I recall a story about a football coach -- I think it was Alabama legend Nick Saban -- who won a national championship and then came into work the next day to study game films and prepare for the next season.
That's how Republicans have to be. On the one hand, you have to act quickly, because it's a strong possibility Democrats will pick up seats in the 2026 midterm elections, as opposition parties do, despite the current left-wing disarray.
On the other hand, you want to govern so successfully that voters reward you with continued governing power. This is, in fact, possible -- not just because the Democrats are going to have trouble regrouping, but because Republicans can achieve wins.
Republicans face a challenge, in that Trump -- unexpectedly -- outperformed the Republican ticket in general. He won't be on the ballot in 2026 (or 2028), so the wins are going to have to be especially salient for Republicans to do well.
The top priorities must be:
- Closing the border
- Resolving wars in Europe and the Middle East
- Lowering inflation and improving economic optimism
These are all doable. There are many, many other things that Trump should do, but these are the priorities for voters who came to Trump from nontraditional backgrounds (disaffected whites, former Democrats, minorities).
What you don't want Democrats to be able to say is that the Republicans took the votes of these people for granted and then did what old-fashioned GOP elites had always wanted to do. Delivery has to be on everyone's mind.
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
