Beautiful D’var Torah about Camp Ramah by Tikvah Camper Uriel!

Long-time Ramahnik & Tikvah-Program participant Uriel Levitt has given us permission to share the incredible D’var Torah that he gave at his shul this past Shabbat!  TODAH Rabbah, Uriel, for this amazing D’var Torah!!

Enjoy:

Shabbat Shalom!

In this week’s Parasha, the Torah talks about all of the Jewish holidays.

First Pesach, then Shavuot, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and finally Sukkot.

It is interesting that the Torah calls them Hashem’s holidays, but it is the job of the Jewish people to make them holy.

That is weird!

You would think that Hashem would be the one to make the holidays holy himself.

So what is that about?

I think I understand.

I go to Camp Ramah every summer.

I love it so much!

I know that everyone who works there works really hard to make it a really wonderful camp.

They are in charge of camp and of making it special.

But, if they worked really hard to make camp special but no one came, then what good would Camp Ramah be?

It is only when campers like me choose to make it special to us and come to camp each summer that it really becomes the amazing camp that it is.

So, we write it on our calendar that camp starts on June 23 and I look forward to it all year.

And then that day arrives and I am so excited to go to camp and to see all of my friends and to do all of the great camp activities that I love!

The Jewish holidays are like that too.

Hashem works really hard to make them special, but if we didn’t show up for them and celebrate them, what good would they be?

So we put each of them on our calendar and look forward to them all year.

And when the day finally comes, we are so happy to celebrate each special holiday.

WE are the ones who have to make it holy – to make it special for us!

Shabbat Shalom.