Inside BCI
Between building community in a new place and figuring out your career path, it’s normal to feel unsure in your 20s: Are you headed in the right direction? How do you find “your people?” Where does Judaism fit into your new life?
Ziering Brandeis Camp Institute (BCI) helps young people develop the skills, confidence, and perspective to work through those questions alongside peers and mentors who get you.
Our story
Founded in 1941 by educator Dr. Shlomo Bardin and Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, Ziering Brandeis Camp Institute began as a “laboratory for living Judaism”—a place to explore Jewish life through arts, study, and community.
In 1947, BCI settled on 2,700 acres in the hills of Simi Valley, California—a landscape Bardin believed echoed Jerusalem—and grew into a one-of-a-kind summer experience that brings young Jews from around the world to learn and create together.
Arthur Pinchev brings an electric energy and focus to BCI’s programs—deepening its role as a vibrant center of Jewish learning, leadership, and connection.
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