This week's portion covers Jacob's return to the Land of Israel; his transformation into Israel; his reconciliation with Esau; the death of his wife, Rachel, in childbirth; and the rape of, revenge for, Dinah.
Briefly, I want to draw attention to the two most relevant stories.
Dinah is kidnapped by Canaanites and raped; in revenge, Simon and Levi kill every member of the city that kidnapped her. This might be a lesson for Israel in its war against Hamas. It is also a warning: Jacob admonishes his sons that their tactics have turned the whole land against him (though, in the end, he is both feared and respected).
Second -- Israel. An angel gives Jacob his name, which means "he who struggles with (or overcomes) God and man." This made sense to me for a long time as a metaphor for spiritual and moral struggles.
In recent days I have had cause to remember the "man" part -- that is, Jews seem to be destined to have to struggle for our physical existence, alongside the daily internal struggle to live a moral life.
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
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 ...
