This double portion covers the ceremony for the annual Day of Atonement (including the sacrifice of the scapegoat, literally a goat upon whom the people's sins are place, and that is then sent away).
It also includes a series of everyday prohibitions, including sexual prohibitions (including homosexuality) -- rules that the people were said, according to legend, to mourn, once they learned about them.
Some rules seem quite contrary to nature, or at least to the deep taboos that seem to be almost instinctive. Others are less so. The people understood they would have to develop restraint themselves.
The Torah thus connects private morality with public destiny -- for the private sins of the people, it warns, could lead to the loss of the land. This is a heavy moral burden, with which each must wrestle.
There is also the rule about treating the "stranger" well -- a passage that is frequently cited to argue that illegal migrants should be welcomed to the country, rather than arrested or deported.
But the "stranger" in the Biblical text does not merely live among the people; he "sojourns" there, with the implication being that he obeys the laws of the people (which is the problem re: illegal immigration).
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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