Join Author Marisa Scheinfeld to learn about the Rise, fall, impact of the Borscht Belt, with highlights from her book on Sunday, Feb. 8th at 3PM at Congregation Shir Shalom!

www.marisascheinfeld.com

www.borschtbeltbook.com

Today the Borscht Belt is recalled through the nostalgic lens of summer swims, Saturday night dances, and comedy performances. But its 
current state, like that of many other formerly glorious regions, is nothing like its earlier status. Forgotten about and exhausted, much of its 
structural environment has been left to decay. THE BORSCHT BELT, which features essays by Stefan Kanfer and Jenna Weissman Joselit,
presents Marisa Scheinfeld’s photographs of abandoned sites where resorts, hotels and bungalow colonies once boomed in the Catskill 

Other sites have since been demolished, or repurposed, making this book an even more significant documentation of a pivotal era in American Jewish history. 

THE BORSCHT BELT presents a contemporary view of more than forty hotel and bungalow sites. From entire expanses of abandoned properties to small lots containing drained swimming pools, the remains of the Borscht Belt era now lie forgotten, overgrown, and vacant. In the absence of human activity, nature has reclaimed the sites, having encroached upon or completely overtaken them. Many of the interiors have been vandalized or marked by paintball players and graffiti artists. Each ruin lies radically altered by the elements and effects of time. Scheinfeld’s 
images record all of these developments.