The most spectacular sunrise I’ve ever seen.
My son’s Little League All-Star team won a tournament yesterday. He went 2-for-2 with a single (here) and a double, both solid hits.
This is probably the biggest week of the election. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will face off in the first (and probably the only) presidential debate of 2024. It's also one of Harris's few unscripted appearances, raising the stakes.
What do I think will happen? I've been saying the debate doesn't matter -- that Harris's supporters will simply see the debate they want to see, and will focus on male/female dynamics. Trump supporters, too, will overlook any of his mistakes.
But Harris has a lot at stake. If she comes across in a presidential manner, she could shore up what looks (at the moment) to be slightly sagging support. If she fails, she will likely boost Trump's momentum. There won't be second chances.
Based on past debates, I think she will do fine. She has considerable presence onstage, and will come across as officious and dignified. She has no doubt been practicing her talking points and will deliver them. So I don't foresee collapse.
However, I have not been particularly impressed ...
This week's portion begins with Moses's instructions to the people to set up a judicial system in the Land of Israel. Moses given the people other instructions, including about monarchy, rules of war, relations among neighbors, and more.
There is the famous line: "Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may live and possess the land the Lord, your God, is giving you." (16:20). That line is often misquoted as a justification for "social justice" -- often by people who are not terribly enthusiastic about modern-day Israel possessing the land of Israel.
We are so preoccupied with the adjective "social" that we forget about the noun "justice." There's no "social justice" in the Torah -- just "justice justice."
Justice is the noun, and justice is the adjective. Justice -- defined by what we deserve. If we do right, we deserve good; if we do wrong, we deserve evil, and only our prayers and repentance and charity can do anything about it.
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