This week's portion describes the garments, adornments, and ceremonies relating to the High Priest, or Kohen Gadol, who was to be the main intercessor between the Jewish people and God for religious reasons. At the time, the Kohen Gadol was Aaron, Moses's brother.
Interestingly, from the very outset, the Jewish faith distinguished between an overall political or national leader (Moses) and a religious leader (Aaron). Of course, Moses was closest to God, and transmitted the Torah on Mount Sinai. But Moses could not lead the people and be their spiritual counsel at the same time. The separation of "church" and "state" was there from the outset -- even among a people whose mission was to bring holiness into the world. There is a recognition that temporal and heavenly authority must be divided.
This week's show will be slightly different from the norm: we'll focus on clips and topics, rather than guests -- and that, hopefully, will mean more input from the callers (unless you are all watching football on opening weekend).
Topics:
- The state of the economy
- The fight against crime
- The midterm election fight
- The struggle for peace between Russia and Ukraine
- The airstrike on the Venezuelan drug cartel
- The attempt to sink Kennedy
- The war in Gaza
- The case against Harvard
- The Trump presidency
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This week's Torah portion includes several laws about conduct in civic and personal life, the common theme of which is boundaries -- setting bounds to what one may do at home, at work, and even in the battlefield.
One noteworthy passage concerns Amalek, the evil nation that attacked the Children of Israel as they made their Exodus from slavery to freedom. Deuteronomy 25:17-19 commands Jews to obliterate Amalek's memory.
The South African government accused Israel of genocide on the basis of a story about Amalek in the Book of Samuel, in which King Saul was commanded to wipe out the entire evil Amalekite nation.
Because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quoted this week's portion -- "Remember what Amalek did to you" (25:17), the South African government claimed he was commanding soldiers to commit genocide.
It was an absurd and malevolent misreading of the Bible and of Jewish tradition. The commandment, as observed by Jews today, is to remember the evil of Amalek and fight ...
