Kol Ramah

Songs In the Key Of Peace & Harmony.

Featuring The Town & Village Synagogue Choir, T&V Junior Singers and Teen Singers, Scott Stein, Piano.

Special Guests: The Coral Torah Collective - Featuring the Music of Cantor josh Ehrlich

Parashat Va-yishlach [Genesis 32:4-36:43] features Jacob’s reunion with Esau, but not before his fateful encounter with the mystery combatant, sometimes identified as Esau’s guardian angel, sometimes with Jacob himself, and sometimes as some other figure. Jacob reunites with his father ever so briefly, ever so cryptically, at the end of chapter 35:27. There is also the horrific assault on Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter. There was a lot to talk about, including the various family relationships highlighted in this parashah and elsewhere in Genesis. We hope you enjoy it!

We continue to keep in mind the two remaining hostages, may they be returned speedily to their families. We are also mindful of the men and women defending Israel as part of the Israel Defense Forces, may they be removed from harm’s way. Shabbat Shalom.

Parashat Va-yetze [Genesis 28:10-32:2], my Bar Mitzvah (BC) portion, crams over 20 years of Jacob’s life into a single parashah. And what an eventful 20+ years. Jacob leaves Beer-sheva for his uncle Laban’s home, meets his cousin Rachel at the well, agrees to work for 7 years to marry her; agrees to work another 7 years to marry her after Leah was substituted for Rachel at the wedding, sires 11 of his 12 sons and his daughter Dinah, works another 6 years to acquire flocks of his own, and decides to return to Canaan. A half hour hardly seems to do justice to the richness of this parashah!

We are mindful of the remaining hostages in Gaza, may they be speedily returned. We also keep in mind the soldiers defending Israel as part of the Israel Defense Forces, may they be removed from harm’s way. A belated Shabbat Shalom as this is posted after the parashah has already been read in the synagogue. My apologies.

Parashat Toldot [Genesis 25:19-28:9] features Isaac, the middle patriarch. The toldot [“generations” or “story} belong to Isaac; but the far more interesting character is Rebecca, so we devote most of our time to exploring her character. Perhaps the most famous story in the parashah is Jacob’s acquisition of the blessing, about which it might be said that Rebecca, alone of the four participants in the drama, gets what she wants. On the other hand, she loses everything, in a sense, including a death notice. Give a listen and let us know what you think!

We continue to have in mind the remaining hostages, dead in Gaza, who should have been returned to Israel long ago. May they be speedily returned to their families. We are also mindful of the men and women defending Israel as part of the Israel Defense Forces, may they be removed from harm’s way. Hodesh Tov. Shabbat Shalom. May the coming lights of Hanukkah illumine bring light to the world.

Parasashat Hayei Sarah [Genesis 23:1-25:18] begins with the death of Sarah and the acquisition of the Cave of Machpelah as a burial place for her. The cave will become the burial place for all the patriarchs and matriarchs save for Rachel, who is buried elsewhere. By far the longest chapter in Genesis, chapter 24 describes how Rebekah became rhe wife of Isaac. Chapter 25 provides the details of Abraham’s marriage to Keturah and their subsequent offspring; the death and burial of Abraham; and the genealogy and death of Ishmael. One way to look at this parashah is as the emergence of Isaac as the 2nd patriarch, for at the end of the parashah he is the only male left standing. Our conversation mostly focused on the always engaging chapter 24.

With the return of another body to Israel, 3 hostages remain in Gaza. We continue to keep them in mind as we continue to pray for their speedy return to Israel. We also have in mind the men and women defending Israel as part of the Israel Defense Forces, may they be removed from harm’s way. Shabbat Shalom.

Parashat Va-yera [Genesis 18-22] is one of the richest parashiyot in the Torah. Chapter 18 features the angels coming to announce the birth of Isaac, chapter 19 the conversation between God and Abraham about the fate of Sodom and Gemorrah, chapter 20 the second wife-sister story featuring Abraham and Sarah, this time with Avimelech, chapter 21 the banishment of Hagar and Ishmael, and chapter 22, the binding of Isaac.

We took as a prompt verse 18:33 from the conversation [actually the verse just after the conversation concluded] and one from the binding of Isaac [22:19], which is the conclusion to that story. We discussed them in-depth as we tried to come to an understanding of the character of Abraham. As always, we are interested in what our listerners and viewers think of our ideas, so please feel free to respond below.

