What Palestinians Want
Pragmatic in the short term, radical in the long term.
July 10, 2020
What the Story of Phineas Teaches about Morality, Politics, and Plague
Politics must be as moral as possible if a nation is to flourish in the long run.
Much public discussion today—in America, Israel, and elsewhere—centers on the difficult problem of how to balance the dangers of the coronavirus with the economic and psychological costs of lockdowns. In this week’s Torah reading of Pinḥas (Numbers 25:10-26:4), Jonathan Sacks finds guidance in the actions of the titular character, Moses’ nephew Phineas. When the Israelites participate in a pagan orgy with the Midianites, God immediately punishes them with a plague, which Phineas stops by simultaneously skewering a Hebrew chieftain and a Midianite woman with his spear. To Sacks, the lesson here is about the distinction between moral and political decisions:
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Login or SubscribeJuly 10, 2020
Remembering the Iraqi Intellectual Who Stood Up for the Jews
But didn’t dare stand up for the Jewish state.
The First Amendment Doesn’t Create a “Class of Special Rights”
Getting the Supreme Court’s Little Sisters of the Poor ruling wrong.
What the Story of Phineas Teaches about Morality, Politics, and Plague
Politics must be as moral as possible if a nation is to flourish in the long run.
Philip Roth Wasn’t a Nice Jewish Boy. But What Kind of Jewish Boy Was He?
Sympathetic to Israel and hostile to the radical left, Roth was not always the rebellious Jew.