 1900s, Stanley’s house burned down and he began design and construction on what is now known as Manor House. After extensive legal battles over some of his patents, he suspended construction on the house and decided to sell the property.

Walker also constructed a number of buildings including a ranch house, slaughter house, Italian style house, and carriage house that were said to have been in the style of buildings from around the country and world. According to camp legend, Walker built these buildings in a number of different styles of architecture to capture the spirit of buildings around the country and world. The story goes that his daughter Gertrude was wheelchair-bound and unable to travel, so Walker brought the world to her. There is no proof that Walker’s daughter was actually confined to a wheelchair. Many of these buildings remain and continue to be renovated to both sustain them and offer enhanced programming space. Walker passed away on Thanksgiving Day of 1917 and left the property to Gertrude, who lived there until her death in 1942. It was stated in William Walker’s will that the property be used in some form or fashion for the public good.

manorlawn

1943

The Brookside Estate becomes the Altaraz School.

1955

Rabbi Dan Davis, Director of the New York Federation of Reform Synagogues (aka NYFRS, a region of the UAHC, now URJ), begins to collect information about potential camp sites throughout the northeast.

formal gardens1

1957

Davis enfranchised Sidney Roos, president of NYFRS, and appointed Gilbert Tilles and Martin Cowan as the chairmen of the newly-established Camp Commission. Together, Davis, Roos, Tilles, Cowan, and others formed the site committee. According to the first camp brochure, they inspected more than 100 locations to try and find the perfect site for the new camp. Brotherhoods, sisterhoods, rabbis, and whole congregations gave money to support the purchase of the camp. Finally, at the time when all of these supporters were in place, the site committee inspected a private school owned and operated by the Altaraz family in Great Barrington. According to Cantor Norman Swerling, a former director of Eisner Camp, “As soon as they walked through the gates, viewed its buildings, and traversed its fields and gardens, the committee felt the magic of the place. Rabbi Davis knew that his dream had found a home.”

1958

The committee established the Massachusetts Trust for the Camp Institute for Living Judaism in February of 1958 and officially purchased the camp on February 7, 1958 for $250,000. It was clear to everyone at that time that one name stood out among the roster of devoted workers and benefactors of the UAHC (now URJ) and the new camp: Joseph Eisner. In 1958, after Joseph Eisner’s death at the age of 57, the leaders of the Reform movement approached his wife, Helen Eisner, and asked if the Union could recognize Joseph’s connection and devotion to Reform Judaism by naming a camp in his honor. The UAHC accepted the resolution proposed by the Camp Commission and officially named the camp the UAHC Joseph Eisner Camp Institute for Living Judaism.

brside

The camp officially opened its gates for its first summer in 1958 with Rabbi Leonard Zion as its first director. The brochure stated that Zion was chosen because he was “an expert in the training of young people.” He welcomed 173 campers and 18 staff members in this first summer. With little time to convert the property into a summer camp, the staff and campers lived among the property’s original buildings, including the chicken coops and Pink House. In addition, the property had no place of prayer. Thus, the founding camp class of 1958 took the initiative to build a sanctuary. They created a beit knesset in the old palm and orchard house on the quad.

1959

The camp was formally dedicated in a ceremony widely attended by the leaders of the Reform Movement. To present Thousands of kids attend Eisner Camp every summer to play, grow, learn and to gain a sense of confidence and develop a strong Jewish identity.

2008

Eisner Camp welcomes more than 1500 alumni to celebrate 50 years!

Paul Isserles

Eisner Director

Paul Isserles (he/his) returned home to become the Director of URJ Eisner Camp in October of 2021. He brings to the role over 20 years of directing day camps, including Camp Jacobson and Buckley Day Camp. For Paul, there is no place that has been more influential in his life than camp, especially Eisner. He worked at Eisner from 1993-1997, as a counselor, songleader and unit head. Not only did his time at Eisner launch him into the world of camping and informal Jewish education, but he met his wife, Shari, there in 1994.

