News

PHILADELPHIA —Julian Krinsky’s Yesh Shabbat (www.yeshshabbat.com), a highly acclaimed, premiere pre-college summer camp attracting tweens and teens from all over the U.S. and abroad, has become a non-profit organization. The motivation behind this change of priorities is the desire of Julian Krinsky, the camp founder, to give back to his community.

“After attending Yesh, I feel a strong connection to Judaism that lasts me throughout the year”

“When I learned about my lineage and the impact my ancestors made in the Jewish world it made me realize my responsibility to the Jewish people,” says Julian Krinsky. “I started Yesh Shabbat and established it as a non-profit organization to give Jewish students a sense of Jewish identity and the same opportunities afforded to other teens in sports and summer programming.”

Originally from South Africa, Krinsky is a former international tennis player and an acclaimed tennis coach. He was ranked no. 7 in his home country and played at Wimbledon, the French Open and the Italian Open, as well as at the Maccabi Games in Israel.

Though Krinsky personally became a renowned tennis player, there was something inside him pushing him to give back; he was inspired to create Yesh Shabbat camp. After learning of the outstanding love of Judaism of his great, great grandfather, Rabbi Yehoshua Yitzhak Shapira or widely known as Eizel Charif, he wanted to create a camp for young Jews so they too would love their Jewish heritage.

Eizel Charif, born in Lithuania in 1801, was a child prodigy. He learned the entire Talmud by the time he was just nine and knew the entire treatise of Jewish law by heart. Reb Eizel became one of the most important rabbinical authorities of his time and authored numerous works on Jewish law and texts, including one of the most important commentaries on the Jerusalem Talmud ever written, Noam Yerushalmi. And despite the hours he devoted to studying and writing, Reb Eizel was renowned for the communal and charitable activities he undertook in whatever community he was living in. The deep respect and honor of having a legacy as such, propelled Krinsky to create a camp to give back, like his grandfather.

“After attending Yesh, I feel a strong connection to Judaism that lasts me throughout the year,” said Arianna Breslauer of London, England. “Shabbat is a beautiful experience and my friends from Yesh all relate to my enhanced Jewish identity.”

Yesh Shabbat’s program for summer 2011 includes a huge range of sports, arts and educational courses, all of which are taught by professional teachers and instructors within a shomer shabbos and glatt kosher environment.

Providing world-class educators and courses within a positive Jewish framework are the two pillars of Yesh Shabbat. Turning Yesh Shabbat into a non-profit enterprise is Krinsky’s way of making the premiere camp more widely accessible. Through teaching children to value both their rich religious heritage and the importance of contributing to modern society, Yesh Shabbat hopes to foster another generation of Jewish children who will contribute to the world around them while maintaining their religious identity. To learn more about Yesh Shabbat, please visit youtube.com/jkyeshshabbat.

About Yesh Shabbat

Dedicated to providing stimulating and enriching experiences, Julian Krinsky Camps & Programs has been offering innovative summer programs for more than 30 years. Yesh Shabbat, located at Haverford College on Philadelphia’s Main Line, offers sophisticated, world-class instruction in the arts, sports, fitness, and academics on shomer shabbos and Glatt kosher facilities. Yesh Shabbat features small class or group sizes and carefully selected, highly qualified professional instructors. Students are encouraged to make new friends, discover new ideas, develop new skills and have fun in a friendly atmosphere of exploration and growth. For more information, please visit yeshshabbat.com.