Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. This Shabbat is Chol Ha-Mo’ed Pesach, the Shabbat which falls during the week of Pesach [Passover]. The Torah Reading is from Parashat Ki Tissa [Exodus 33:12–34:26], which includes the 13 attributes of God as well as one of the earliest festival calendars; it is also read …

Parashat M’tzora [Leviticus 14-15] coincides with Shabbat Ha-Gadol, the Shabbat before Pesach which features a special haftarah [Malachi 3:4-24], but no special maftir [additional Torah reading]. The subject matter of Metzora is a continuation of the skin disease taken up in last week’s Torah reading [in particular Leviticus 13], which can also aff…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Tazria [Leviticus 12-13] flies solo this year because it is a leap year in the Jewish calendar. Most years it is paired with Metzora [Leviticus 14-15], which will be the Torah Reading next week. The double portion is preferred by most people because it is not so e…

Parsha alk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Sh’mini [Leviticus 9-11] coincides this year with Parashat Ha-chodesh [maftir: Exodus 12:1-20; haftarah: Ezekiel 45:16-46:18]. This is the last of the four special shabbatot before Pesach, which is now officially just over the horizon. Ha-chodesh is the first comma…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Tzav [Leviticus 6:1-8:36] coincides with Parashat Parah [maftir: Numbers 19:1-22; haftarah: Ezekiel 36:16-38], the third of the four special shabbatot before Passover. Tzav presents the priestly view of the sacrifices which were covered in last week’s parashah fro…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-yiqra [Leviticus 1:1–5:26] coincides this year with Shabbat Zakhor [maftir, Deuteronomy 25:17-19; haftarah 1 Samuel 15:2–34] in anticipation of the holiday of Purim, which begins Saturday night, upon the conclusion of Shabbat. Parashat Va-yiqra, the opening par…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. With the reading of parashat P’qudai [Exodus 38:21–40:38] we conclude the reading of the Book of Exodus. We have already seen most of this material in parashat T’tzavveh three weeks ago. Our conversation focused on the last several verses [40:34–38], comprising the maftir …

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-yaqhel [Exodus 35:1-38:20] coincides with Shabbat Sheqalim [special maftir (Exosdus 30:11-16) and haftarah (I Kings 12:1-17)], the first of the four special shabbatot preceding Passover. Whereas the previous three parashiyot concern the plans for the mishkan [t…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Ki Tissa [Exodus 30:11-34:35] features the episode of the Golden Calf, one of the great sins of the Exodus generation. In the rabbinic imagination, it is paired with the sin of the spies, bracketing the 3-week period of mourning introduced by the 17th of Tammuz an…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat T’tzavveh [Exodus 27:20-30:10] deals mostly with the priestly vestments and the installation of the priests. It raises the question: do the clothes make the person or the person make the clothes? In our conversation we attempt to address this question, though you …

Parsha Talk - with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat T’rumah [Exodus 25:1-27:18] is the first of three successive parashiyot which take up the plans for building the Tabernacle and its furnishings. Given the details I think it fair to say that the content is an acquired taste and not everyone gets that far! There …

Parsha Talk - with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Mishpatim [Exodus 21–24] is the sixth parashah of Sefer Sh’mot. It is made up almost entirely of what Biblical scholars call the Covenant Code, the exact parameters of which scholars disagree. Suffice it to say, after the drama of the Revelation at Mount Sinai c…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Yitro [Exodus 18–20] is the fifth parashah in the Book of Exodus. It features the 10 commandments which was the topic of most of our conversation. How does the Sh’ma compare with the Ten Commandments? What meaning might these commandments have for us today? How do…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat B’shallach [Exodus 13:17–17:16], the fourth parashah in Sefer Sh’mot [the Book of Exodus] features the Song of the Sea [Exodus 15:1–19], which has become part of the morning prayer service. In introducing the show, Eliot framed our discussion as Anatomy of a Scene…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Bo [Exodus 10:1–13:16] is the third parashah in Sefer Sh’mot [Book of Exodus]. It relates the last 3 plagues, describes the original Passover celebrated in Egypt and prescribes what should happen in subsequent generations, and concludes with the first 16 verses of…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-era [Exodus 6:2–9:35] is the 2nd parashah of Exodus. Unlike many of the parashiyot, it takes its name from the first word of the 2nd sentence, in which God declares that He appeared to the patriarchs as El-Shaddai, but did not make known to them the 4-letter na…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Shemot [Exodus 1:1–6:1] opens the Book of Exodus [Shemot in Hebrew]. It summarizes the end of Genesis in a few verses wherein בני ישראל [b’nai Yisrael] the biological children of the patriarch Jacob who had been renamed Israel, becomes עם בני ישראל [am b’nai yisra…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-yehi [Genesis 47:28–50:26] is the twelfth and final parashah of Genesis. We address the overall theme/direction of the book, and how it fits into the Torah. We also discuss the burial of Jacob: why does he insist on being buried in the ancestral grave? As alway…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-yigash [Genesis 44:18–47:27] is the penultimate parashah of the Book of Genesis. It opens with Judah’s plea to Joseph to take him as captive instead of Benjamin. The events unfold quickly which lead to the reconciliation of the brothers, the descent of Jacob an…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barrry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. According to Eliot, Parashat Mikketz [Genesis 41:1–44:17] is the second-most amazing parashah in the entire Torah, coming a week after his Bar Mitzvah parashah. This parashah is the heart of the Joseph story: Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams and subsequent elev…