This past Sunday, the body of my former student, Captain Omer Maxim Neutra z”l was returned to Israel, where he will be buried on Friday morning, Israel time. While this marks the end of this ordeal for his family and friends, we continue to keep in mind the remaining hostages who remain in Gaza, may they be speedily returned to their families. We are also mindful of the soldiers defending Israel as part of the Israel Defense Forces, may they be removed from harm’s way. We recorded on 11/04/25, the 30th anniversary of the murder of Yizhak Rabin, note of which must be taken. Shabbat Shalom.

Parashat Lech L’cha [Genesis 12:1-17:27] is the third of the parashiyot in Sefer Bereshit [Book of Genesis]. It has long been recognized as the beginning of our Jewish journey, though Abram [who is renamed Abraham in the parashah] is never identified as a Jew. He is Abram the Ivri, the Hebrew, which might be understood as Abram, the descendant of Eber, or Abram, the one who stood over and against the world with his proclamation of monotheism in a world of pagan worship.

Our conversation focused on the opening verses, with God’s charge to Abraham. What is the force of the phrase ve’h’yeh b’rakha, be a blessing [12:2]? What is Abraham’s mission? We also compared him with Sarah, about both of whom the Torah records that they laughed in response to the news about an impending pregnancy. What kind of laughter was it? What does it teach us about Sarah and Abraham, not only as individuals, but as marriage partners? This is a particularly rich parashah [which probably could be said about all the parashiyot in Genesis], but what distinguioshes this, perhaps, is the number of discrete scenes.

We continue to keep in mind the hostages whose remains are still in Gaza. May they be returned swiftly to their families for a final, dignified, funeral. We are also mindful of the men and women defending Israel as part of the Israel Defense Forces, may they be removed from harm’s way. Shabbat Shalom.

Parashat Noah [Genesis 6:9-11:32] is the second parashah in Sefer B’reshit [Book of Genesis]. It largely consists of the Flood story, which has been unwoven by modern Bible critics who convincingly show, to some, that the story is the weaving together of two discrete and sometimes contradictory accounts. Our focus was on the character of Noah, and what to make of him. At the end of last week’s parashah he is described as one who found favor with God. At the beginning of this week, he is described as a “righteous man; blameless in his age; [who] walked with God” [NJPS]. What do these terms mean? How does Noah compare with Adam and with Abraham? Before we knew it, our time was up!

We continue to be mindful of the remaining hostages, no longer among the living, who yet remain in Gaza. May theY be returned to their families no! We also keep in mind the soldiers defending Israel as part of the Israel Defense Forces, may the be removed from harm’s way. Shabbat Shalom.

After many summers at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires, we began Parashah Talk again the week after Covid shut down so much of the country in March 2020. In October, 2025, we begin our sixth year of the Torah Cycle. We spend some time talking about the epochal moment in which the remaining living hostages were returned home to Israel. We also discuss the importance of Parashat B’reshit [Genesis 1:1-6:8] and what that mean for our understanding of God and the God of Creation. Give a lesson and let us know what you think!

Though the living hostages have been returbned, we continue to be mindful of those whose bodies have yet to be returned for a proper and dignified burial. May God protect those who defend Israel as part of the Israel Defense Forces, and remove them from harm’s way. Shabbat Shalom.

(Excerpts from Rabbi Barry Chesler - full comments at kolramah.us)

Fifty-two years ago this past Thursday on the Jewish calendar, war broke out in Israel as soldiers from Egypt and Syria crossed the borders established by the 6-Day War into Israel. On the holiest day of the year, Israel was attacked. That year the Book of Life was inscribed with the blood of Israel’s soldiers, and Yom Kippur has never been quite the same. Fifty years and two days later on the English calendar, war again broke out in Israel with the invasion of Hamas terrorists into Israel, murdering indiscriminately over a thousand people: Israelis and non-Israelis, Jews and non-Jews, civilians and soldiers. This time the holy day was Sh’mini Atzeret/Simhat Torah in Israel, Sh’mini Atzeret in the Diaspora, the culmination of זמן שמחתנו [z’man simhateinu], the season of our rejoicing. This year, October 7 falls on the first day of סוכות. Such are the vagaries of the Jewish calendar.

Let us find away to rejoice, to celebrate, even with tears, for that is our sacred task, to keep going. Let us, as we entered יום כיפור [Yom Kippur], pray that we find ourselves on a path for the coming year that brings us closer to God and closer to each other.

עם ישראל חי

[am yisra’el hai]

[The people of Israel live]

Syosset, NY

10/07/25

טו תשרי תשפ"ו

[15 Tishri 5786]