I had two excellent weeks in Chicago -- working and visiting old haunts while spending quality time with family. I'm grateful for the resilience of my wife and kids, who managed travel difficulties and other challenges that arose with great poise and patience.
This is always a weird transition -- that moment the Fourth of July period really ends. The anticipation of summer has reached its peak; the rest of that majestic season lies ahead, but it will be a year until the end of spring brings you back together again in the same place...
As a kid, I often visited my cousins in Ohio in June, then extended my visit into July. And when it was finally time to come home, I was often sad. How could it be that summer was still here, and yet I had to wait a whole year to go back to Ohio? Chicago seemed so plain...
I have to shift my focus to what lays ahead: creative goals, political writing, managing the kids, helping my wife succeed, preparing our toddler for preschool, paying the bills, staying in shape, having some fun -- all of it. Maybe after a couple nights' sleep, I'll manage to do it.
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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