Beyond the Borscht Belt: A New Online Class Explores Culture, Yiddishkeit, and Politics in the Catskills

This spring, a new online class is inviting participants to look past the familiar images of sprawling resorts and stand-up comedians that have long defined the Catskills in the popular imagination.

Beginning April 13, sociologist and longtime Catskills scholar Phil Brown will lead a three-session course, Culture, Yiddishkeit, and Politics, hosted by 92nd Street Y’s Roundtable series. The class runs on three consecutive Mondays—April 13, 20 and 27—from 10 to 11 a.m.

For Brown, the course builds on an earlier program, which drew strong interest and lively discussion. That response helped shape the direction of this new series.

“This really resonates with a lot of people,” Brown said.

A deeper look at a familiar place

The Catskills—often synonymous with the mid-20th century “Borscht Belt”—are typically remembered through a narrow lens: grand hotels, bustling dining rooms and a pipeline of comedians who would later become household names.

Brown’s course aims to widen that frame.

Over the three sessions, he plans to examine daily hotel life, the role of Yiddish culture, and the political movements that shaped the region. Along the way, he draws on decades of research and personal experience, including his own family’s work in Catskills hotels.

The first session focuses on hotel culture—not just from the perspective of guests, but also workers and owners. Brown uses one small resort, the Seven Gables Hotel in Greenfield Park, as a case study to illustrate how these properties functioned as family-run ecosystems.

He describes a world where relatives filled nearly every role, from kitchen staff to counselors, and where daily life unfolded across dining rooms, kitchens and entertainment spaces. Archival photographs from the late 1950s and early 1960s will help bring that era into focus.

The language and life of Yiddishkeit

The second session turns to Yiddishkeit—a term that encompasses language, culture and a broader sense of Jewish identity.

In the early decades of the Catskills resort era, many visitors were Yiddish-speaking immigrants or the children of immigrants. They came for a cultural environment that felt familiar.

“They wanted Yiddish humor. They wanted Jewish food. They wanted Yiddish songs,” Brown said.

Some resorts leaned heavily into that identity, hosting performances and programming rooted in Yiddish culture. Writer Isaac Bashevis Singer, for example, spent time in the region, reflecting its importance as a cultural hub.

Organizations like The Workers Circle also played a major role, operating summer centers, educational programs and mutual aid networks. In some cases, even business records—such as hotel association meeting notes—were kept in Yiddish.

For Brown, these details show how the Catskills served as a place where Jewish life could be expressed openly and collectively, whether through language, music or shared institutions.

A landscape shaped by politics

The third session explores a lesser-known dimension: politics.

From socialist organizations to labor organizing efforts, the Catskills were deeply connected to broader political movements of the 20th century. Some hotels aligned themselves with left-leaning ideologies, hosting intellectuals, musicians and activists.

Brown points to examples ranging from labor struggles—like efforts to organize workers in local industries—to resorts that served as gathering spaces for political discussion and cultural exchange.

“These were places that would have entertainers, intellectuals and organizers,” he said.

The session also touches on training camps for those preparing to emigrate to Israel, as well as the role of politically affiliated institutions in shaping daily life across the region.

Remembering a complex legacy

Brown plans to open the series by acknowledging two figures connected to Catskills history: hospitality leader Elaine Grossinger Etess and musician Neil Sedaka, whose family ties link him to the resort world.

For Brown, these stories—personal, cultural and political—are all part of what he calls a broader field of “Catskills studies.”

A future course he’s developing, tentatively titled Writing the Catskills, will explore that literary landscape in depth. But for now, the focus remains on expanding how people understand a place often reduced to a single storyline.

“It’s more than just the hotels and the food and the comedians,” Brown said.

Image: Hotel Signs on Route 17. A new online class this spring is taking a deeper look at Catskills history—beyond the familiar images of big hotels, comedians and summer crowds. (Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project)