Devarim

As we wind down the week, here are a few items to mull over during our day or days of rest.

-- Russia, our alleged ally in the "war against terror" refuses to designate either Hamas or Hezbullah as a terrorist organization. How can you join a war when you don't even know who the enemy is?

-- Pressure is mounting for some sort of cease-fire in Lebanon. Jan Egeland, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, has asked for a 72-hour break in order to rescue women and children. This means, of course, fresh arms and provisions for Hezbullah, which are probably getting pretty low at this point. Yeah, let's give them a fighting chance, shall we?

-- In a similar vein, the IDF managed to take out 26 Hezbullah terrorists today, and confirmed the death yesterday of Nur Shalhov, a big Hezbullah gun. smuggler. Pretty good. Yes, it's definitely time for a cease-fire.

-- Meanwhile, the pirhanas are circling Floyd Landis. I'm totally unable to find two anyalyses of this situation that don't contradict each other. But Jay Leno pretty much summed up my sentiments last night.

“You know what, I know why France is happy about high levels of testosterone in his sample — it is the highest level of testosterone ever found in that country.”

He added: “I am sure he will come through clean on this.”

That last is wishful thinking, but I'm wishing the same thing. The B test is almost a foregone conclusion. But it's far from the end of the story. When all is said and done, I'll be stunned if the implications of the test results are borne out. In the meantime, it would be nice if the media, especially in France and Germany, would chill a bit and wait for a more definitive answer. My prayers are with Floyd and his family.

-- This Shabbat, we start the last book of the Torah, Devarim (Deuteronomy). In this week's Parasha, God becomes somewhat fed up with the whining and pessimism of the children of Israel, and more or less leaves them on their own for a while. But not for long. The Parasha ends with a recap of the first successful battles for Eretz Yisrael. And with this assurance.

Your eyes have seen everything that the Lord your God has done to these two kings; so will the Lord do to all the kings where you cross over. You shall not fear them, for the Lord your God, He shall wage war for you.

In a similar vein, the Haftara begins with Isaiah's prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, foreshadowing next week's observance of Tisha B'Av. But the Haftara, too, ends on a hopeful note.

Zion shall be redeemed with justice and those who return to her with righteousness.

Amen and Amen.

Shabbat Shalom.