About
URJ Camp Harlam is an overnight camp that focuses on enriching and strengthening Reform Jewish identity and values while cultivating lifelong friendships. The camp community is organized into Junior Camp, Senior Camp, and the Gesher (Counselor in Training) Program, with Junior and Senior Camps broken down into units based on a child’s school grade to create a more intimate and age-appropriate experience. Harlam offers a fun, supportive environment where campers can explore, challenge themselves, and develop their passions, while teaching and honing 21st century skills.
• Ages: 8–18 years old
Established in 1958, Camp Harlam has a strong tradition of success and excellence and is one of 15 Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) overnight camps across North America, with a population of approximately 550 campers each session and a staff of over 225 exceptional role models. The mission of Camp Harlam is to create a vibrant, fun and caring camp community which enriches and strengthens Reform Jewish identity and values while cultivating lifelong friendships. Core values at Camp Harlam include Ahavat Yisrael (Love of Israel and Hebrew), B’tzelem Elohim (Created in Image of God), G’milut Hasadim (Acts of Loving Kindness), Hachnasat Orchim (Being a Welcoming and Accepting Community), Kehilah Kedoshah (Sacred Community), Ruach (Spirit), Talmud Torah (Lifelong Jewish Learning), Tikkun Middot (Character Development), and Tikkun Olam (Responsibility to Repair the World), with additional focus on middot (character traits) such as Simchah, Acharayut, Nitzachon, Rachamim, Bitachon, Tiferet, and Binah, which are recognized via middot bracelets.
Camp Harlam’s facility and programming follow a Universal Design approach and include accessible cabins and buildings that meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, gender neutral restrooms, privacy for showering, and individual changing rooms in each cabin. The camp includes a Camper/Staff Gender Sexuality Alliance, space for affinity groups such as Jews of Color, and states that campers live with the gender with which they identify, with campers for whom gender is not in a binary welcomed and celebrated, while also exploring the demand for a non-binary/all-gender cabin. The camp has zero tolerance for bias and prejudice, a year-round Inclusion Coordinator, a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) task force, and a Camper Care team that focuses on Mental, Emotional, and Social Health (MESH) and works to ensure that each member of the community is welcomed and supported.
The staff at Camp Harlam is described as highly skilled and dedicated to the spiritual, physical, social, and emotional well-being of each child, with Youth Mental Health First Aid training that yields near-peer counselors who are trained to notice and act on what they observe. Camp Harlam is part of the Union for Reform Judaism family of camps and youth programs, with congregational partners that promote camp and a DEI task force that looks critically at the inner workings of Harlam’s infrastructure. The camp states that it is committed to ensuring that no child is denied a Jewish summer experience at URJ Camp Harlam and to meeting families where they are in their Jewish journey and helping to make all family members feel a part of the camp community, and it also offers an Avodah program for adults in the disabilities community ages 18–30.
Parent testimonials describe growth in campers who feel at home and comfortable at Camp Harlam, praise the staff and counselors, and note that the staff is responsive to children’s needs and provides support to families. Additional testimonials state that camp is constantly improving and innovating, and that the Camper Care staff and cabin counselors have created an inclusive, supportive community in which campers can grow in confidence and independence.
Last updated July 15, 2026.
• Ages: 8–18 years old
Established in 1958, Camp Harlam has a strong tradition of success and excellence and is one of 15 Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) overnight camps across North America, with a population of approximately 550 campers each session and a staff of over 225 exceptional role models. The mission of Camp Harlam is to create a vibrant, fun and caring camp community which enriches and strengthens Reform Jewish identity and values while cultivating lifelong friendships. Core values at Camp Harlam include Ahavat Yisrael (Love of Israel and Hebrew), B’tzelem Elohim (Created in Image of God), G’milut Hasadim (Acts of Loving Kindness), Hachnasat Orchim (Being a Welcoming and Accepting Community), Kehilah Kedoshah (Sacred Community), Ruach (Spirit), Talmud Torah (Lifelong Jewish Learning), Tikkun Middot (Character Development), and Tikkun Olam (Responsibility to Repair the World), with additional focus on middot (character traits) such as Simchah, Acharayut, Nitzachon, Rachamim, Bitachon, Tiferet, and Binah, which are recognized via middot bracelets.
Camp Harlam’s facility and programming follow a Universal Design approach and include accessible cabins and buildings that meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, gender neutral restrooms, privacy for showering, and individual changing rooms in each cabin. The camp includes a Camper/Staff Gender Sexuality Alliance, space for affinity groups such as Jews of Color, and states that campers live with the gender with which they identify, with campers for whom gender is not in a binary welcomed and celebrated, while also exploring the demand for a non-binary/all-gender cabin. The camp has zero tolerance for bias and prejudice, a year-round Inclusion Coordinator, a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) task force, and a Camper Care team that focuses on Mental, Emotional, and Social Health (MESH) and works to ensure that each member of the community is welcomed and supported.
The staff at Camp Harlam is described as highly skilled and dedicated to the spiritual, physical, social, and emotional well-being of each child, with Youth Mental Health First Aid training that yields near-peer counselors who are trained to notice and act on what they observe. Camp Harlam is part of the Union for Reform Judaism family of camps and youth programs, with congregational partners that promote camp and a DEI task force that looks critically at the inner workings of Harlam’s infrastructure. The camp states that it is committed to ensuring that no child is denied a Jewish summer experience at URJ Camp Harlam and to meeting families where they are in their Jewish journey and helping to make all family members feel a part of the camp community, and it also offers an Avodah program for adults in the disabilities community ages 18–30.
Parent testimonials describe growth in campers who feel at home and comfortable at Camp Harlam, praise the staff and counselors, and note that the staff is responsive to children’s needs and provides support to families. Additional testimonials state that camp is constantly improving and innovating, and that the Camper Care staff and cabin counselors have created an inclusive, supportive community in which campers can grow in confidence and independence.
Last updated July 15, 2026.
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