Trump returned to Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the attempted assassination in July, and we are into the home stretch of this campaign. Hard to believe, but this is it. And Harris and Walz are... doing more TV interviews, all of a sudden?
Yes... Walz even went on Fox News this morning. Harris is doing Howard Stern on Tuesday, which is not exactly hostile territory... and Walz is doing Kimmel. Oddly, they are not spending time in swing states, but New York and California.
We'll also be looking ahead at the anniversary of October 7 and what it means for Israel and the U.S., as the Biden administration struggles to figure out what to do about an aggressive Iran that has already fired missiles at Israel twice.
Finally, we'll be talking to my former Breitbart News colleague Michelle Moons, who went on to become a White House staffer, and has taken the initiative and is registering Arab American voters. That's the theme: everyone's stepping up.
Special guests:
- Michelle Moons - former White House staffer, on registering Arab voters
- Ira Shapiro - scholar and consultant, on the impacts of a Democratic sweep
- David Harsanyi - author and Federalist writer, on "woke" antisemitism
- Matthew Perdie - Breitbart News video editor, on being at the Butler rally
Tune in: SiriusXM 125, 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874
This is the portion that all journalists should love: the Torah tells the story of the 12 spies, only two of whom tell the truth when the other ten shade it in a negative away (perhaps to suit a political agenda that is opposed to Moses).
It's not that the ten "lying" spies misconstrue the facts about the Land of Israel; rather, they interject their opinions that the land is impossible to conquer, which strikes unnecessary terror into the hearts of the people.
We have many examples of such fake news today -- from the Iranian propaganda outlets spreading false claims that they are winning the war, to California politicians spreading false horror stories about ICE raids in L.A.
The people realize, too late, that they have been fooled, and once they are condemned to die in the desert, they try to rush into Israel -- only to be defeated by the inhabitants, as the spies predicted that they would be.
But as consolation, God gives the people new commandments -- focused on things they must ...
This week's portion discusses the procedure for lighting the menorah, the holy seven-branched lamp, in the Tabernacle (and later the Temple). It also describes an episode where the people crave meat, and God punishes them by giving it to them in excess. We also read the story of Miriam, Moses's sister, who is punished with the spiritual skin blemish of tzara'at for speaking about her brother, thus violating the prohibition against lashon hara (evil tongue).
I heard a fantastic sermon this week about the lighting of the menorah: that while only the priests were qualified to clean and purify the menorah, anyone could light it. A reminder that each of us can inspire others along the way.
This week we study the vow of the Nazirite; a reminder that sometimes trying to be too holy is excessive, and the best we can do is to be the best that we are.
https://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading_cdo/aid/2495720/p/complete/jewish/Naso-Torah-Reading.htm
