This week's Torah portion coincides with Rosh Chodesh Adar -- the beginning of the month of Adar, the happiest month of the year. Actually, this year is a Jewish leap year, meaning that we add an extra lunar month (about 29 days) to the calendar so that it stays in rough alignment with the solar calendar. The tradition is that we add a second Adar -- why not have two of the happiest months in a row?
In the Torah portion, Moses conveys the basic framework of civil law as handed down by God. He then ascends Mount Sinai to receive the rest of the law, and will spend 40 days there -- a fateful 40 days...
...He will receive not only the written law, but also the Oral Law. The proof of the existence of the Oral Law is in this very portion, when the Torah talks about "an eye for an eye" and "a tooth for a tooth."
Without the Oral Law to explain that this way of putting this means the monetary value of an eye or a tooth, we would have the barbaric practice of extracting eyes and teeth as punishment.
I love the teachings at the end -- that if you follow all the laws, then all suffering will disappear, even childlessness ... of course this will prove to be almost impossible. But it is a goal to which we aspire.
I should have noted in my message about the weekly Torah portion that this week is Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of Vision. We are about to mourn -- but see through that pain to something better that lies beyond, on the other side.
Wishing you the best vision -- and an incredible reality to follow. It happens!
We begin the final speech of Moses to the people of Israel before they enter the Promised Land. He relates the ups and downs of the years of wandering in the desert, before, finally, the people have the merit to enter the land itself.
This Sabbath always precedes Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It is the anniversary of the destruction of both of the Holy Temples, and a catch-all for many calamities that befell the Jewish people.
A word on Tisha B'Av. This year I am leaving for an overseas trip during the afternoon of the holiday -- in the middle of a fast day. Not idea, but there was no other choice. But my flight is in the afternoon, which is significant.
We relax some of the harsh, mournful customs of the day in the afternoon. We start to pray normally; we sit on regular chairs; we start to have hope again in the redemption that will, one day, lead us all back from exile to our home.
I'll be taking a trip to a land where an important part of ...
President Trump is in Scotland, playing golf and making big trade deals -- a major deal with the EU, in fact. Meanwhile, there is a global outcry about humanitarian aid to Palestinians (not about the Israeli hostages, mind you).
On top of that, Democrats are at their lowest polling numbers ever -- so they are trying to win control of the House by redistricting in the middle of a 10-year Census cycle. Oh, economic optimism is up, so they have a tough road.
And Tulsi Gabbard's revelations about the Russia collusion investigation make it clear that Obama's lieutenants lied to Congress. How deeply was he himself involved? The media continue to ignore the evidence, but we certainly won't.
Special guests:
Nick Gilbertson - Breitbart News White House correspondent, on EU deal
Frances Martel - Breitbart News foreign editor, on Trump abroad and Russia
John Spencer - urban warfare expert, on humanitarian aid and war in Gaza
Bradley Jaye - Breitbart News congressional correspondent, on the ...
