Forgive me for posting Tuesday what I should have posted Monday -- my wife was out of town, you see, and our beloved nanny is on vacation, and my three kids each needed to go to three different places across town. So in between work, etc., I was the family driver.
I'm not complaining -- we are blessed beyond measure! -- and it's totally worth doing, but I think we need to do more to acknowledge the hard work that dads and moms do every day just to keep their families functioning. It's tough, rewarding, and, at times, difficult.
I think if we celebrated the daily achievement of simply getting thru all of the things we have to do, we would see ordinary life as it truly is meant to be seen -- as a wonderfully heroic effort, even in the humblest lives. The everyday is everything, and I am grateful for it.
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:
Tune in: SiriusXM Patriot 125, 7-10 p.m. ET / 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874
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 ...