Orel Family

When I was in my final year of high school, I witnessed a sexual assault.  At a trip to a model UN, in a hotel room.  The perpetrator, like me, was a high school senior; I had known him since we were 4.  The victim was 15; I'd known her for several years, as well.  The party was an excuse for us seniors to drink legally a lot in a famous New York City hotel (the drinking age in New York was just 17 at the time).  The girl shouldn't have been there... but she was, and had had too much.  He took advantage, forcing her hands to place where they shouldn't have been.  I could process what was happening, but not what to do about it.  I froze.  Pretended I didn't see.  When he got up to get more drinks, I collected myself... and her.  "You need to get out of here.  I'm escorting you to your room now."  I wasn't exactly proud of myself, just a bit relieved that it was over.  None of us ever spoke about it again. I have spen...

On Monday, I went to a lecture titled, "The Dirty Politics of Ancient Israel." The lecturer made various points, not least of which is that modern politics have nothing on the ancients. The key example: The greatest king of them all, King David. David rose to power by ruthlessly having all his political opponents -- real and imagined -- killed. At least, that was the thesis. There is a story in 2 Samuel 21: "Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites." Never mind who the Gibeonites might have been, or whether David was actually talking to God. But... There was a crisis!!! Do something!! The story continues: "and David said unto the Gibeonites: 'What shall I do for you? and how shall I make atonement?" The answer? "Let seven men of [Saul's] sons be delivered unto us, and we ...