I'm heading to Israel tomorrow with Rebel TV to visit and take a look at the dynamic political situation there. Next week, I'll visit the UAE for the first time. It's going to be a dramatic, high-energy week.
My primary interest is in assessing the debate over judicial reform. I'm planning on attending a pro-government demonstration on Thursday night, and an anti-government protest on Saturday night.
Both sides are setting up the fight as a test of democracy. In fact, it's a test of LIBERAL democracy versus POPULIST democracy. Too much populism can lead to despotism; but liberal elitism is also tyranny.
There is much that we can learn from this debate, which is playing out in the U.S. and in much of the Western world. The liberal creed risks surrendering the core values that make our civilization work.
The populist path risks snuffing out the dynamic and creative spirit that fuels innovation, trade, and growth. These forces must coexist in a creative tension, but instead we have division, conflict, and misery.
I've also had a long-standing interest in Israeli-Arab peace, so the visit to the UAE is going to be the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. I'll head to the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, as well as Dubai.
Finally, as it is the month of Elul, a time of renewal, I'm planning a personal mission to visit each of Israel's four bodies of water: the Mediterranean, the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea, and the Red Sea.
Stay tuned for my adventures... this will be the best place to see most of what I post, though obviously I will be posting articles at Breitbart.com. I'm on Twitter @joelpollak and Instagram @pollakjoel.
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
