It's the week of July 4th -- so we'll be looking ahead to that. But of course we also have last Thursday's debate to talk about, and what it means. As we hit the airwaves, the Biden family will supposedly be meeting to discuss the campaign.
And my former colleague, Steve Bannon, will be preparing to go to prison tomorrow, for a ridiculous conviction set up by the ridiculous January 6 Committee, prosecuted by the partisan DOJ in the biased D.C. courts.
If I were that side, I wouldn't be doing a thing like that right now... not after Thursday night... when it seems likelier than ever that Trump will win, and Bannon will be back on top... the consequences may be somewhat... grim.
I want the Democrats to field the strongest candidate possible: our country deserves it. But they can't really find a way, because even their replacement will stink. So, given how they have behaved, I want them to feel that pinch.
Anyway. There's more to discuss, including our nation's birthday, and the upcoming semiquincentennial, i.e. the 250th, which the next president will preside over ... you wouldn't want that to be Joe Biden or a Democrat, right?
Plus there is another day of Supreme Court decisions, and the ongoing fight against antisemitism. Oh -- and don't miss the latest installment in the "Trumpian Virtues": "Philosemitism," the love of the Jewish people.
Special guests:
Daniel Greenfield - "Sultan Knish," on the attack on the L.A. synagogue
Carrie Severino - Judicial Crisis Network, on the Supreme Court decisions
Gianno Caldwell, Caldwell Institute for Public Safety, on urban crime
Tune in: SiriusXM Patriot 125, 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call in: 866-957-2874
This week'd portion begins the book of Numbers. Interestingly, the Hebrew name for the book is "In the Desert," not "Numbers." The portion, which happens to be my bar mitzvah portion, focuses almost as much on the names of the princes of each tribe as the number of soldiers it fielded. It also focuses on the configuration of the tribal camps around the central Tabernacle and the Levites.
So why "Numbers" instead of "Names" or "Places"? The numbers are, to be sure, a unique feature of the opening of this Biblical book -- but they are not the focus of the rest of the narrative. The Hebrew focuses on the place where the events in the book take place, because essentially this is the narrative of the Israelites' wanderings from Egypt to Israel, across 40 years. We move from the giving of the Torah and the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus and Leviticus, to the final valediction of Moses in Deuteronomy -- Bamidbar is the story of wandering that happened in between.
The question of ...
This week's portion begins with the laws of the Sabbath and the Sabbatical year, and the Jubilee year that restores all land to its original (tribal) owners. It also explores laws of property and labor that will apply in the Land of Israel, and the laws of vows and inheritance.
The Israelites are presented -- not for the last time -- with the essential moral choice that they must face, and the rewards for choosing well, along with the consequences for choosing poorly.
We learn that doing good things will earn God's protection from enemies. That does not mean that victims of terror, God forbid, were sinful. But it does mean that we can respond to evil by committing ourselves to a higher path.
This week's portion describes the major sacrifices that are to be offered by the Jewish people, including those that are offered only by the priestly Kohen class, and physical requirements of the people (men) who serve in that role.
Inter alia, there are interesting commandments -- such as an injection to treat animals with respect and care, first, by letting a mother animal nurse her offspring for a week before being offered in any sacrifice; and second, by refraining from slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the same day.
The commandments regarding animals remind us of the purpose of those regarding human beings: to uphold a divine connection, through ritual.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111878/jewish/Rabbi-Isaac-Luria-The-Ari-Hakodosh.htm
