This week's portion describes the deaths of Nadav and Aviv, two of the sons of the High Priest, Aaron, who were killed when they brought "strange fire" to the Altar -- not out of sin, but piety.
The additional reading, from 2 Samuel 6:1-19, tells the story of Uzzah (a name related to Uzziah, the name of Aaron's uncle), who died when he reached out his hand to steady the Ark in transit.
In both cases, people who wanted to do something positive were punished with the ultimate penalty. This is a difficult concept to understand, or to explain, but it is part of the nature of divinity.
Similarly, the laws about which birds may be eaten and which may not -- which are also covered in this portion -- are to some extent irrational. Holiness requires accepting things that are beyond reason.
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 ...
