The Biden administration, the Democrats, and the media continue to treat Trump as if he were an "anomaly," in the words of PBS's Yamiche Alcindor. They will not acknowledge that there was public dissatisfaction with the status quo under Obama/Biden/Clinton and the center-left establishment; nor will they acknowledge Trump's successes, because to do so would mean to legitimize his presidency, and hence the public dissatisfaction, etc. In fact, the operating principle in the Biden Administration seems to be that if Trump did it, it was wrong. Hence Secretary of State Tony Blinken's refusal to confirm that the U.S. still recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, as Trump did (https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2021/06/07/watch-tony-blinken-declines-to-confirm-israeli-sovereignty-over-golan-heights/). This insistence on treating Trump's four years as an "anomaly" means that Biden will struggle to embrace successful policies that could help him be a more effective leader. But I do give some of the blame here to Trump -- let's say 5% -- because he could have used the post-election period defending his legacy (especially in the Georgia Senate runoffs) instead of contesting the past election, once the Electoral College had voted in mid-December. The events of January 6 are being exploited in an effort to erase the previous four years. They can't quite negate Trump's successes. But they are doing their best to ignore them. They are due for another reckoning -- and meanwhile, we suffer the consequences of their inability to see past their own prejudices, pride, and political interests.
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
