Prior to the war, I thought peace was around the corner. (Again, as I did in 1999). In the opening days of the war, given the reemergence of anti-Israel sentiment in the Arab world, I wondered how Israel could manage to survive.
Then the Abraham Accords held, and I realized that the opposition was largely sustained by Iran, and by the example of the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which will only be defeated when it fails internally (though outside pressure will help).
But the hatred of Israel that had taken root in the West gave me new cause to worry. Anti-Israel hatred and antisemitism have become fixtures, even in the U.S., thanks to immigration and radicalism. And the West lacks faith in itself.
Then I considered that Israel had emerged during an era in which the West was hardly at its best - indeed, it emerged despite the self-destruction of the West in two world wars, in communism, and in the post-modernism that followed.
Moreover, a thought expressed by Mark Cuban has echoed through my mind in recent weeks: we may not be able to control how much people hate us, but we can control how much we love ourselves, and how much we love one another.
The secret to Israel's survival is not its strength relative to its enemies, nor its resilience relative to its allies -- though all of that helps. The secret to Israel's survival is love --a love of land, love of people, love of God, love of 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 ...
