Harvard University has produced a report claiming that the nation's oldest institution of higher education was shaped by slavery, and pledging to spend $100 million to redress its historical guilt (and impose it on future generations).
This is worse than nonsense; it's propaganda, and designed to prevent debate. My problem with Harvard's approach to this issue since 2016 has been that it ignores or downplays the fact that the institution was a mainstay of the abolitionist movement in the 19th century, and that hundreds of Harvard men volunteered to fight for the Union. Many died in that cause, and the most prominent building on campus is devoted to honoring their sacrifice.
One would think the sacrifice of hundreds of men would atone for whatever culpability the institution has in slavery. There are more Harvard dead (117) than slaves (70) -- and those slaves were owned over nearly 150 years. None were owned directly by the university. And whatever money was donated by slave owners was donated under the laws of the time. To say Harvard was shaped by slavery is merely to say that it was founded in 17th century America.
This is what happens when an institution goes "woke": it denies the morality of its own existence, the better to serve contemporary political imperatives. But let's take Harvard at its word, just as the Trump administration took Princeton at its word when it declared itself guilty of racism: cut off the funding. Why give to an institution that is a legacy of slavery? Better to support a place like Hillsdale College, which opposed slavery from its founding in 1844.
https://thefederalist.com/2020/06/18/hillsdale-college-refuses-to-bow-to-the-totalitarian-mob/
This is my first broadcast from the new office and studio in Washington, DC, where I'll be for a couple of years my neighborhood back in L.A. cleans up -- and as we follow the Trump administration from a little closer up than usual.
Topics:
- The anniversary of the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump
- The escalating tariff battle with various different trading partners
- The future of the Middle East peace talks, and ongoing antisemitism
- The Jeffrey Epstein files and whether they mean anything at all
- The continued crisis of the Texas floods, and stories of heroism and survival
And more!
Special guests:
- James Rosen - Newsmax chief Washington correspondent
- Bob Price - Breitbart News Texas reporter, on the ongoing floods
- Robert Cahill - Trafalgar Polling, on a new alliance of reliable pollsters
- Rabbi Yaakov Menken - Coalition for Jewish Values - on Israel & antisemitism
Tune in: 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874
This week’s portion tells the grand story of the prophet who tried to curse people of Israel and instead ended up blessing them.
I am reminded that these portions continue to be relevant anew, as this particular reading lent the title for Israel’s recent 12 Day War against Iran, “Operation Rising Lion.”
This week's portion includes the commandment of the red heifer -- one of the classic "irrational" commandments whose fulfillment is an expression of faith. It also includes the regrettable episode in which Moses strikes the rock.
I referred to this story in a wedding speech last night. Why was Moses punished for striking the rock in Numbers, when he struck the rock without incident in Exodus -- both for the purpose of providing water to the people?
The answer is that in the interim, the Jewish people had received the Torah, which is like the marriage contract between the people of Israel and God. In a marriage, you do not resolve things by breaking boundaries, but through love.
The additional reading, from Judges Chapter 11, is the story of Jephthah (Yiftach), a man whom the leaders spurn, but to whom they must turn to save the nation. The parallels to our present political circumstances are striking.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Fourth of July!
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