The ongoing murder spree in Chicago has raised the level of danger in the city above already-high levels. The latest victim is a 20-year-old student, Max Lewis, who was hit by a stray bullet while riding the train home from a summer internship.
I vaguely remember a time in the 1980s when people from the suburbs were afraid of going into the city because of the crime. That faded in the 1990s, with the revival of the city's economic fortunes, and improvements in law enforcement. I myself used to volunteer at a housing project in a black neighborhood on the city's west side.
In the last decade or so, gang violence in Chicago turned parts of the city into into "Chiraq." The crime began to reach beyond poor neighborhoods. On my recent visit to the Chicago suburbs, I found people reluctant to go into the city. There was a fear I had not sensed for decades.
The answer is to support law enforcement and bring economic growth back to these cities. That means breaking through the current left-wing obsessions that control the Democratic Party, or -- perhaps -- electing tough Republicans.
This week’s portion launches the great story of Abraham, who is told to leave everything of his life behind — except his immediate family — and to leave for “the Land that I shall show you.”
There’s something interesting in the fact that Abraham is told to leave his father’s house, as if breaking away from his father’s life — but his father, in fact, began the journey, moving from Ur to Haran (in last week’s portion). His father set a positive example — why should Abraham leave him?
Some obvious answers suggest themselves — adulthood, needing to make one’s own choices, his father not going far enough, etc.
But I think there is another answer. Abraham (known for the moment as Abram) needs to establish his own household. This is not just about making one’s own choice, but really about choosing one’s own starting point. It’s starting over.
Sometimes we start over in fundamental ways even if much that surrounds us remains the same. Sometimes the journey we have to ...
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
