T ORAH P ORTION
Camp Reminder: We Are God’s
Imperfect Twin
BY RABBI ERIC YANOFF
Parshat Re’eh
I SPENT THE past several
weeks teaching young adults at
Camp Ramah in the Poconos
and was reminded again:
Jewish camp is one of Jewish
America’s greatest inventions,
not only because of the lifelong
Jewish identity it fosters among
campers and staff .

Each summer (with the
notable exception of summer
2020), camps like Ramah build
a brief, recurring Brigadoon,
a Jewish utopian society of
menschlichkeit that reminds us
how to be our best with one
another. Th is summer, coming
out of an extended time of
isolation, we needed this more
than ever.

Yes, the overt Jewish lessons
at camp are fun and memorable:
I taught our teens midrashim on
how (and how not) to reach
heaven, while on the ropes
course, stories of Moses on
Mount Sinai and the Tower of
Babel. I taught Talmudic stories
of friendships that began in the
middle of a body of water — as
we rowed out to the middle of
the agam (lake).

But the best moments are
the ones that happen with no
Kaplan Continued from Page 19
sign teenage pitchers, owing to
uncertainties around younger
players, including how much
more they might grow. Given
his size, however, it’s doubtful
that Steinmetz has much more
growing left .

Th en there’s the college
factor. Steinmetz has already
accepted a scholarship from
Fordham University, a Jesuit
Catholic school in the Bronx.

Some draft ed players stick with
24 AUGUST 5, 2021
preparation: Th e dozen staff
and campers who sprint to the
aid of a child who dropped
her food in the chadar ochel
(dining hall), quickly cleaning
up the mess, brushing off the
camper, refi lling the plate and
helping her to her table, all
before she even has time to
be embarrassed — because
that smiling group has named
themselves “Th e Rachmanus
(compassion/care) Brigade.”
... Th e “fourth strike” given
to the camper who really
needs a hit that day on the
soft ball fi eld, as both teams
silently forego the “no-fair”
objection ... Th e triumphant
last child who passes the swim
safety test ... the overenergetic,
100-person line dance to some
Israeli Eurovision pop-song
entry ... the wild cheers for
the winner of the “Schmutz-
Buster” T-shirt for helping to
make sure camp stays clean ...

... Th e oldest division of
campers who decide to make
a “cult hero” out of a younger
camper who might have
been dismissed by his peers
as quirky and unrelatable,
chanting his name so that his
peers will see their bunkmate
in the best light, and will
embrace him because their role
models, older campers, have
embraced him ...

Of course, these stories
are heartwarming precisely
because they don’t have to go
this way; there are plenty of
stories, both in camp and in
the “real world,” where people
are not as nice. But when done
right, camp is not the real world
because it is the place where we
can be seen and embraced as
precious and beloved — and
where we can see ourselves
as precious and beloved. In a
more-isolated world, it was too
easy for too many of us to
forget that others see, love and
value us in this way.

It reminds me of a moment
in this week’s Torah portion,
Re’eh, where Moses reminds
us how precious we are; he
says, “Banim atem — you are
God’s children” (Devarim 14:1)
— and continues, “[therefore]
don’t gash yourselves.” It is a
reminder not to harm ourselves
bodily in the cultic ways that
were prevalent in ancient
times, because we are created
in God’s image. We are not
perfect, but we are infi nitely
precious, valuable and worthy.

But the Torah does not
stop there: In a few weeks, we
will read a law about a person
who is hanged; we must not
leave the body of the criminal
the college plan in order to
gain experience.

Th ere have been approxi-
mately 230 Jewish players out
of more than more than 22,000
major leaguers, including the
3,400 men who suited up in
the Negro Leagues. Aside from
Greenberg, Koufax and, more
recently, Ryan Braun and Ian
Kinsler, few had a great impact
on the game.

Naturally we wish
Steinmetz and Kligman plenty
of mazel, but to mangle an
old saying, many are called,
few are “Chosen.” Out of the
1,000-plus players draft ed in
an average year, maybe one in
fi ve will make it to “Th e Show,”
according to Baseball America.

Before we start talking about
Jacob Steinmetz as this genera-
tion’s Sandy Koufax, we should
also remember slugger Adam
Greenberg, who had exactly
two at-bats in the majors — a
biblical seven years apart. ●
CAN DL E L IGHTIN G
Aug. 6
Aug. 13
hanging overnight (21:23). Th e
biblical commentator Rashi
explains that the reason, again,
is because we are created in
God’s image — but this time,
we do not resemble God as
God’s children, but rather as
God’s twin sibling.

Rashi tells a story of a king
who had a lesser-known twin
who was a criminal, who was
hanged, and passers-by would
assume it was the king and
would disparage him. So, too,
when we act in a way that
diminishes our own humanity,
we are tarnishing the image of
God — and God’s good name
is hurt in the process.

Th is is the refl exive part of
being created b’tzelem Elohim,
in God’s image: If we are in
God’s Divine image — then
God is in OUR image. God
resembles our very-human,
very-imperfect image. We are
the imperfect twins of God.

We must build a society that
reminds us of that responsi-
bility to uphold and not sully
God’s image, with our actions.

Especially in
today’s amped-up rhetoric, where
diff erences of opinion are
oft en argued not on their
merits but rather by vilifying
and dehumanizing the other
side — where we do not treat
7:50 p.m.

7:42 p.m.

someone as mistaken but as
evil — we need a reminder
that when we delegitimize
a person or a people, we are
tearing down God’s image. Th e
real world makes it easy to
forget the lesson that we must
preserve the image of God.

In fi ve weeks, at the High
Holidays, the Unetaneh Tokef
(“Who will live, who will
die”) prayer will conclude,
“U-sh’meinu karata vi-Shmecha
— You have linked our name
with Yours.” God is counting
on us to honor God’s image,
by valuing others, who carry
God’s Image as our own.

Let’s not wait until next
summer to build such a better
world; let’s begin right now. ●
Rabbi Eric Yanoff is one of the
rabbis at Adath Israel in Merion
Station and an immediate past co-
president of the Board of Rabbis
of Greater Philadelphia. The
board is proud to provide diverse
perspectives on Torah commentary
for the Jewish Exponent. The
opinions expressed in this column
are the author’s own and do not
refl ect the view of the Board of
Rabbis. Be heard.

Email your letters
to the editor.

letters@jewishexponent.com Ron Kaplan is the author of “Hank
Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and
Home Runs in the Shadow of War.”
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