Mission + Vision + History

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Crane Lake Camp is rooted in a long history and rich traditions of excellence. A second home to 350 children each session, campers come together to experience the fun and magic of Jewish camping from across the Northeast.

The Crane Lake 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 beautiful facilities and expert staff.

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.

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 Crane Lake 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 Crane Lake 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 Crane Lake Camp returns home a wiser, more self-confident, a bigger part of our community and more connected to the Jewish community.

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

Everything done at Crane Lake Camp stems from a good foundation. Campers and counselors alike strive every day to embody our mission statement, which we believe help us to be the best selves and community we can be.

HISTORY OF CRANE LAKE CAMP

In the mid 1990s, then UAHC President Rabbi Eric Yoffie called upon the movement to expand the capacities of our camps by adding new beds and bunks.  Eisner was running at capacity and the old Dan Davis Dining Hall was operating double sessions for meals…we couldn’t even put the entire camp in the dining hall for Shabbat.  The Eisner Camp Commission, as it was known in those days, debated the issue and decided that without a larger dining hall, it would be impossible to expand the camp.  But even more importantly, it was felt that increasing the size of camp would take away from the spirit and magic of bunks and units that were just the right size to stay personal.  And then there was the question of where could we put more bunks, but that was laid to rest with the decision not expand.

Marty Messinger, a long-time supporter and benefactor of Eisner Camp, while impressed by Eisner thanks to his children’s experiences, was upset that there were waiting lists. A friend of Marty’s, attorney Harris Aaronson, told him about Crane Lake and that its owners were looking to retire.  Owned and operated by Ed and Barbara Ulanoff since 1955, Crane Lake was an opportunity to expand Northeast Jewish Camping at a nearby facility.  Ed and his head counselor, Herb May, were Physical Education teachers, and had a cadre of great teachers each summer. Many would become the first year’s staff when Crane Lake was purchased.

As negotiations went back and forth, three founding donors put together the down payment that would secure the camp: Harold Grinspoon, Howard Kaufman, and Marty Messinger.

These three generous families made it possible for the UAHC to purchase Crane Lake Camp in 1998.  We learned early on that many of the campers and staff who continued with us were members of Reform Congregations. A separate Camp Commission was established and chaired by John Stern, a past chair of the Eisner Camp Commission.  Once the camp had its footing as a successful URJ camp, the commissions were merged back into one Northeast Camp Committee. Camp’s inaugural director was Louis Bordman.  From 2001 to 2004, Louis directed Crane Lake and Eisner simultaneously and he was the executive director of both camps from 2001 to 2010. From 2005 until 2010, Crane Lake was led by Herb May who was succeeded by our current director, Debby Shriber. All were instrumental in the growth and development of camp as well as the thousands of people who attended and worked at URJ Crane Lake Camp.

In 2015, URJ Crane Lake Camp celebrated 18 years of Jewish camping.