This week's portion focuses on the laws of ritual purification for a person -- or an object -- that is stricken with an ailment called "tzara'at." Commonly translated as "leprosy," this is really a different kind of disfigurement -- one that denotes spiritual uncleanness, not viral, bacterial, or fungal infection. The portion also includes the laws for purification for other reasons, such as a woman's normal menstrual cycle. This remains a part of religious life today. (The menstrual cycle does not include tzaraa't; it is not the same kind of problem, though some of the rituals are the same for renewing one's spiritual status.)
Those with tzara'at are generally disqualified from doing many things in society until they can be purified again. That is why the additional reading, from the book of King (Kings II 7:3-20), is so remarkable. IT tells the story of four lepers who had been banished from the city of Samaria, and then saved it from an Aramean siege by inadvertently frightening off the enemy soldiers' camp.
The lesson: there is spiritual potential in each of us to do great good, even when we are down and out, even when we might be responsible for our own isolation. Deeply flawed though we may be, we can still achieve miracles for our society.
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 ...
