I'm writing this from the hospital, where I spent the night with my wife and newborn baby, whose name is Amira Leah. Though it is a happy time, I will be fasting today for the Jewish day of mourning known as Tisha B'Av.
I tried scheduling a post for Saturday, which was the Sabbath before Tisha B'Av. Though it is also notable for the fact that synagogues around the world begin the Book of Deuteronomy ("Devarim" ), the Sabbath before Tisha B'Av is also known as Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of Vision, so named because of the reading that traditionally accompanies the the first portion of Deuteronomy, which is the first chapter of the Book of Isaiah. Isaiah has a vision that begins with destruction but ends with salvation, and notes that salvation is within the people's own power to bring about: "Learn to do good, seek justice, strengthen the robbed, perform justice for the orphan, plead the case of the widow." (1:17)
That's the kind of vision from which, at its best and most sincere, the idea of "social justice" draws its inspiration. But that justice does not come at the expense of faith, or freedom; rather, it must be the expression thereof.
https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2020/07/29/tisha-bav-jewish-holiday-mourns-national-destruction/
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/703951/jewish/Shabbat-Chazon.htm
https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/15932/jewish/Chapter-1.htm
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!
An interesting weekend -- one of the last of Daylight Savings Time -- in which there is much to celebrate, much to contemplate, and a bit to worry about.
The Gaza peace deal is shaky, but holding, after the living hostages returned; the shutdown is still going on, with no end in sight; the China trade war is heating up; and the confrontation with Venezuela continues to escalate.
The "No Kings" protest was a dud, despite the media's attempt to inflate it. What I find fascinating is that the Democrats have basically stolen the rhetoric and the imagery of the Tea Party protests, circa 2009. They claim they are defending the Constitution -- just like the Tea Party did.
On the one hand, this is good. How wonderful to have a political system in which both sides, bitterly opposed though they are, articulate differences through the Constitution -- and not, as in so many other countries, outside it.
On the other, this is sheer hypocrisy for the Democrats. Not only did they malign the Tea Party as ...
