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.
I should have noted in my message about the weekly Torah portion that this week is Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of Vision. We are about to mourn -- but see through that pain to something better that lies beyond, on the other side.
Wishing you the best vision -- and an incredible reality to follow. It happens!
We begin the final speech of Moses to the people of Israel before they enter the Promised Land. He relates the ups and downs of the years of wandering in the desert, before, finally, the people have the merit to enter the land itself.
This Sabbath always precedes Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It is the anniversary of the destruction of both of the Holy Temples, and a catch-all for many calamities that befell the Jewish people.
A word on Tisha B'Av. This year I am leaving for an overseas trip during the afternoon of the holiday -- in the middle of a fast day. Not idea, but there was no other choice. But my flight is in the afternoon, which is significant.
We relax some of the harsh, mournful customs of the day in the afternoon. We start to pray normally; we sit on regular chairs; we start to have hope again in the redemption that will, one day, lead us all back from exile to our home.
I'll be taking a trip to a land where an important part of ...
President Trump is in Scotland, playing golf and making big trade deals -- a major deal with the EU, in fact. Meanwhile, there is a global outcry about humanitarian aid to Palestinians (not about the Israeli hostages, mind you).
On top of that, Democrats are at their lowest polling numbers ever -- so they are trying to win control of the House by redistricting in the middle of a 10-year Census cycle. Oh, economic optimism is up, so they have a tough road.
And Tulsi Gabbard's revelations about the Russia collusion investigation make it clear that Obama's lieutenants lied to Congress. How deeply was he himself involved? The media continue to ignore the evidence, but we certainly won't.
Special guests:
Nick Gilbertson - Breitbart News White House correspondent, on EU deal
Frances Martel - Breitbart News foreign editor, on Trump abroad and Russia
John Spencer - urban warfare expert, on humanitarian aid and war in Gaza
Bradley Jaye - Breitbart News congressional correspondent, on the ...
