There's a big fuss over Trump's recent comments about suspending the Constitution, which he walked back somewhat. But here are my thoughts.
1. Is Joe Biden upholding the Constitution? No.
2. Could President Trump override the Constitution? No.
3. You can understand the sentiment behind his statement: in most areas of life, if a process is unfair, the aggrieved party can ask for a do-over, or for the results to be set aside. Trump's reaction is ... sort of normal.
4. The Constitution does not prevent fraud.
The latter point is the most important. Our Constitution was designed to accept fraudulent election results! The much-maligned Electoral College is a way for leaders to deliberate about disputed results and come up with a plan to move forward. On three occasions -- Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, Richard Nixon -- a candidate has been cheated out of the presidency. The remedy? They run again, and win, the next time they have the chance.
Trump decided not to wait until 2024 and to use mass protest in January 2021 -- the way it had been used against him in May 2020 -- to make his stand. That was the wrong choice, and so he -- and we -- live with the consequences.
This week’s portion launches the great story of Abraham, who is told to leave everything of his life behind — except his immediate family — and to leave for “the Land that I shall show you.”
There’s something interesting in the fact that Abraham is told to leave his father’s house, as if breaking away from his father’s life — but his father, in fact, began the journey, moving from Ur to Haran (in last week’s portion). His father set a positive example — why should Abraham leave him?
Some obvious answers suggest themselves — adulthood, needing to make one’s own choices, his father not going far enough, etc.
But I think there is another answer. Abraham (known for the moment as Abram) needs to establish his own household. This is not just about making one’s own choice, but really about choosing one’s own starting point. It’s starting over.
Sometimes we start over in fundamental ways even if much that surrounds us remains the same. Sometimes the journey we have to ...
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
