This week's Torah portion deals with the story of the Golden Calf, one of the most painful and momentous episodes in the saga of the Jewish people. Whether through lack of faith, or human frailty, or mere error, the people ask to worship an idol, or an intermediary, while Moses is on Mount Sinai, receiving the Law from God over a period of 40 days. Aaron, Moses's brother, tries to comply in a way that does not lead the people completely astray.
Moses descends to find the debauchery of the camp below, and smashes the original Tablets. After punishing the people and rooting out the instigators, he then begs God for forgiveness on the people's behalf. What results is an even closer connection between the people and God, a new Covenant that would not have existed before, if the original breach had not taken place. This reminds us that forgiveness and redemption are still possible, even after grave mistakes.
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 ...
