This week's portion focuses on the priestly vestments, adornments, and sacrifices, which Aaron and his sons must wear and perform, respectively. It is also the last Sabbath before the holiday of Purim, known as Shabbat Zachor.
That is because we are exhorted to remember how the evil nation of Amalek attacked the Israelites as they left Egypt. (We also read an additional reading from I Samuel about King Saul's war against the Amalekites and their king.)
The connection to Purim is that the bad guy, Haman, was a descendant of Amalek. We are supposed to remember Amalek as a general symbol of injustice, and as a specific antisemitic threat that arises in each generation.
These passages were recently used -- or, really, misread and abused -- against Israel by the South Africans in their case at the International Court of Justice. It was, ironically, proof that Amalek still exists and takes new forms today.
The commandment is not to wipe out Amalek but to remember what Amalek did. That is why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the story to motivate Israeli soldiers: to remind them of the justice of their mission.
Welcome back to summer! The first show of Daylight Savings Time is here.
President Donald Trump impressed the nation with his address to Congress this week -- and Democrats had no idea how to respond. But now is when the proverbial rubber hits the road. Will his shake-up of DC benefit Americans?
Democrats are beginning to make the case that Trump's tariffs and cuts to government are going to hurt the economy. Even the uncertainty of his style, they say, will hurt. Republicans know they can only blame Biden for so long.
Meanwhile, in L.A., the cleanup from the Palisades and Eaton fires continues. We're nearing a critical point, when people will have to decide whether they can rebuild -- or whether they will have to sell because the costs are too high.
We'll also interview a Bay Area legend, conservative radio host Michael Savage, about his interview with Governor Gavin Newsom on his podcast (which, with Charlie Kirk, has already caused some problems for Newsom).
The week ahead will feature ...
Some residents of the Pacific Palisades and Southern California more generally have begun to wonder whether the fire that consumed nearly 24,000 acres and almost 7,000 structures was, in fact, set deliberately.
In the absence of clear information from public officials at every level, this theory has flourished. It is worth spelling out the theory — at least in broad outlines — along with the counterarguments, because it is gaining traction.
The theory holds that elected Democrats set Pacific Palisades on fire (or deliberately allowed it to burn) to destroy a privileged, and predominantly white, neighborhood so that they could rezone it to build low-income (“affordable”) housing, and to add thousands of people to the social welfare system.
The theory of deliberate destruction relies on several pieces of evidence, all of which have plausible, alternate explanations, but which the theory ties together well.
1. Mayor Karen Bass was conveniently out of the country. When she ran for office in 2022, Bass ...
It's Oscar night; does anyone care? Well, there are a few parties in L.A., but the real drama has been in the White House, with the exciting, entertaining, frustrating, and ultimately history-making confrontation with Zelensky.
We'll talk about that -- plus the latest effort by the anti-Israel left to foment chaos on campus. Columbia and Barnard are lighting up -- just as Leo Terrell and the DOJ's new antisemitism task force are descending on universities.
We'll also talk about how USAID is funding terror -- which doesn't mean that every USAID program is bad, but it does point to the left-wing capture at that department, run until recently by partisan Obama acolyte Samantha Power.
Finally, we'll talk about the Oscars, as we remember the influence of Andrew Breitbart, whose passing we marked yesterday. 13 years later, his legacy grows stronger, as Americans are seeing through Hollywood and the media.
Special guests:
Frances Martel -- Breitbart News foreign policy editor, on ...
