Secretary of State Tony Blinken dodged questions Tuesday about why Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline but is allowing Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline. (So much for all that garbage about being tough on Russia.) Blinken said that he could not comment on "domestic policy or politics." But the Keystone XL pipeline involves Canada, and in April the good Secretary gave a whole big speech about domestic energy policy, even mentioning "systemic racism." He also dodged questions about Iran's funding for terror groups like Hamas, making the nonsensical and irrelevant claim that Iran would be more responsible inside a nuclear deal than outside of it.
But as bad as Blinken was, the Republican questions were just as disappointing. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) did a good job by asking about Keystone -- but he seemed only too willing to accept Blinken's answers about Nord Stream 2. Other Republicans also let Blinken off the hook on Keystone XL, when they really could have pinned him on his lame excuse about "domestic" policy.
I don't think fireworks are always helpful or effective, but Blinken spews such unbelievable nonsense that Republicans really ought to use these opportunities to point out the folly of his administration's self-destructive foreign policy.
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
