This week's portion is one of several in Deuteronomy in which Moses lays out the basic deal between God and the Israelites -- the basis of the Covenant: do good things, and good things will happen; do bad things, and then the opposite.
This week, the Sabbath also happens to be Rosh Chodesh -- the beginning of the new month. This time around, the new month is Elul -- the final month of the year, and the month in which preparations for the high holidays begin.
Elul is a happy and auspicious month -- one also marked by awe. We sound the shofar (ram's horn) every weekday morning as a reminder that Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year and the Day of Judgment) is coming; time to repent.
The very word shofar, I was taught by a brilliant high school Hebrew teacher, shares a common root with the Hebrew word להשתפר, "le-hish-ta-per," or "to improve." The shofar is therefore a musical instrument of spiritual improvement.
https://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading.asp?aid=2495800&jewish=Reeh-Torah-Reading.htm&p=complete
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 ...
