Special edition of the Weekly Verse
while Rabbi Rotenberg is at Camp Ramah Darom




(Pictured above: BZ campers Isaac, Meir, Della, Hazel, Eliza, Mirabelle, and Orly and Staff members Max, Rachel, and Levi)
As I sit down to write this message, the clock ticks behind me – a reminder that Shabbat is coming in within the hour. The campers and staff have gathered in the amphitheater to start services, and the tears have started to flow from those campers who anticipate leaving their closest friends in only two days. I remember that feeling as a camper, how precious these last days were – how precious this last shabbat is.
Not to overthink it too much, but I can’t help being reminded about how precious time and space are, and how we take them for granted. These campers have been in this holy place for a month now, and I wonder if they appreciated every minute as much as they do now. I don’t believe they did. It’s not in our nature. As we see and feel precious moments and precious places slip away from us, we realize just how sweet it’s been.
The very first thing called holy in the Torah is not the Ten Commandments, or the land of Israel, or The Jewish people. It is Shabbat – it’s time that is sanctified. My blessing for us all this shabbat is that we remember the sanctity of time, and cherish the places and people we love and cherish the time we are allotted in spending with them before reaching those final moments. Surely then we will realize how special it all was, but can we appreciate it even today?