31 Emor: Day 7 (Saturday) | Blasphemy Law in Israel

15 Iyar 5786 AM | 1 AVE.

Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us by Your Spirit and invited the nations to share in the richness of Your Word. We thank You for the people and state of Israel, including the Messiah, our First Fruits, through whom the harvest of life has begun.

Today is the twenty-eighth day of the Omer according to the minority Sadducean and Essene counts, which is 4 weeks and 0 days.

May the Spirit of Truth prepare my heart for the revelation of the 50th day.

6:50 AM EDT. 

Jonathan Writes:

There are a few things I should point out before we get to the readings for today. First, it's clear that I am still learning how to handle this daily discipline. Today is my 83rd post on this new blog (Torah with Jonathan) in a row. I haven't always published at the time I had planned in my calendar, and on two days this week I actually had to backdate posts because I didn't get to them on their appointed days. Nor have I published every post in the same format, to the same audience, from the same perspective, or with the same reliance on Gemini (AI). There is much we are all still figuring out as we go along, but this I can say: Rabbi Elliot Klayman at MJTI inspired me to start reading the Daily Chumash with Rashi on my 54th birthday, and once I began to follow-through on that inspiration, the rest of my life structure seemed to fall into place. Soon thereafter I launched this blog to keep a record of my study, and now it feels like publishing this daily post has become a key part of my monastic rule. It may be the only thing I really feel called to publish daily. I am not sure yet.

Second, I listened to Rabbi Gabriel Cousens, MD, give a talk on Torah portion Emor late last night. This controversial rabbi's teaching continues to fascinate me. I haven't had a chance to do further reading in his books yet, but that is something I look forward to, and I will be fine-tuning my Eastertide, Juneteenth and Summertide calendars to make it possible. Indeed, tomorrow I will start reading Cousens' commentary on Behar-Bechukotai in Torah as a Guide to Enlightenment as we finish up Leviticus.

Third, I must confess that I have been "seeing" Prime Minister Netanyahu in my Jesus wall icon during morning meditation, and also thinking of him each time I read this line in the Omer Count: We thank You for the people and state of Israel, including the Messiah, our First Fruits, through whom the harvest of life has begun. On one hand, of course I don't think Prime Minister is "the" Messiah. On the other hand, if the Messiah is a generational leader of Israel in the line of David, Netanyahu is hard to ignore. More broadly, it is very difficult not to see Putin, Xi, Trump and Netanyahu as messianic figures, each in their own spheres. Yes, they are polarizing and widely discredited by the liberal media as authoritarian strongmen (if not outright war criminals), but if all four of these historically remarkable figures reach for peace at the same time, their potential to advance the Messianic Era is enormous. 

Then again, 2026 is a pivotal election year in Israel and the United States. Political opposition to all four men could eventually prove that the key to unlocking the Messianic Era can only be turned by their lawful successors.       

The reading is Leviticus 24:1-24:23.

This is the link to the Daily Chumash with Rashi at Chabad.

The Daily Wisdom from the Lubavitcher Rebbe is titled "Finding the Positive in the Negative." 

The Rebbe's theme for the day synergizes well with the talk above by Rabbi Cousens.

It's 8:03 AM and I still have a few minutes this morning. What I'd like to do now is check the news out of Israel and research whether the Knesset has ever legislated some form of blasphemy law (how the Israeli Supreme Court would handle such a law is a separate matter!)

I note Iran submits new proposal to end war; Trump says he's 'not satisfied' | The Times of Israel. I wouldn't be satisfied, either, so long as China and Russia are refusing to recognize UN Security Council snapback sanctions on Iran. We clearly need a new UN Security Council resolution on the Iran file, and that means the P5 need to agree on a way forward for a peaceful Iran - or at least not throw up any vetoes. China is President of the UN Security Council in May. This is an excellent time for China to show that it is capable of real multilateral leadership, taking all sides into consideration to pass a balanced Iran resolution.

As far as Israeli blasphemy law is concerned, I note the information available from Israel | End Blasphemy Laws. Gemini doesn't return any high-level Israeli Supreme Court cases involving free speech versus the blasphemy of Moses, YHWH, or Muhammed. 

Shalom.