This week's portion continues Moses's valediction to the Israelites. He promises them that God will reward them if they obey His commandments, and reminds them of how good He was to them during years of want and desert wandering.
Crucially, Moses reminds the people not to believe that when they become wealthy, and when they defeat their enemies, that they have done so because of their own efforts alone. He tells them God is the determinant of success.
In doing so, he reminds them of how God had mercy on them after the sin of the Golden Calf; had He not been merciful, they would have been destroyed.
He also tells them that the Land of Israel is a land watered by rain -- not by the Nile, as Egypt was. The implication is that Israel requires faith, and frugality, and careful planning -- while Egypt could be lazy and still see its fields watered.
The prosperity of Israel would depend on the people's faith and their morality.
This is the seed of the idea, embraced by the Founders of the American Republic, that morality was the foundation of any successful nation -- that the best constitution would be undone by a lack of personal and civic virtue.
The additional reading, from Isaiah (49:14 - 51:3), is the second of the portions of comfort that are read between the end of Tisha B'av and the launch of the Jewish New Year. It promises that God will not long forsake His people.
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 ...
