This week we are introduced to Abraham, the first believer in One God. He leaves his father's home and the land of his birth to undertake a journey to an unknown land -- the place that would become the cradle of the Jewish faith.
There are many misadventures along the way: an argument with Pharaoh; a rivalry with his nephew, Lot; a war among local kings; and Abraham's struggles to bear a child with his wife, Sarah. But there are promises of future salvation.
There is an element of this portion that seems useful and instructive to me. Lot, Abraham's nephew, is given the choice of lands in which to graze his cattle: the dry, rocky hills of Judea, or the lush green valley of Sodom. He chose Sodom.
Sodom was, at the time, the "best" place. But it was not a "good" place. And within a few years, its wickedness became such that God had to destroy it. Sometimes wealth can be deceiving; true wealth is connection to a higher force.
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 ...
