Apologies to readers -- I simply forgot to post the usual update for Sunday's Breitbart News Sunday program on SiriusXM Patriot 125. I was preoccupied with my deadline for the final final draft of my biography of Rhoda Kadalie.
I had received a critical review from one of the internal auditors approached by the University of Johannesburg. The first reviewer absolutely loved the book; the second reviewer did not, and wrote a detailed set of critical comments.
I suspect that the first reviewer was someone with liberal political views who knew Rhoda from her public persona, and that the second was someone with left-wing views who knew Rhoda more intimately from her struggle days.
It was important to the first reviewer to see Rhoda's story emerge as a challenge to contemporary South African political narratives; it was important to the second reviewer to preserve the legacy of Rhoda's feminist accomplishments.
I have received these kinds of dueling responses to my writing my entire life. My undergraduate thesis was panned by my graders, but won a Harvard prize. My reviewer disagreed strongly with my graduate thesis, but gave it high marks.
The best reaction to my professional writing I have received was a comment that my mother's friend made to her, which is that she (the friend) disagreed with what I said, but was proud that I had said it. People can be like that.
I could have been discouraged by the criticism, but I decided to use it as a motivation to improve the biography. And -- wow -- it is so much better. And longer: including footnotes, the biography is nearly 210,000 words long.
Anyway, if all goes well, the proofs should be done by the end of November, and the biography will go to print before mid-December, the point at which the entire South African economy seems to take a break for a month or so.
Then -- I hope! -- there will be a book tour in South Africa in February. I am eager to get back there to present the book. I am very proud of it, and writing it was a deeply emotional experience as well as an intellectual, scholarly journey.
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!
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