This week's portion describes the life of Isaac, who lived a more peaceful life than that of his father Abraham, or his son Jacob. Indeed, Isaac is so quiet that some commentaries wonder if he suffered enduring trauma from his near-sacrifice.
I don't think so: it looks like Isaac is quite happy. He lives a conservative life, occupied with re-establishing and protecting his father's wells, rather than digging new ones. This is a valid, and valuable, orientation to the world: not everyone has to be an innovator or a disrupter. Sometimes it it more important to preserve what previous generations have left to us.
The most remarkable aspect of Isaac's life is his marriage to Rebecca. It is the happiest pairing in the Bible. We are even given some insight into the joy and happiness they enjoy in their sexual relations, when the Bible says that Isaac was delighting his wife (Genesis 26:8), which implies he was doing so in an intimate way.
And yet, Rebecca intervenes to make sure that Isaac blesses Jacob, and not Esau, tricking her husband by stimulating his physical senses -- his love of meat, for example -- rather than making the case to Isaac directly herself.
Is that a sign of a healthy marriage, or an unhealthy one? Ultimately, Rebecca is right -- but perhaps insisting to her husband that she knew what was best for the family might have led to tensions. So she fooled him, with Jacob's help.
Notably, Isaac is distraught when he discovers the ruse, but does not blame his wife, or even think to suspect her. The lesson here is not that one should try to deceive one's spouse, but rather that a happy marriage is one in which partners understand each other's motivations in a way that is beyond the need for words.
The additional reading, from I Samuel, talks about the tragic parting of David and Jonathan, the two best friends in the Bible. There is a thematic link to this week's portion, in that Jacob must also part from his family. But the other, perhaps deeper, link, is the story about the bond between these two souls -- one so close that it did not even need physical closeness to endure. The story of Isaac thus evokes themes of love and friendship that recur throughout the Bible.
This is my first broadcast from the new office and studio in Washington, DC, where I'll be for a couple of years my neighborhood back in L.A. cleans up -- and as we follow the Trump administration from a little closer up than usual.
Topics:
- The anniversary of the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump
- The escalating tariff battle with various different trading partners
- The future of the Middle East peace talks, and ongoing antisemitism
- The Jeffrey Epstein files and whether they mean anything at all
- The continued crisis of the Texas floods, and stories of heroism and survival
And more!
Special guests:
- James Rosen - Newsmax chief Washington correspondent
- Bob Price - Breitbart News Texas reporter, on the ongoing floods
- Robert Cahill - Trafalgar Polling, on a new alliance of reliable pollsters
- Rabbi Yaakov Menken - Coalition for Jewish Values - on Israel & antisemitism
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This week’s portion tells the grand story of the prophet who tried to curse people of Israel and instead ended up blessing them.
I am reminded that these portions continue to be relevant anew, as this particular reading lent the title for Israel’s recent 12 Day War against Iran, “Operation Rising Lion.”
This week's portion includes the commandment of the red heifer -- one of the classic "irrational" commandments whose fulfillment is an expression of faith. It also includes the regrettable episode in which Moses strikes the rock.
I referred to this story in a wedding speech last night. Why was Moses punished for striking the rock in Numbers, when he struck the rock without incident in Exodus -- both for the purpose of providing water to the people?
The answer is that in the interim, the Jewish people had received the Torah, which is like the marriage contract between the people of Israel and God. In a marriage, you do not resolve things by breaking boundaries, but through love.
The additional reading, from Judges Chapter 11, is the story of Jephthah (Yiftach), a man whom the leaders spurn, but to whom they must turn to save the nation. The parallels to our present political circumstances are striking.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Fourth of July!
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