It's cliché already to say that one shouldn't discuss religion or politics at dinner parties. Increasingly, however, religion and politics are the same thing. That's partly because liberal religious denominations have been adopting the left's political platforms to substitute for dead articles of faith. And it's also because people seem to make political choices less based on rational calculations of self-interest, and more on millenarian visions of the ideal life, however fanciful.
That's bad, because it means it is increasingly hard to persuade leftists to break away from what is clearly not working in any practical sense. And it also means electing the left means committing society to increasingly extreme policies.
But there is a silver lining: we know how to deal with religious difference, and Western Civilization has known how to do so since the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648. We just agree to disagree; we live and let live; we move on.
I have found that in recent discussions with serious, hard-core Democrats and leftists, there is an increasing ease of conversation, partly because both sides seem prepared to use the religious model -- you believe what you believe, I believe what I believe, and neither of us tries too hard to dissuade the other.
That does not mean every set of beliefs is equally valid or useful. But it does mean we might yet salvage social cohesion from the divisive morass of politics.
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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