This week's reading concerns the rituals of the Day of Atonement, and of purification; it also includes various sexual prohibitions. It is named "Acharei" ("After" ) or "Acharei Mot," referring to the period after the death of Aaron's two sons, Nadav and Avihu, who died during the dedication of the Tabernacle.
What is the relationship between a period of mourning, and the rites of purity? It's not entirely clear, but it seems that purification is a kind of renewal. And Aaron, the High Priest, is told to direct his energies toward healing and atoning for the people, rather than mourning and succumbing to his grief.
The additional reading is the memorable story of the parting of Jonathan and David from the book I Samuel 20:18-42. These two best friends were parted because King Saul would not atone, and would not forgive. We need renewal to be part of our lives, or we cannot move forward with the things that matter.
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 ...
