This week's portion is one of the most difficult in the entire Torah. It covers many of the laws of war, as well as family and civil law. It also has several admonitions about sexual morality. In short, it is quite a lot to digest at once.
One of the more interesting passages considers the law of the "wayward and rebellious son" in Deuteronomy 21:18-21. The Torah says that in the case of a son who simply will not listen, the entire community is to stone him to death.
That seems harsh -- even barbaric -- and yet I have wondered, as our society is confronted all too often by mass shootings, with so many of the perpetrators being incorrigible young men, whether the Torah understood something.
Namely: that there are always going to be a few young men who, for whatever reason -- family dysfunction, mental illness, evil inclination -- make themselves the enemies of their parents and of the whole of the society around them.
We cannot and should not replicate the Torah's prescribed remedy -- and, indeed, the Jewish Sages suggest it was barely used. But the idea that there might be a capital punishment for rebellion may have helped keep the peace.
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
Tune in: SiriusXM Patriot 125, 7-10 p.m. ET / 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874
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 ...
