This Friday (and, outside of Israel, Saturday) marks the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, or Pentecost, which commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. The tradition is to stay up all night, studying various aspects of Torah.
I recently began studying the "Mishneh Torah" of Maimonides, his attempt to organize Jewish practice and thought in a categorial, rational way. It is an astonishing intellectual achievement and has already inspired me significantly.
One of the first sections is about prophecy. Maimonides spends a lot of time explaining how to recognize a true prophet -- no doubt because Judaism in the Middle Ages found itself under pressure from both Christianity and Islam.
Without, at least in this section, challenging either of those two religions, Maimonides explains the basis for Jews' continued faith in the original Torah, delivered by Moses at Sinai: we were witnesses to it ourselves, with Moses.
"What is the source of our belief in him? The [revelation] at Mount Sinai. Our eyes saw, and not a stranger's. Our ears heard, and not another's. ... Thus, those to whom [Moses] was sent witnessed [his appointment] as a prophet, and it was not necessary to perform another wonder for them. He and they were witnesses, like two witnesses who observed the same event together."
Hence the emphasis, on Shavuot, of reenacting the receiving of the Torah. Through study, we repeat the action of witnessing the revelation -- not just of the Ten Commandments, and of the written law, but also of the Oral Law, which Moses was taught on Sinai and later transmitted to the people.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/904992/jewish/Yesodei-haTorah-Chapter-Eight.htm
I should have noted in my message about the weekly Torah portion that this week is Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of Vision. We are about to mourn -- but see through that pain to something better that lies beyond, on the other side.
Wishing you the best vision -- and an incredible reality to follow. It happens!
We begin the final speech of Moses to the people of Israel before they enter the Promised Land. He relates the ups and downs of the years of wandering in the desert, before, finally, the people have the merit to enter the land itself.
This Sabbath always precedes Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It is the anniversary of the destruction of both of the Holy Temples, and a catch-all for many calamities that befell the Jewish people.
A word on Tisha B'Av. This year I am leaving for an overseas trip during the afternoon of the holiday -- in the middle of a fast day. Not idea, but there was no other choice. But my flight is in the afternoon, which is significant.
We relax some of the harsh, mournful customs of the day in the afternoon. We start to pray normally; we sit on regular chairs; we start to have hope again in the redemption that will, one day, lead us all back from exile to our home.
I'll be taking a trip to a land where an important part of ...
President Trump is in Scotland, playing golf and making big trade deals -- a major deal with the EU, in fact. Meanwhile, there is a global outcry about humanitarian aid to Palestinians (not about the Israeli hostages, mind you).
On top of that, Democrats are at their lowest polling numbers ever -- so they are trying to win control of the House by redistricting in the middle of a 10-year Census cycle. Oh, economic optimism is up, so they have a tough road.
And Tulsi Gabbard's revelations about the Russia collusion investigation make it clear that Obama's lieutenants lied to Congress. How deeply was he himself involved? The media continue to ignore the evidence, but we certainly won't.
Special guests:
Nick Gilbertson - Breitbart News White House correspondent, on EU deal
Frances Martel - Breitbart News foreign editor, on Trump abroad and Russia
John Spencer - urban warfare expert, on humanitarian aid and war in Gaza
Bradley Jaye - Breitbart News congressional correspondent, on the ...
