# What was the deal with the "Borscht Belt?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 2, 2000, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-the-borscht-belt/35336 "2000-10-02T13:56:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-the-borscht-belt/35336/1 "2000-10-02T13:56:06Z")
The “Jewish” resorts in the Catskills. Why were they called “Jewish” resorts? Were they primarily Jewish-owned? Were Jews the only people who enjoyed vacations in the Catskills? Didn’t the goyim patronize these resorts? ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-the-borscht-belt/35336/2 "2000-10-02T14:20:06Z")
It was a cultural thing that was, like many other things, _much_ simpler in the last generation. Different cultural groups (read: minorities) had different vacationing habits. Without getting too specific, suffice it to say that middle-class Jewish New Yorkers did not “summer in the Hamptons.” Instead, they went to the Mountains. Someone got the idea that they could cater to the growing population of Bungalow Colonies and time-share resorts by building a hotel and advertising it to a Jewish clientelle. They served Kosher food, hired a Rabbi for the weekends and brought in Jewish enterteiners. “Presto! It’s a hit. Not a _chamalia_, but a hit.”[sup]\*[/sup] When one of them became popular, someone built a second. And so on… Strictly supply and demand - no mystery. [sub]\*Bonus points for anyone who gets the reference.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![mblackwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@mblackwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mblackwell)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-the-borscht-belt/35336/3 "2000-10-02T14:25:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Bonus points for anyone who gets the reference. The Dick Van Dyke show? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-the-borscht-belt/35336/4 "2000-10-02T14:27:22Z")
Another thing is, most resorts did not let Jews in till well after WWII (see that scene in “Gentleman’s Agreement” where Yiddishe Gregory Peck gets thrown out of a hotel). So Jews had to open their own resorts. So many Jews lived in the New York area that—before widespread plane travel—they chose the upstate New York region for a string of Jew-friendly resorts. Kosher food, Jewish comics, etc. Most of the Borscht Belt places are closed now; everyone just jets off to Europe for vacation. ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-the-borscht-belt/35336/5 "2000-10-02T15:23:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mblackwell \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Bonus points for anyone who gets the reference. > > The Dick Van Dyke show? \*\* Good guess, but, alas, incorrect. Anyone else? (HINT: think stage, not TV) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-the-borscht-belt/35336/6 "2000-10-02T15:56:32Z")
[hijack]Fiddler on the Roof? Just a stab in the dark, but it’s the only particularly Jewish stage play I can think of off the top of my head.[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-the-borscht-belt/35336/7 "2000-10-02T16:16:49Z")
(Guilty of a Hijack) Sorry, **Chronos** , you’re off-base, too. But, you’re on the right track! If no one gets it by noon or so, I will post another hint. ---
**Author:** ![socialxray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@socialxray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/socialxray)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-the-borscht-belt/35336/8 "2000-10-02T17:19:00Z")
Could it be…Mel Brooks’ the Producer? That or “Springtime for Hitler?” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-the-borscht-belt/35336/9 "2000-10-02T17:23:01Z")
Is it from _To Be Or Not To Be?_ “It would get a laugh…a laugh is nothing to be sneezed at.” ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-the-borscht-belt/35336/10 "2000-10-02T18:47:48Z")
Good guesses, all. But no one has gotten it yet. I am late with the clue… Think… _Judd Hirsch and the playwrights who love him_… Ooh! I gave it away! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2000, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-the-borscht-belt/35336/11 "2000-10-02T23:41:57Z")
Judd Hirsch… “I’m Not Rappaport”? (I SAW the movie and it bored me to sleep… so it would be small wonder if I didn’t remember the line!) ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2000, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-the-borscht-belt/35336/12 "2000-10-03T04:55:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\*Judd Hirsch… “I’m Not Rappaport”? > > (I SAW the movie and it bored me to sleep… so it would be small wonder if I didn’t remember the line!) \*\* You’re so close it hurts! But, no… That’s not it. BTW, _I’m Not Rappaport_ is a wonderful play… I didn’t know that they made a movie version starring Hirsch. As far as I know, the only movie version stars Walter Mathau… and is **excellent**. It also includes Craig T. Nelson (of _Coach_ fame) in a minor role - I’m a big fan of his! ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-deal-with-the-borscht-belt/35336/13 "2000-10-06T04:55:02Z")
_No one_ can figure this out?