Joel Pollak
Politics • Lifestyle • News • Travel • Writing
I will share my thoughts about American politics, as well as current events in Israel and elsewhere, based on my experiences in the U.S., South Africa, and the Middle East. I will also discuss books and popular culture from the perspective of a somewhat libertarian, religiously observant conservative living in California. I will also share art and ideas that I find useful and helpful, and link to my content at Breitbart News, Amazon, and elsewhere.
Interested? Want to learn more about the community?
All of Washington corruption in one news story

Yesterday I reported at Breitbart News that John O. Brennan, the former CIA chief who launched an investigation into Russia "collusion" and later falsely called the Hunter Biden laptop Russian disinformation, has joined WestExec, a secretive and elite consulting firm whose alumni work in senior Biden administration opinions.

Brennan lost his security clearance under President Trump because of his hysterical fulminations about the president's "treasonous" behavior such as ... doubting the assessments of the U.S. intelligence community in public. You know, the same intelligence community whose former members would later mislead the public about the Hunter Biden laptop.

Instead of being held accountable, with the laptop being confirmed in recent weeks by establishment media outlets, Brennan was rewarded -- and rewarded at the highest level, given a well-paid post in a consulting firm that is basically running the Biden administration (because Biden himself is incapable of it).

All of Washington corruption in one story: an insider making money after spreading lies to undermine a democratically-elected president with impunity.

There ought to be questions to the White House about this amazing travesty.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/04/11/disgraced-former-cia-chief-john-brennan-joins-secretive-firm-staffing-biden-white-house/

Interested? Want to learn more about the community?
What else you may like…
Videos
Posts
Time-lapse sunrise at Temescal Falls
00:00:17
This is what is left of my special place in the forest

Burned, then covered in mudslides and rockslides. The river still flows through it. But we have lost so much. I have to believe the spirit still lives on.

00:00:16
The drive home 💔
00:00:46
Weekly Torah reading: Bamidbar (Numbers Numbers 1:1 - 4:20)

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 ...

Weekly Torah reading: Behar-Bechukotai (Leviticus 25:1 - 27:34)

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.

https://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading.asp?aid=2495886&jewish=Behar-Bechukotai-Torah-Reading.htm&p=complete

Weekly Torah reading: Emor (Leviticus 21:1 - 24:23)

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

See More
Available on mobile and TV devices
google store google store app store app store
google store google store app tv store app tv store amazon store amazon store roku store roku store
Powered by Locals