This week is the Sabbath known as "Shabbat Shuva," the Sabbath of Return (NOT "shiva," which means "mourning" ). It is a special day between Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).
The portion, one of the last of the Torah, deals with Moses's final valediction to the Children of Israel. He lays out the moral choice between good and evil, and -- this is crucial -- he tells them that they will fail, and they will be punished.
This is, at first, confusing: why set people up to fail? But Moses is doing the opposite: he is setting them up to succeed by telling them that even though they will stumble, they should not give up, because they will win eventually.
When you listen to recovering addicts describe their story, most of them admit that they have failed -- "fallen off the wagon" -- at least once or twice. It is important to see that as part of the recovery, rather than the end of recovery.
The point is not to excuse lapses, but to place them in an appropriate context -- one in which the overall trajectory is positive, and in which mistakes become less frequent and less damaging. The key is commitment over the long term.
Success requires courage, above all. As Moses says, repeating an earlier blessing he gave to Joshua, "Be strong and courageous!" (Deut. 31:6). And sometimes emotional courage is just as tough as any physical courage you can muster.
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
Tune in: 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874
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!
...
