The big surprise in the latest indictment of Donald Trump is that it actually contained no surprises -- that it was a rehash of the Jan. 6 committee, which was a rehash of the second impeachment trial.
There is still no evidence of incitement; no evidence of sedition; and, crucially, no direct evidence that Trump knew he was lying about the election, though Special Counsel Jack Smith may wish otherwise.
The indictment looks like a political document, rather than a good case. Even commentators inclined to give Smith credit for his other indictments in the "documents" case were shocked at this one.
Smith damaged his credibility -- and, as Jonathan Turley pointed out on Fox News, that of Attorney General Merrick Garland. But why? And why go for charges that even include a potential death penalty?
My speculation is that the DOJ is firmly inside the DC bubble and that most of the staffers do not have a broad diet of news. They read the New York Times and the Washington Post and listen to NPR.
They don't know how the rest of the country feels; they don't even know that things they may believe are facts really aren't. They think they are saving the Republic. They can't see that they are hurting it.
This week'd portion begins the book of Numbers. Interestingly, the Hebrew name for the book is "In the Desert," not "Numbers." The portion, which happens to be my bar mitzvah portion, focuses almost as much on the names of the princes of each tribe as the number of soldiers it fielded. It also focuses on the configuration of the tribal camps around the central Tabernacle and the Levites.
So why "Numbers" instead of "Names" or "Places"? The numbers are, to be sure, a unique feature of the opening of this Biblical book -- but they are not the focus of the rest of the narrative. The Hebrew focuses on the place where the events in the book take place, because essentially this is the narrative of the Israelites' wanderings from Egypt to Israel, across 40 years. We move from the giving of the Torah and the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus and Leviticus, to the final valediction of Moses in Deuteronomy -- Bamidbar is the story of wandering that happened in between.
The question of ...
This week's portion begins with the laws of the Sabbath and the Sabbatical year, and the Jubilee year that restores all land to its original (tribal) owners. It also explores laws of property and labor that will apply in the Land of Israel, and the laws of vows and inheritance.
The Israelites are presented -- not for the last time -- with the essential moral choice that they must face, and the rewards for choosing well, along with the consequences for choosing poorly.
We learn that doing good things will earn God's protection from enemies. That does not mean that victims of terror, God forbid, were sinful. But it does mean that we can respond to evil by committing ourselves to a higher path.
This week's portion describes the major sacrifices that are to be offered by the Jewish people, including those that are offered only by the priestly Kohen class, and physical requirements of the people (men) who serve in that role.
Inter alia, there are interesting commandments -- such as an injection to treat animals with respect and care, first, by letting a mother animal nurse her offspring for a week before being offered in any sacrifice; and second, by refraining from slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the same day.
The commandments regarding animals remind us of the purpose of those regarding human beings: to uphold a divine connection, through ritual.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111878/jewish/Rabbi-Isaac-Luria-The-Ari-Hakodosh.htm
