Luke Ford

This week’s Torah portion marks the beginning of the book of Numbers. Listen here and here.

* “There’s an Andy Kaufman-like hilarity to the way you so dismiss leftist progressive sex stuff: “it’s disturbing.” But the fact that it’s hilarious to me is really indicative of how deeply screwed up my culture is. So funny. Still laughing.”

* My tradition teaches a message of radical inclusion and love. Will you sit down and learn Torah with me, and learn love? I converted to Orthodox Judaism because it is all about love and tolerance and inclusion.

* Love and tolerance is my creed, but sometimes the poz angers me. The Netflix docu-series The Keepers is horrifying. It reveals the rampant corruption in the Baltimore Arch-Diocese as it covers up sexual abuse and murder.

* Does Torah permit Jews to live in a country with same-sex marriage or has the poz gotten so bad that we have to flee?

Chateau Heartiste: ““poz” is shorthand for the propagation of culture degeneracy, filth, freakishness, and antipathy toward normal, psychologically healthy humans. The epithet is retrofitted from its original use in the gayfag “bug chaser” sewer, where poz is a term of endearment for HIV positive gay men.”

* Like ancient Israel, modern America needs a king to rule over it. Right now everyone does what is right in their own eyes. Time for Trump to dissolve Congress. I’ve begun to think that there is a straight line between democracy, the U.S. Constitution and same-sex marriage and trannies in the bathroom. Ergo, I’m ready to jettison democracy for aristocracy. The alternative to liberalism is fascism. If liberalism means same-sex marriage and trannies in the bathroom, then give me fascism (preferably without the genocide).

* Judaism is the opposite of, “Every man does what he thinks is right in his own eyes.” For example, according to Num. 3:10, “any outsider who encroaches [on the altar and behind it] shall be put to death.” Imagine how effective this would be for a nation’s immigration policy.

Artscroll: “This does not mean that no Israelite is ever allowed to approach the Tabernacle; it prohibits only entry without a permitted purpose.”

* “A royal palace that is not safeguarded is unlike one that is safeguarded.” (Sifre Zuta, Korach 8:14)

* God commands Moses and Aaron “to take a tribe-by-tribe census of all males above the age of twenty.” What about the women? Don’t they count? Well, when it comes to the military and politics and public policy, no they don’t. We see from the story of Eve that when you give women any say in public policy, it ends in disaster. With the exception of Zelophad’s daughters, only men are apportioned land in Israel.

* Num. 2:2 “Each man by his banner according to the insignia of their fathers’ household.” Judaism is based on kinship ties. Even if didn’t like your father or his father, you still have to align with your ancestors tribe. Northern Europeans evolved in a harsh climate that did not favor extended kinship ties, rather their ties were based on morality.

* The priests are the sole custodians of sacred objects, and you can’t convert to being a priest. You are either born one or you are not. The priesthood is an aristocracy.

* The Levites had proven their loyalty to God in Ex. 32 by slaughtering those who worshiped the Golden Calf and now they operate and protect the Tabernacle. When a stranger approaches it, he shall die. (Num. 1:51)

* Jacob Milgrom: “Israel’s ideological war with its pagan surroundings is reflected in Numbers.”

One way of unearthing the historical origins of texts is to spot their ideological tendencies and then assume that stores in the text that go against this ideology must be true.

The Torah is harsh about the native inhabitants of Canaan to explain why they are being dispossessed and wiped out.

* Artscroll: “Judaism is not restricted to home, synagogue and everyday activities. One must maintain his sanctity even as a tourist and a traveler.” This is hard and some parts of travel and tourism are harder than others. When you go to the beach on a warm day, it is hard to dress modestly and all around you are under-dressed goyim, makes me sick. We need Jew-only beaches.

* Is it racist to hate riding on Metrolink? About 90% of public transportation users in Southern California are not white and hence whites do not like to use public transport. Is this racist? Perhaps when non-whites send their people on to public transport, they’re not giving us their best? They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.

* Talmud Training: “They’re loud, they use multiple seats, and some, I assume, are fare-payers.”

* Israel has a problem with Arabs riding on buses because they sometimes set off bombs and stab people.

* According to Num. 3:13, the Levites were segregated from the rest of Israel and elevated to a new status. I thought segregation was always wrong? I thought all men were created equal. Isn’t it racist that only certain men, Levites, due to their tribe aka DNA, get to be priests? What about women who want to be priests? What about regular Israelites who feel priestly on certain occasions and would simply like to dress up as priests and sodomize other men?

* * Jewish New York Times columnist David Brooks has married his former researcher. From CJR: “Brooks reveals little of his personal life, either in columns, books, or interviews. He threads Christian theology through his recent work, yet won’t say whether he has converted to anything (though he’ll say vaguely that he’s integrating with a new religious community). He is divorced from his wife of 27 years, Sarah, but doesn’t explain what role that break up, or the reasons for it, played in his moral awakening.”

* You will notice all these glowing Christian sermons about Anne Snyder exerting her Christian influence over the Jew David Brooks. You rarely hear Jews boasting about Jewish influence. Jews try to wield their influence quietly. When Joe Biden talked about Jewish influence on American culture, it was not something that Jews tend to do. If Anne were Jewish and David Christian, you would not have Jewish sermons boasting about Anne exerting her Jewish influence. We don’t think about Christians having Jewish secretaries (even though it happens). We think of Jews as bosses with non-Jews as humble secretaries. Jews don’t like to work for people.

* Last week’s show.

* Wikipedia: Qualitative Military Edge (QME) is a concept in US foreign policy. The U.S. commits itself to maintain Israel’s qualitative military edge (QME) — that is, the technological, tactical, and other advantages that allow it to deter numerically superior adversaries. This policy is defined in current US law.