This week's Torah portion tells the story of the failed rebellion of Korach, who led followers against Moses and Aaron after the people were turned away from the Promised Land. The rebellion's timing is instructive: leaders are at their weakest when they fail. But challenges also offer an opportunity to reassert authority and to make the necessary changes to lead more effectively in future.
This weekend, many Jews will also mark the 28th anniversary of the passing of the 7th Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menchaem Mendel Schneerson ("may his righteous memory be a blessing," as the honorific goes). His incredible leadership was the opposite of Korach. Instead of seeking the leadership position, he turned it away for a year, instead of seeking power for himself, he sought to uplift others.
I'm spending a second Shabbat in South Africa -- my last on this trip, and I'll be in Johannesburg. This country is still wonderful, but troubled by decades of poor leadership (following the exemplary leadership of the early 1990s). Likewise, in the U.S., we lack leadership -- and not just in the White House. There is much to study in this week's portion, and to learn from the Rebbe's example.
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 ...
