The New York Ride‘s weekend retreat will take place on the grounds of Camp Kinder Ring, a Jewish summer camp located in Hopewell Junction, New York. Aside from being a beautiful and fun setting for the Shabbaton and start of the Ride, Camp Kinder Ring has a very interesting and unusual history. Camp Kinder Ring was started in 1927 by The Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring, an organization founded in 1900 by Jewish immigrants in New York and still active today, with members across North America. As the number of Eastern European Jews immigrating to the United States grew drastically near the end of the 1800s, it became clear that there was a real need for an organization that would work to preserve the Jewish culture and identity, and to unify the community against the challenges facing new American immigrants. Der Arbeter Ring, or The Workmen’s Circle in English, was founded to meet these challenges, and has evolved with time to adjust to the changing situation of American Jews, while remaining true to its founding principles of Jewish community, the promotion of an enlightened Jewish culture, and social justice. (more…)
