Queen Elizabeth's platinum jubilee is an incredible, once-in-a-millennium occasion. It's an incredible achievement to do anything for 70 years, let alone serve as head of state for a major world power. I wanted to travel to the UK to be part of the celebrations, actually, but my schedule would not permit it.
Elizabeth has reigned at an odd time. She inherited an empire in decline, and some of the most memorable moments of her early years on the throne had to do with her reckoning with the newly-independent post-colonial world. She famously danced with Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah -- unusual for a monarch, and unusually avant-garde for the racial politics of the time.
She has also ruled as Britain became a welfare state at home, and where the royal family was often regarded by critics as an expensive burden on the public. Her family life has often been difficult, marked by tragic death and scandal.
And yet she has maintained a wondrous sense of dignity throughout. The rabbis of the Pale of Settlement in the early 19th century were said to have preferred the Czar to Napoleon, because while Napoleon offered freedom, the monarchy was a manifestation of God's reign on earth, and pointed to the messianic age.
Queen Elizabeth has embodied some of that divinity in an age of disbelief and discord. She has united pop culture and politics: who else could be the chosen symbol of one of the greatest rock bands in history, while also leading the state church? Long may Her Majesty continue to reign, if I do say so from here.
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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