Welcome to Daylight Savings Time! Still awake to enjoy the beautiful long day? A taste of summer, at the expense of sleep. Don't worry, this week's show will keep you on the edge of your seat.
We're going to talk about the war in Ukraine, of course -- and isn't it interesting how Joe Biden, who was ridiculing Mitt Romney in 2012 for warning us about Russia, is blaming everything going wrong in his presidency on Putin? Biden's right not to take steps that could lead to an escalation -- but he put us in this position. NATO is tiptoeing around Putin rather than the other way around, because instead of Putin having to worry about whatever Trump might do, we have to worry about what he might do. There was an arms race toward crazy, and it turned out crazy was a pretty good deterrent, but the election went the other way, and Russia beat us in crazy. Or, to use a chess metaphor, Biden chose to play with the black pieces, who move second, meaning that the best we can hope for (absent a colossal blunder, which I wouldn't rule out) is a draw.
Inflation is among the many things for which Biden blames Putin -- and we'll talk about that, too. It's one lie too many for the American media, who noted this weekend that inflation began almost as soon as Biden took office. What does it mean, going forward? Well, Congress is busy spending billions on earmarks, thanks to Democrats -- and a majority of House Republicans, mind you -- who brought back the practice. Plus: the Florida "don't say gay" bill still doesn't say "gay." We'll talk about all of it. You'll want to hear it.
Special guests:
Dan Eberhart -- CEO of Canary USA, on electric cars as an alternative
Steve Ellis -- President of Taxpayers for Common Sense, on earmarks
Melanie Israel -- Researcher at Heritage, on Democrats' social radicalism
Tune in: SiriusXM Patriot 125, 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call in: 866-957-2874
This week'd portion begins the book of Numbers. Interestingly, the Hebrew name for the book is "In the Desert," not "Numbers." The portion, which happens to be my bar mitzvah portion, focuses almost as much on the names of the princes of each tribe as the number of soldiers it fielded. It also focuses on the configuration of the tribal camps around the central Tabernacle and the Levites.
So why "Numbers" instead of "Names" or "Places"? The numbers are, to be sure, a unique feature of the opening of this Biblical book -- but they are not the focus of the rest of the narrative. The Hebrew focuses on the place where the events in the book take place, because essentially this is the narrative of the Israelites' wanderings from Egypt to Israel, across 40 years. We move from the giving of the Torah and the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus and Leviticus, to the final valediction of Moses in Deuteronomy -- Bamidbar is the story of wandering that happened in between.
The question of ...
This week's portion begins with the laws of the Sabbath and the Sabbatical year, and the Jubilee year that restores all land to its original (tribal) owners. It also explores laws of property and labor that will apply in the Land of Israel, and the laws of vows and inheritance.
The Israelites are presented -- not for the last time -- with the essential moral choice that they must face, and the rewards for choosing well, along with the consequences for choosing poorly.
We learn that doing good things will earn God's protection from enemies. That does not mean that victims of terror, God forbid, were sinful. But it does mean that we can respond to evil by committing ourselves to a higher path.
This week's portion describes the major sacrifices that are to be offered by the Jewish people, including those that are offered only by the priestly Kohen class, and physical requirements of the people (men) who serve in that role.
Inter alia, there are interesting commandments -- such as an injection to treat animals with respect and care, first, by letting a mother animal nurse her offspring for a week before being offered in any sacrifice; and second, by refraining from slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the same day.
The commandments regarding animals remind us of the purpose of those regarding human beings: to uphold a divine connection, through ritual.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111878/jewish/Rabbi-Isaac-Luria-The-Ari-Hakodosh.htm
