The Borscht Belt, or Yiddish Alps, is a region which was noted for its summer resorts that catered to Jewish vacationers, especially residents of New York City.

The name comes from borscht, a soup of Ukrainian origin (made with beets as the main ingredient, giving it a deep reddish-purple color)[4] that is popular in many Central and Eastern European countries and brought by Ashkenazi Jewish and Slavic immigrants to the United States.

After the expansion of the railway system including the tracks Ontario and Western as well as the Ulster and Delaware Railroad,[2] the area of the Catskill Mountains became a tourist destination because of the beauty of the landscape, which impressed the painters of American Romanticism, and because of the rising popularity of fly fishing in its trout-rich rivers.

Visits to the area by Jewish families were already underway "as early as the 1890s ... Tannersville ... was 'a great resort of our Israelite breathren [sic]' ... from the 1920s on [there were] hundreds of hotels.

"[8] The larger hotels provided "Friday night and holiday services as well as kosher cooking", thus supporting religious families to take a vacation in accordance to their customs.

[9] Borscht Belt hotels, bungalow colonies, summer camps, and kuchaleyns (kuch-alein, literally: "Cook it yourself",[10] a Yiddish name for self-catered boarding houses)[11] flourished.

[2] The Borscht Belt reached its peak in the 1950s and 60s with over 500 resorts, 50,000 bungalows, and 1,000 rooming houses[21] but the start of a decline was apparent by the late 1960s.

"Railways began cutting service to the area, the popularity of air travel increased, and a younger generation of Jewish-Americans chose other leisure destinations.

[30] The Stevensville Hotel in Swan Lake was located on the shores of an artificial reservoir of the West Branch Mongaup River which fed a tannery since the 1840s.

[35] In 2015 the ultra-Orthodox[36] Congregation Iched Anash bought the property for $2.2 million[37] and began to operate the Satmar Boys Camp, a religious summer school (yeshiva gedolah).

[38] In 1987, New York City mayor Ed Koch proposed buying the Gibber Hotel in Kiamesha Lake to house the homeless.

In 1984, the Catskills division of Hatzalah was founded which covers the Borscht Belt and served the needs of a growing Orthodox clientele; as of 2020 a volunteer force of 450 rescue workers and paramedics is operating a fleet of 18 ambulances.

Although financially independent from the other chapters, it cooperates in day-to-day business with Central Hatzalah of NYC as the 17. neighborhood and also with State Forces (police, forest rangers, emergency medical services, fire departments).

[49][50][51] Despite the region's decline as a cultural epicenter, a handful of traveling acts, such as the Doox of Yale, continue to regularly tour the Borscht Belt.

[52] Between 2013 and 2018, the decaying state of the abandoned resorts was captured by several ruins photographers:[53][54][27][55] The tradition of Borscht Belt entertainment started in the early 20th century with the Paradise Garden Theatre constructed in Hunter, New York by Yiddish theater star Boris Thomashefsky.

[62] A cradle of American Jewish comedy since the 1920s, the Borscht Belt entertainment circuit has helped launch the careers of many famous comedians and acted as a launchpad for those just starting out.

Beginning around 1960, the Borscht Belt began a gradual demise due to many factors including the growth of suburbia, inexpensive airfare, and generational changes.

[73] In the graphic novel Maus: A Survivor's Tale (1991), Art Spiegelman's father Vladek spends the summer in a bungalow settlement in the Catskills and visits with his son at the nearby The Pines resort.

In one scene, Brad Garrett plays an unidentified Borscht Belt stand-up comedian whose routine is bombing, but whose Borscht-esque humor is being transcribed by writer Alan Zweibel (portrayed by Josh Brener).