Kol Ramah

The first day of Kayitz (summer) 2021 was more exciting than ever! After a 1 year break, the campers were thrilled to come to Camp Ramah in the Berkshires, meet their friends (and new buddies) and enjoy their summer.

As always, Kol Ramah aired the event on a special 4 hour show, including interviews with camp director, Rabbi Ethan Linden, camp staff, Israeli Mishlachat and of course - lots of happy campers!

This year, Kol Ramah has a brand new mobile studio, and our own Amy Erlanger used it to capture the exciting first moments of the summer. Yaniv Morozovsky and Mitch Mernick were in the studio, talking to special guests from the Ramah family, calling in from all over the USA, and as always, playing the best Israeli music - new and old.

Parsashat Balaq [Numbers 22:2-25:9] is perhaps best-known for the story of Balaam and his donkey, one of the few animals in the Torah to be given a talking role. Balaq, the king of Moab, is eager to protect himself and his nation from the Israelites, and tries to hire Balaam to curse the Israelites. In short, that mission ends in failure for Balaq, since Balaam is compelled to bless the Israelies. One verse [Numbers 24:5] is well-known to synagogue-goers, recited on entering a synagogue, Mah tovu ohalekha ya’aqov, mish’knotekha yisrael [How goodly are your tents, Jacob, your dwelling-places, Israel]. The parashah ends with half of the story of the apostasy at Baal Peor [Numbers 25:1-9], which will conclude next week.

Staff week has begun at Camp Ramah Berkshires, where this show originated. A shoutout to all the staff, especially Mitch Mernick! Shabbat Shalom!!

Parashat Huqqat [Numbers 19:1-22:1] begins with the curious ritual of the red heifer, the cow which is completely burned so that its ashes might be sprinkled on all who come into contact with any part of a dead human being [corpse, bone, battle death, grave] in a ritual designed to restore to ritual purity those who have become impure by what is known as corpse contamination or corpse defilement, the highest degree of impurity. This ritual, also read on Shabbat Parah, the third of the four special shabbatot before Passover, is followed by the story of Moses & The Rock, which we have discussed before, but offer something new this year. We also consider the death of Aaron, compare it to the death of Miriam, which introduces the Moses & The Rock story, and Moses as diplomat, in his dealings with the locals whose land he wishes he and the people can traverse. It was a robust conversation, if I do say so myself, though as is often the case, we do not get to all that we thought we wanted to discuss. Please send comments and criticisms to [email protected]. Shabbat Shalom!

Parashat Korach [Numbers 16-18], featured on this week’s Parashah Talk, is primarily concerned with Korach’s rebellion. As Jacob Milgrom observes in his JPS Torah Commentary on Numbers, the Torah story combines elements of 4 discrete rebellions. I would like to say that we discussed these rebellions in full, but technical difficulties prevented me from participating as much as I would have liked. For stretches of the recording, my colleagues were frozen on my screen, and I was unable to hear them. Such is life in the 21st century! I hope my comments in this portion of the recording were to the point, but I am certain that Eliot and Jeremy had much to say even without me! Shabbat Shalom!!

Image: The Punishment of Korah (detail from the fresco Punishment of the Rebels by Sandro Botticelli (1480–1482) in the Sistine Chapel) - Wikipedia

Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky invite you into the rabbi's study once again! The main focus of Parashah Sh’lach L’chah [Numbers 13-15] is the tragic episode of the spies, the tribal chieftains sent to scout out the land. Their negative report sets back Israelite history a generation, for those over 20 are condemned to die in the wilderness, leader and follower alike. For the rabbis, the day of their evil report, the 9th of Av, prefigures the destruction of both the First and Second Temples, among other bad things that befell the Jewish people, and some have associated any number of catastrophes since then with this date. Our conversation focuses likewise on the spies, exploring the psychological dimensions of the portrayal and comparing this sin with the sin of the Golden Calf [Exodus 32:1-33:23]. We conclude with a consideration of the mitzvah of tzitzit, the fringes traditionally worn on four-cornered garments. Shabbat Shalom!

We recorded Parashah Talk a day early and managed to run late. There was so much to talk about in B’ha’alot’khah [Numbers 8-12]: the second Passover, the silver trumpets, the complaining people and the summons to prophecy of the 70, and the concluding story about Miriam’s and Aaron’s complaint about Moses and his gift of prophecy. And even here, we left things out and did not go into the depth we might have wanted. There should be something for everyone, so take what you need and leave the rest . . . . Shabbat Shalom!

Image thestudioinvenice.com

Parsha Talk Naso 5781with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Jeremy Kalmanofsky and Barry Chesler - Parashah Talk for Naso [Numbers 4:21-7:89] features conversation about the Nazir [Num. 6:1-21] and the haftarah from Judges 13:2-25, about the birth of Samson], the Sotah [the woman suspected of adultery [Num. 5:11-31], the Priestly Blessing [Num. 6:22-27], and the gifts to the mishkan [Tabernacle] from the chiefs of the tribes [Num 7:1-89]. It is the longest single weekly parashah, if our information is corrext, so we were pleased to cover most of it in our half hour or so. Shabbat Shalom!

Parashat B’midbar [Num. 1:1-4:20] opens Sefer B’midbar [Book of Numbers] with a census of the Israelite men aged 20 and over, suitable for military service. And if that were not dry enough, the census information is repeated, given as the 4 camps [one for each direction (east-south-west-north)]. Eliot could not quite bring himself to say it was an amazing parashah, but I think we did it, and ourselves, credit. We found meaning in the details of the census, discussed the exchange of Levites and first-born as religious functionaries, and discussed Shavuot, the two-day holiday celebrating the Giving of Torah which begins Sunday night. At the beginning and end we expressed our concern for the situation in Israel, and to her people and those who are there, which includes our children, extended family, and friends. May God grant our request for peace for Israel, her people, and all who dwell on earth. Shabbat Shalom! Chag Sameach! (Image by Cole Keister)

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Jeremy Kalmanofsky and Barry Chesler. As with so many years, our reading of Leviticus this year comes to an end with a double portion, B’har-B’huqotai [Lev. 25-27]. We discuss the laws of the sabbatical year and the jubilee year, and Rashi’s famous comment on the first verse [you have to listen to the podcast for the pop-cultural reference with which it is connected]. There are rules for the poor, and the תוכחה [tokhehah, the lengthy passage of rebuke with the description of what will befall the people and their land for the failure to observe God’s commandments]. As is our wont, the conversation meanders, which is perhaps appropriate for a reading with a 7-year and a 50-year cycle. Shabbat Shalom!

Parashah Talk for Emor [Lev. 21-24) was recorded a day early this week, but as befits a parashah entitled Emor [“Say”], we had a lot about which to talk. We covered the material in the parashah: the curious wording of the 1st verse in the Hebrew (21:1), the requirements, restrictions, and limitations on the kohen [priest] (21-22), the notion of qiddush ha-shem [sanctification of God’s name] (22:31-33), the holidays (23), and the blasphemer (24). We took note of current events, the death of Bernie Madoff, and connected it with the Torah reading. Before you know it, we will be concluding the Book of Leviticus, with next week’s double portion, B’har-B’hukotai. Shabbat Shalom!