Paul is a product of the Reform Movement, spending his childhood and teen years in youth groups and on the board of LIFTY. He is a graduate of the University at Albany and earned a master’s degree in social work from Yeshiva University.

In his spare time, Paul loves sports, whether playing baseball or basketball himself, or coaching his son, Michael’s baseball teams. Paul, and his wife, Shari live in Port Washington, with their son, Michael and where Shari works as the Director of Congregational Education at The Community Synagogue.

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Lauren "Lulu" Belferder

Associate Director

Lulu (she/her/hers) is a true camper at heart and is thrilled to be on the Eisner team as the Associate Director. She grew up attending Robin Hood Country Day Camp on Long Island, where she was a camper and staff member. During her time at Robin Hood, she realized her passion for working with children and teens and led her into a professional career working hands-on with this population.  

For the past seven years, Lulu has been working at Temple Sinai of Roslyn, New York as the Director of Youth & Teen Engagement.  During her tenure at Temple Sinai, Lulu led a successful department that served over 500 families annually.  She is most proud of the relationships that she has developed with so many children, teens, and their families. She loved connecting with them and helping to create positive, Jewish experiences to engage them in.  

Prior to her time at Temple Sinai, Lulu worked as the Director of Residential Services at Life’s WORC in Garden City, New York. Life’s WORC provides comprehensive services and support to people with intellectual disabilities and autism and their families.  During her time at Life’s WORC, she provided supervision and support to residential managers and the people living in these residential homes throughout Long Island and Queens.  

Lulu has two graduate degrees, including a Masters in School Counseling from Long Island University and a Masters in Jewish Educational Leadership from Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion. She currently lives on Long Island with her twin daughters, Isabella, and Eden.  

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Marisa Bergman

Assistant Director

Marisa (she/her/hers) was thrilled to join the URJ Northeast Camps team in February 2019 as the development associate! She is excited for her new role as assistant director where she can work closely with the campers, families and staff to create the most magical summers. She has over twelve years of experience as a synagogue educator and working in day and sleep away camps. Marisa graduated from the University at Albany with a Bachelor’s in Judaic Studies and Education as well as from Gratz College with a Master’s Degree in Jewish Education. Marisa is married to her childhood sweetheart, Matt, and has two beautiful boys, Emmet and Boaz, who are so happy to enjoy their summers in the Berkshires!

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adam kohane

Assistant Director

Adam (he/him/his) began working for Eisner Camp in 2013, and is so excited to be a part of the full time team as an Assistant Director. He started attending Eisner in 2004, when he was a K’tanim camper and made his way up through the units, participated in the Machon program, and then went on to become a counselor, songleader, and a unit head. Adam grew up in a small town in New Jersey called River Edge, and in 2018 he graduated from New York University, where he studied Music Business and took part in many different music clubs on campus. He previously worked for URJ 6 Points Sci-Tech Academy East as the Program Administrator, and he continues to songlead at many different synagogues in the New York/New Jersey area. When he is not working, Adam loves to spend time with his family and friends, watch European soccer (go Liverpool!), and run around with his dog, Molly. He is thrilled that he will continue to get to spend his summers, and now his full year, working for Eisner Camp!

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Nicki poliak

Assistant Director

Nicki (she/her/hers) started at Eisner Camp as a camper in 2005 and her love for camp has only grown since. She started as a Bonim camper and made her way up through the units, participated in the Machon program, and then went on to become a counselor, unit head, and Assistant Director of Machon. Nicki grew up in Long Island, NY, and graduated from the University of Delaware with a major in Sociology and Criminal Justice. After graduation, Nicki spent about 2 years working as the Director of Programs and Engagement at Hillel at The University of Connecticut, where her love for working in the Jewish community grew. Nicki began working on the Eisner Camp full-time team in 2018 as the Registrar, and became an Assistant Director in 2019. In 2021, Nicki pursued her Masters in Social Work at FAU, and graduated in May, 2023. When she is not working, Nicki loves to spend time outside with her dog Beau, spend time with family and friends, bake challah, and watch lots of cooking shows. Nicki is so excited to be back in her second home to spend her summers in The Bubble with the most amazing community!

