There has been a major change in Biden's policy on Israel, and that of Democrats more generally. Biden has reverted to the Trump policy of backing Israel 100%, rather than the old Obama policy of "distance."
Trump told Israel's enemies that he was going to give Israel free rein. Hence there were no wars against Israel for four years. Trump also moved the embassy, etc., and the result was the Abraham Accords.
Obama wanted "distance," and the Iran deal. So Israel had to face war after war. And in those wars, he told Israel to back down and even denied Israel weapons. Biden largely restored that approach.
But the Hamas terror attack on Israel last weekend -- with its ISIS-like, graphic brutality -- changed all of that. Now Biden is saying Israel has a "duty" to get rid of Hamas. Now Obama says we must support Israel as it "dismantles" Hamas. Now Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor, says the U.S. will back Israel's war "as long as they need to feel safe." Now Karine Jean-Pierre, the formerly anti-Israel press secretary, says that equivocating between Israel and Hamas is "disgraceful" and that there is only one side -- Israel's side.
This means the war is over, bar the fighting, and Israel will have won.
Perhaps it is difficult to trust Biden, Obama, and the others. And there is a very good argument that their policies led to this disaster.
It's too late to undo that. But this is a big change. I hope it sticks.
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
