This week's portion is best known for containing the story of the Golden Calf, one of the great spiritual tragedies in the history of the world. It remains an enduring mystery: how could the people turn away from God, so soon after the giving of the Ten Commandments, and the great revelation of His presence?
Sometimes there are similar tragedies in love -- a betrayal by one of the lovers in the course of courtship, which has no apparent purpose or explanation.
Amazingly, the reconciliation between God and the people of Israel creates an even stronger bond -- just as the reconciliation between lovers, if it is still possible, can create a relationship that is even stronger than it was before.
There is also the wonderful principle of the half-shekel census -- counting people by counting coins, rather than treating human beings like numbers. Unlike the lavish contributions to the Tabernacle, which reflected a person's means and willingness to pay, the half-shekel is a reminder that we are all equal in God's eyes, though we may have different talents or material means.
The additional reading (Kings I 18:20-39) tells the story of the Prophet Elijah's confrontation with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Last year, on a visit to Israel, I saw the mountain where that confrontation is thought to have happened, as well as the Kidron Brook to which he pursued the false prophets.
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 ...
