This week's Torah reading deals with the laws of ritual purity, as well as the deaths of both Miriam and Aaron, and Moses's sin in striking the rock. All weighty topics, revealing the heavy moral burden of leadership.
The additional reading, from the book of Judges (11:1-33), is the story of Yiftach (or Jephthah), one of the most tragic stories in the Bible. It is the story of how a leader is trapped by his own vow -- forced, in effect, to sacrifice his daughter.
The two readings mirror one another, because they show that even the smallest words and gestures by leaders can have dire consequences.
But the story of Yiftach also has another curious element: that of the redeemed outcast.
Yiftach is an outlaw before he becomes a leader. He is cast out by his brothers because he is the son of a concubine and therefore illegitimate. He lives on his own, gathering a band of fellow misfits around him as a personal army.
Under threat of invasion, the leaders of Israel finally turn to Yiftach for aid. He makes them a deal: he will defend them, if they make him their leader. They agree to those terms, and Yiftach and his band of outlaws are vindicated.
There's a lesson there about leadership, too: just as leaders bear a moral burden, so, too, do the rest of us bear a responsibility to care for every member of society and treat each other with dignity -- not to cast anyone aside.
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
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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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