Parsha Talk Vayeshev, with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chasler and jeremy Kalmanofsky. Hanukkah edition.By Camp Ramah in the Berkshires

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-yishlah [Genesis 32:4–36:43] features, among other things, Jacob’s wrestling match with an angel, the meeting with Esau after a twenty-year absence, the disconcerting story of Dinah, the genealogy of Esau, and a list of kings of Edom. We spent a fair amount of …

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-yetze [Genesis 28:10–32:3] is a personal favorite, in that it is my Bar Mitzvah portion. Coincidentally [or not] it is the Bat Mitzvah portion of my wife, Carol. And, my Hebrew name is יעקב [ya’aqov, Jacob], who is the main character. The parashah begins with J…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Toldot [Genesis 25:19–28:9] is the sixth of the weekly parashiyot in the Book of Genesis. The toldot, or generations, from which the parashah takes its name, belong to Isaac. Eilleh toldot yitzhaq ben avraham, avraham holid et yitzhaq: this is the story of Isaac, …

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Hayyai Sarah [23:1–25:18] is the fifth of the weekly parashiyot in Sefer B’reshit [the Book of Genesis]. It begins with the death notice of Sarah, and continues with the first acquisition of land by Avraham in Canaan. This is the basis of the subsequent Jewish cla…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-yera [Genesis 18-22] is the 4th weekly parashah in the Book of Genesis. It primarily consists of a series of events in the life of Abraham: the visitation of the angels/messengers of God with the news that Sarah will give birth to a son, Avraham’s discussion wi…

Parsha Talk - with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Lekh L’kha [Genesis 12:1–17:27] is the third parashah in the Book of Genesis. It opens with God’s dramatic call to Avram, instructing him to leave “his land, his birthplace, his father’s house, to go to the land that I [God] will show you”. Because this is the o…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Noah [Genesis 6:10–11:32] is the second parashah in the Book of Genesis. The main story in the parashah is the flood that God brings in order to destroy God’s creation, to begin again with Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their wives. Our tone was more somber…

Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. We start our annual Torah Reading again this week with the first parashah, B’reshit [Genesis 1:1-6:8]. Because of scheduling issues, we recorded this last week, before the war in Israel broke out. Our prayers and thoughts are with Israel: the land, the state, and the people. May comfort co…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Because Sh’mini Atzeret and Simchat Torah fall on Shabbat and Sunday, we have another special edition of Parashah Talk. The parashah for this Shabbat is Deuteronomy 14:22–16:17, from parashat Re’eh, which is also read on the last day of Passover and second day of Shavuot. …

Parsha Talk - with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. The parashah this week is a special Torah Reading for Sukkot. This may be familiar to those who remember the Torah reading from the second day of Passover, 6 months ago, and it will be repeated again on Sunday in communities observing two days of yom tov [holiday]. The T…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. When either Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur falls on Shabbat, this week’s parashah, Ha’azinu [Deuteronomy 32] is also Shabbat Shuvah, with a special haftarah [Hosea 14:2-10, Joel 2:15-27, according to the Ashkenazic tradition recorded in the Etz Hayim]. Though the Shabbat take…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. It is the week before Rosh Hashanah [which begins this Friday evening, September 15, 2023], so the weekly parashah is replaced by the special Torah readings for the holiday: on Saturday, Shabbat, we read Genesis 21; on Sunday, we read chapter 22. Rather than speak directly…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. This week’s double parashah Nitzavim/Va-yelekh [Deut. 29:9–31:30] is relatively short yet contains memorable lines and ideas that have had a kind of an afterlife well beyond the Torah. The phrase lo bashamayim hee [Deut. 30:12], “it is not in heaven” figures prominently in…

Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky present Parsha Talk. Parashat Ki Tavo [Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8] contains a lengthy section [Deut. 28] known as the תוכחה [tokhehah, or “rebuke”], which parallels the similar text found near the end of Leviticus [ ch. 26]. Before we got to it, we spent quite a lot of time discussing the passag…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Ki Tetze [Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19] is, to use one of Eliot’s favorite phrases, mitzvah-dense, with 74 of the 613 commandments according to Sefer ha-Hinukh, a medieval compilation and explanation of the laws of the Torah. With so much to choose from, we used a some…

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Shoftim [Deuteronomy 16:8–21:9], as described by Jeffrey Tigay in his JPS Torah Commentary on Deuteronomy, “deals with the responsibilities of public officials, . . . It introduces four main types of human authorities: judges, kings, priests, and prophets . . .” I…

Fantastic soundtrack of "Alladin". A bogrim production. Take a listen to our live soundtrack recorded in Bet Am Bet by Radio Kol Ramah staff Omer and Ben. Yasher Coach Bogrim!By Camp Ramah in the Berkshires

Sophia , Rebecca , Hannah , Talia , Jolie and Gaby talk on Radio Kol Ramah about their best and favourite moments of Kayitz 23By Camp Ramah in the Berkshires

In our first episode of The Camp Ramah in The Berkshires Summer 2023 Walking Tour, our host Zoe (Shorashim) takes us to the Agam -the lake- to learn all about what happens at camp. She gets to sit down with Rosh Agam Robbie Kroll, who shares a little bit about what he does at camp, his deep connection to the waterfront and some of his favorite thin…

In our second episode of The Camp Ramah in The Berkshires Summer 2023 Walking Tour, our host Zoe (Shorashim) takes us on a long walk around camp on the way to the Ulam. We discuss things that she loves to do at camp, new Hebrew words that she has learned, the experience of having her have her sister join her as part of the Taam program, and that’s …

In this episode of The Camp Ramah in The Berkshires Summer 2023 Walking Tour, our host Jayden (Tikva) and his counselor Rachel takes a walk around camp to go to Animal Care. Along the way he interviews campers, and counselors and specialist as he talks about all the things he likes about camp and sees on his way. Jayden then sits down to talk to hi…

In our final episode of The Camp Ramah in The Berkshires Summer 2023 Walking Tour, our host Zoe (Shorashim) takes us on short walk from the chadar ochel to where we have worked all week to create this podcast series. Zoe talks about what she sees in the studio, and then sits down to talk to the rest of the Kol Ramah podcast team, Omer, Ben and Daro…

Parsha Talk, with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Re’eh [Deuteronomy 11:26–16:17] is a family favorite because it was the parashah for both my daughters’ synagogue Bat Mitzvahs [albeit 11 years apart; they each also celebrated a camp Bat Mitzvah the year before]. Re’eh, like every other amazing parashah, is choc…

Leora, Aliza & Zoe made a great audio play of the famous book&movie Alice In Wonderland - Listen To it!By Camp Ramah in the Berkshires

Dr. Alison Joseph of chinuch worked in small groups with Solellim and Bogrim. Reading Parashat Ekev they worked all week reading the parsha. Chanichim chose points or questions they thought interesting to explore and developed different segments for the podcast.By Camp Ramah in the Berkshires

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Eqev [Deuteronomy 7:12–11:26] is perhaps best known for the 2nd paragraph of the Shema [Deuteronomy 11:13-21], but it also contains the scriptural basis for the Grace after Meals, the verse that is quoted in the second of the four blessings in that prayer [8:10], …

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, BArry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. The shabbat when we read Parashat Va-etchanan [Deuteronomy 3:23–7:11] is known as Shabbat Nachamu, after the opening words of the special haftarah [prophetic portion, this week Isaiah 40:1–26] recited on the shabbat after Tisha B’Av [this year observed Wednesday night/Thur…

Tamar , Rafi , Joey , Libby , Sarah talk about their favourite moments from first session , what they got up to during intersession and what they are excited for in second sessionBy Camp Ramah in the Berkshires

Recorded live at Bet Am Bet by Radio Kol Ramah.By Camp Ramah in the Berkshires