What Goodness Did Bilaam See in the Tents of Jacob?

Long-time Ramahnik Rabbi Michael Panitz has written a wonderful D’var Torah that mentions Camp Ramah in New England!  Here’s an excerpt:

What values of the Jewish people today are taught by our physical structures?  Is our religion truly at the center of our communal life? Do our homes reflect a religious egalitarianism?  Or have the social stratifications of the ancient pagan world, modernized and secularized, insinuated themselves into Judaism?
When I worked at Camp Ramah in New England, over a period of ten summers, I witnessed a tragedy that turned into a triumph.  A severe winter destroyed the old library building, but the camp leadership used that as an opportunity to create a new library- sanctuary– common room that came to function as the vital center of the camp.  Learning and Worship came to be situated in the heart of the camp, as was the case in our sacred, traditional models.

Categories: Assistant Director
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