This week's Torah portion includes the Ten Commandments, the pinnacle of spiritual connection between God and humanity, through the Jewish people.
Interestingly, the portion is not named after the Ten Commandments, or Moses, or Mount Sinai, but after Yitro (or Jethro), Moses's father-in-law, who visits the Israelite camp following the Exodus from Egypt, and gives Moses key advice about how to manage the task of administering justice to the people.
I find this portion particularly relevant this year, because I am currently on a book tour to promote my biography of my mother-in-law, Rhoda Kadalie, the South African political activist, human rights expert, NGO leader, and author.
Rhoda's writing and her insights into politics -- both in South Africa and the U.S. -- had a profound effect on my own thinking. The more I researched her work and beliefs, the more I realized how she had shaped my own outlook.
That is why the Torah honors Moses's father-in-law. While relationships with in-laws can be awkward, and even conflicted, they are among the few outsiders to whom we grant special access to our lives. And their impact can be profound.
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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