This week’s Torah portion begins with the death of Sarah, though it is called the “life of Sarah.” This paradox has provoked many commentaries.
Of course, when someone dies, we can see the totality of his or her life. But as I’ve learned in writing my mother-in-law’s biography, giving “life” to one who has passed away means that we keep them with us by remembering them, and by sharing the lessons of their experience with future generations.
That is what Abraham does, in buying Sarah’s burial plot and protecting her enduing legacy by finding an appropriate wife for her son, Isaac.
Ultimately, Abraham, too, passes away. Curiously, Ishmael — Abraham’s other son, whom he sends way with his mother, the maidservant Hagar — reappears to help Isaac bury their father.
Whatever pain existed in their relationship in the past, they set it aside in an early example of what it means to honor one’s father and mother — even if one’s feelings may be complicated.
Today, the burial site of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebeccah, Jacob, and Lean remains in Hebron. It is a flashpoint — at times, a deadly one — between Muslims and Jews.
But Ishmael and Isaac remain capable of setting the past aside, and moving forward together toward 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
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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 ...
