Hi! I'm launching a Locals page as a platform for sharing some unconventional ideas, a kind of notebook-meets-seminar-meets neighborhood pub. We'll talk news, U.S. politics, the latest from Israel, reflections on South Africa, pop culture, non-woke sports, classical philosophy, the Talmud, whatever comes to mind. I'll also be posting links to the best of my work at Breitbart and my books at Amazon, and discussing both in greater depth. I look forward to conversations where we let down our guard a little and talk to each other about the issues in ways that aren't always determined by what side we're on in the partisan or ideological battles out there.
This week's portion continues the explication of the role of the priests -- the theme of Leviticus. We learn about the appropriate physical state and even the sexual relations that priests can (or cannot) indulge in, as well as the criteria that sacrificial animals must meet in order to be considered for an offering.
We learn about the oil that is to burn in the menorah in the Temple, as well as the punishment for blasphemy. The infamous "eye for an eye" version of justice is in this portion -- but it means the value of an eye, not a physical eye. The point is that punishments must match the offense, neither more nor less.
Today I completed the audiobook recording for my 2021 ebook, "How Not to Be a Sh!thole Country: Lessons from South Africa." It should be available in about a week or so -- just in time for the South African elections...
In the meantime, here's the ebook:
https://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Be-thole-Country-ebook/dp/B08SCK2S16
Jordan Peterson is a great writer and speaker. I had the opportunity to see him on his "We Who Wrestle with God" tour -- which is amazing in itself, in that it's a tour for a book that hasn't even come out yet (that's how popular he is).
It was interesting to see him thinking aloud on stage. He explained that the entire process of thought is very much like prayer, in that it involves leaps that can only be attributed to some kind of revelation, or supra-rational inspiration.
He went on to describe the nature of faith as a full commitment to the proper direction of one's life. I enjoyed the Biblical stories he wove through his remarks. His daughter also spoke -- and she is both wise and beautiful.
Very much worth seeing -- if you ever have the chance to do so.