This week's portion is named for Pinchas, the man who stopped a plague in the midst of the Israelites by stabbing a Jewish prince and his Moabite lover as they were, ahem, in the middle of their tryst.
This is a tough portion to understand and absorb. The issue isn't so much having sex with someone outside the fold, but rather the brazen way in which it was done, i.e. with maximum publicity.
Then there's the vigilante aspect of it. Pinchas acted without being told to do so, or authorized. He is lavishly rewarded by God, but his act in any other context would simply have been brutal murder.
I think the most important message here is that sometimes boundaries have to be set in ways that we would normally refrain from using. You have to be cruel to be kind, to allow life to flourish.
Parents yell at kids sometimes, and it can be excessive, but it may also be necessary so that kids know where the hard lines are. They can't set boundaries for themselves. You have to strike a balance.
The reward is the richness of life that grows within those boundaries. Pinchas is also the portion that describes all the major Jewish holidays. So within clear moral bounds, there is room for great joy.
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 ...
