Every summer, around 1500 Jewish campers from over 20 countries attend Camp Szarvas, which is sponsored by the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (AJJDC). Each summer 70-75 Szarvas Fellows are selected to represent North America at the camp. As American Ambassadors, they are given the unique opportunity to meet, celebrate, explore and share experiences with their Jewish student peers from around the world.
Camp Szarvas is a place that nurtures exploration, leadership and Jewish identity building and weaves together the many different ways Jews around the world live out their Judaism. It is at the forefront of what it means to engage and experience what global Jewish peoplehood is all about.The Szarvas Fellowship program provides exceptional North American high school student leaders with the opportunity of a lifetime! The Fellowships provides the participants with the unique opportunity to gain a first-hand understanding of their own roots as well as the backgrounds and experiences of their peers from other countries. The Fellowship explores topics like Jewish identity, social justice, pluralism, Israel, the role of the Diaspora, and more. In the international context of Camp Szarvas, these questions take on new dimensions and complexities. Fellows also spend time each day in a mifgash/encounter, a meeting with another country, where they discuss Jewish life and identity in their respective countries.
The camp is nestled on the banks of the beautiful Körös river in the peaceful resort town of Szarvas, Hungary. Modern recreational, housing and strictly kosher dining facilities are set amidst expansive landscaped grounds lined with ripe, fragrant fruit trees. The name Szarvas, pronounced “Sar Vash”, is Hungarian for “Deer”.
