This week's portion deals with the final three Plagues (Locusts, Darkness, and the Death of the Firstborn), as well as the Passover ceremony, and the Exodus.
One of my rabbis, whose family has been deeply affected by the Palisades Fire, wrote an extended contemplation of the plague of Darkness. He suggested that we try to uncover the light within the darkness in moments of difficulty.
I have just two thoughts to add about this week's portion. One is about the odd phenomenon of my house being spared from the fire. People have commented that it must have been because of my "mezuzot" -- the scrolls that Jews affix to almost every doorpost in the house in commemoration of the Passover blood. According to tradition, a mezuzah protects the house, just as the blood of the paschal lamb protected the Israelites from the Angel of Death in Egypt.
I don't know -- there are rabbis who lost their homes, and they certainly had mezuzot. Plus, I was missing one mezuzah that fell off a closet door. But who knows? It can't hurt to have the extra protection, for all kinds of reasons.
The other thought I have about this week's portion is about the experience of leaving Egypt in a rush. We, too, left our homes in a rush when we evacuated ahead of the raging, racing fire. Did the Israelites really know they were being liberated? Or were they racing to flee what they feared was a great danger, headed into something completely unknown?
I don't know, but it could explain their slow embrace of freedom in the desert. Something to think about.
https://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading.asp?aid=2492615&jewish=Bo-Torah-Reading.htm&p=complete
I should have noted in my message about the weekly Torah portion that this week is Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of Vision. We are about to mourn -- but see through that pain to something better that lies beyond, on the other side.
Wishing you the best vision -- and an incredible reality to follow. It happens!
We begin the final speech of Moses to the people of Israel before they enter the Promised Land. He relates the ups and downs of the years of wandering in the desert, before, finally, the people have the merit to enter the land itself.
This Sabbath always precedes Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It is the anniversary of the destruction of both of the Holy Temples, and a catch-all for many calamities that befell the Jewish people.
A word on Tisha B'Av. This year I am leaving for an overseas trip during the afternoon of the holiday -- in the middle of a fast day. Not idea, but there was no other choice. But my flight is in the afternoon, which is significant.
We relax some of the harsh, mournful customs of the day in the afternoon. We start to pray normally; we sit on regular chairs; we start to have hope again in the redemption that will, one day, lead us all back from exile to our home.
I'll be taking a trip to a land where an important part of ...
President Trump is in Scotland, playing golf and making big trade deals -- a major deal with the EU, in fact. Meanwhile, there is a global outcry about humanitarian aid to Palestinians (not about the Israeli hostages, mind you).
On top of that, Democrats are at their lowest polling numbers ever -- so they are trying to win control of the House by redistricting in the middle of a 10-year Census cycle. Oh, economic optimism is up, so they have a tough road.
And Tulsi Gabbard's revelations about the Russia collusion investigation make it clear that Obama's lieutenants lied to Congress. How deeply was he himself involved? The media continue to ignore the evidence, but we certainly won't.
Special guests:
Nick Gilbertson - Breitbart News White House correspondent, on EU deal
Frances Martel - Breitbart News foreign editor, on Trump abroad and Russia
John Spencer - urban warfare expert, on humanitarian aid and war in Gaza
Bradley Jaye - Breitbart News congressional correspondent, on the ...