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Hailey Kessler

Assistant Director

Hailey (she/her/hers) was so happy to join the Eisner team as an Assistant Director is May 2023. While Hailey is new to the Eisner community, she has spent the last 21 summers at Jewish camps. Hailey spent her summers growing up at URJ Camp Coleman as both a camper and counselor for 11 years. She has also spent summers working at Camp Pembroke, MJCCA Day Camps and Camp Tel Noar. Hailey grew up in Atlanta, GA and graduated from the University of Hartford in 2020 with a B.A. in Judaic Studies. She then went on to graduate school to pursue her Master of Arts in Jewish Professional Leadership and a Master of Education in Jewish Educational Leadership from the Hornstein Program for Jewish Professional Leadership at Brandeis University and graduated in May 2023. During her free time, Hailey enjoys hanging out with family and friends, exercising, traveling, and exploring her town of Morristown, NJ. She is passionate about creating unforgettable experiences for campers and staff and fostering vibrant Jewish communities. She is so excited to bring that passion, energy, and enthusiasm to the 01230!

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Lauren hyde

Business Manager

Eisner Camp has been a huge part of Lauren’s (she/her/hers) life as she had the unique experience growing up on the property as a child while her parents worked for the camp. After she graduated from Westfield State College she joined the Eisner and Crane Lake team as a full time employee working as one of the bookkeepers. She has done many different jobs at camp from Day Camp counselor to dishwasher and is now our Business Manager. Lauren is happy to be able to enjoy the beautiful Berkshires all year round where she lives with her husband (who she married on the Eisner Camp grounds) and two children.

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Ray Kimmelblatt

Development Director, URJ Northeast Camps

Ray Kimmelblatt (she/her) joined the URJ Northeast Camps team in 2020. She brings to the role nearly 20 years of fundraising experience in higher education, healthcare, and community organizations. Ray began her career planning the 2001 URJ Biennial Convention and spent the last 10 years as a nonprofit executive director.

Ray is a product of the Reform Movement and URJ camps, attending Eisner (’87, ’94), Kutz (’93) and Greene Family Camp (’96, ’97). She is a graduate of the University at Albany and earned a master’s degree in public administration from Baruch College. Ray is an alumna of Project OTZMA (’00), a year-long fellowship in Israel.

In spare time, Ray enjoys gardening, cooking, hiking, and refinishing furniture. A native Long Islander, Ray met her husband Craig in Hebrew school in third grade. They live outside of Albany, NY with their sons Spencer and Jordan and their rambunctious pug, Ruby.

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Meredith Smyth

Retreat Center Manager

After working as a summer staff member in 2016, Meredith (she/her/hers) fell in love with both Eisner and the Berkshires. With a M.A. in Business Management from Lesley University and a history of interning and volunteering for non-profit organizations as well as event planning, she was excited to take on the role of Retreat Center Manager. Meredith and her husband, Hal, live on camp with their puppy Charlie. They take many hikes to Look-Out Point and enjoy testing out new recipes in Manor House kitchen.

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Debby Shriber

Executive Director of URJ Northeast Camps and Youth

Debby Shriber(she/her) is proud to be the Executive Director of the URJ Northeast Camps. In this capacity she focuses on supporting the professional staff, development, and strategic vison of both Eisner and Crane Lake Camps. She’s been with URJ Camps since 2009, serving at the Crane Lake Camp Director for the past 12 years. Prior to the URJ, Debbie directed Camp Poyntelle Lewis Village, a JCC overnight camp in in Wayne County ,PA and was a day camp director.

Debby was raised in Worcester, MA. As a teen, she was a very active member of NFTY Northeast and her synagouge, Temple Emanuel. She holds a Masters Degree in Social Work from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University. Debby completed the JCC Association Lechu Lachem Senior Fellowship and also served as a mentor for the Foundation for Jewish Camp Yitro Fellowship. During the school year, Debby, her wife Nili, and their daughter Molly live in Fort Lee, NJ.

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Meet the Advisory Board

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