This week's portion involves so many of the great stories of Abraham -- from his hospitality to the three guests (angels in disguise); to the birth (and near-sacrifice) of Isaac; to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah -- and Abraham's plea to save them if enough innocent men could be found in them, which is really a plea for God to show Himself to be just, not punishing the innocent with the wicked.
The latter argument has been on my mind lately as I contemplate the war in Gaza. The world insists on the protection of Palestinian civilians, and Israel is trying to protect them as it goes after Hamas. But many Israelis wonder whether Palestinian civilians are really innocent, if so many of them are indoctrinated to hate Israelis and Jews. Civilians joined in the looting and carnage of Oct. 7, after all.
It seems Israel is expected, and expects itself, to behave as Abraham demanded God behaved -- to separate the innocent from the guilty. But ultimately Sodom and Gomorrah failed that test. The message from the Bible is that evil must ultimately be confronted -- and that if it cannot be redeemed somehow, it must face destruction.
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:
- The state of the economy
- The fight against crime
- The midterm election fight
- The struggle for peace between Russia and Ukraine
- The airstrike on the Venezuelan drug cartel
- The attempt to sink Kennedy
- The war in Gaza
- The case against Harvard
- The Trump presidency
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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 ...
