Kol Ramah

Hofa'a bassist, 5th year Cantorial student and Ramah historian, Max Silverstone discusses his studies in Israel and recently uncoverred history of Ramah Nyack and Berkshires.

Live recording of Ramah Berkshires concert last night in the Ulam. Featuring the Ramah Berkshires Hofa'a band!

Piano – Adam Siegel, Bass – Max Silverstone, Guitar – Jeff Weisz, Drums – Rayaz Khan, Vocals – Lexi Wenger, Landon Braverman.

Special Guest Singers – Leilah Rosen, Helene Weintraub, Odeya Buzaglo

Harris Cohen – Engineer

Musical Direction by Landon Braverman

Listen to the wonderful kids of Tzeirim interviewing the people at the farm of Camp Ramah!

Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky - broadcasted directly from our studio in Ramah Berkshires! This week the double parashah Chukkat-Balak [Numbers 19:1-25:9] allows the Diaspora communities to catch up with Israel. Because the 2nd day of Shavuot was on Shabbat in the Diaspora, necessitating a special reading for the holiday while in Israel it was a normal Shabbat with a regular weekly reading, Israel has been a week ahead. This week is the first opportunity for a double portion in the book of Numbers, so we are reading Chukkat-Balak while in Israel they will be reading Balak.

Among the many topics covered in this double portion, we ended up focusing on two: chapter 19 with the ritual of the red heifer for purification after corpse contamination and chapter 20:1-13 which is the famous story of Moses and the Rock, on account of which, at least in this week’s Torah reading, Moses and Aaron lose their ability to enter the Promised Land, because of their failure to sanctify God before the people at the Rock. While there is much more to the reading than this, we find ourselves year after year unable to stop talking about this story. I hope that at least each year we have something new to say! Shabbat Shalom!!

Take a listen as Omer and Ben of Radio Kol Ramah get to speak to campers and staff as the buses pull up for the start of Kayitz 2023!

Parsha Talk; with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky Parashat Korach [Numbers 16-18] is one of the few parashiyot [weekly Torah readings] to take the name of a person. The Book of Numbers itself has two others, next week with half of Chukkat-Balak and the following week with Pinchas. Korach, a cousin of Moses and Aaron, leads a rebellion against their authority. Jaccob Milgrom, in his JPS Commentary on Numbers, identifies the strands of at least four separate rebellions which are fused together in the parashah this week. In our conversation we try to untangle Korach’s complaint. Is it in anyway justified? Give a listen and let us know what you think below in the comments or at [email protected]. Shabbat Shalom!

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Sh’lach L’kha [Numbers 13-15] neatly divides into two uneven sections: the story of the spies [13-14] and, as Jacob Milgrom describes it in his JPS Commentary on Numbers, a miscellany of laws. The end of the miscellany is the passage on tzitzit, which became well known as the 3rd paragraph of the Shema. There is a connection between the spies and the tzitzit passage; both contain variation of the Hebrew root “tur”, meaning “to scout” or “to follow”, and zanah, perhaps euphemistically, “to follow one’s lustful urge” or “to be led astray”. Our conversation focused mostly on the spies, which for the rabbis was one of the great catastrophes of biblical history. They imagine it as the first of a series events which took place on the 9th of Av [cf. Mishnah Ta’anit 4:6]. Like many another story in the Bible, it is endlessly fascinating. Shabbat Shalom!

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat B’ha’alot’kha [Numbers 8-12], the third parashah in Numbers, covers a lot of ground. To name just a few topics, there is the lighting of the menorah [Numbers 8:1-4]; the ritual purification of the Levites so they might perform their duties with the Tabernacle [Numbers 8:5-22]; the Second Passover [9:1-14], which allows those who are in a state of ritual impurity or too far from the Temple at the time of the First Passover to participate in this great national celebration; the guidance in the wilderness [Numbers 10:29-36] provided by Hobab, the name given here for the figure known elsewhere as Jethro (father-in-law of Moses), and the Ark, including the two verses separated by the inverted nuns [the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet], the complaints at Taberah [11:1-3] and Kibbroth-Hattaavah [4-35], which includes Moses complaining to God about his burden, God providing for 70 elders to assist Moses, and God providing a month’s worth of quail to satisfy the people’s demand for meat; and the passage about Aaron and Miriam challenging the authority of Moses [chapter 12]. Even though this list seems exhaustive, there are things left out! Our conversation is perhaps not so wide-ranging, but worth a listen nevertheless. Shabbat Shalom!

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Naso [Numbers 4:21–7:89] is the second parashah in the Book of Numbers. It contains the longest single chapter in the Torah [7, with 89 verses], and at 176 verses, is also the longest single parashah of the year. In fact, it has the most letters, the most words, and the most lines in the Torah scroll of any single parashah.

For content, it contains the conclusion of the levitical census, detailing the count of Levites between 30 and 50, and the responbilities of each of these families when the Tabernacle must be taken down in order for the camp to move. It take up some matters related to the purification of the camp, the ritual for the woman suspected of adultery, the ritual of the Nazir [the man or woman who takes upon him or herself extra religious obligations], the priestly blessing, and, the lengthy description of the tribal gifts to the Tabernacle.

Because this week Eliot’s family welcomed his first grandchild, a daughter born to his son and daughter-in-law, we talked about the significance of that event for Eliot, which led to a discussion of the priestly blessing and the meaning of ritual. We welcome your comments, either here or at [email protected]. Shabbat Shalom!

Parsha Talk; with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. With the onset of Shavuot Thursday night it is another early edition of Parashah Talk. In the Diaspora [outside the Land of Israel], the 2nd day of Shavuot on Shabbat preempts the weekly Torah reading, so that Israel will be a week ahead for a number of weeks. Our show is devoted to an exploration of Shavuot, which comes with its own set of Torah readings, haftarot, customs such as eating dairy, and the all-night study session known as Tiqqun Lail Shavuot. We discuss Revelation and what it might mean to us and how one might best understand the holiday as a celebration of Revelation. Along the way we discuss some other aspects of the holiday as well. With best wishes for a Chag Same’ach and Shabbat Shalom!