In last week’s Torah reading, a brief passage of merely 85 characters (Numbers 10:35–36) describing the prayer Moses would say before and after transporting the Holy Ark is set apart from the rest of the text on either side by the inverted letter nun. At least, that is how the passage is usually marked in Torah scrolls produced in the past few centuries. Sholom Eisenstat observes the different versions of this notation that have appeared in Jewish manuscripts since ancient times—one of the few variations in a text that has otherwise been preserved with remarkable consistency. He also examines the interpretations rabbis have offered for these markings, in all their forms. One of the most striking is offered by the Zohar, which in typical fashion sees them as symbolizing the Sh’khinah, or the immanent, feminine, manifestation of God:

The Zohar describes the nuns surrounding the text as depicting the Sh’khinah travelling through the desert riding on top of the mishkan, the portable Tabernacle, scouting the route and protecting the people of Israel (Numbers 10:33). This relationship demonstrates Her love for the people of Israel.

Thus the Zohar, reasons, the nun is backwards to denote the physical orientation of the Sh’khinah:

According to the discourse here, the Sh’khinah changed Her posture depending on whether the people were moving or resting; She either faced the people or She faced toward the ark, turning Her back on the people. The Zohar then discusses some of the ramifications of the posture of the Sh’khinah: would it be appropriate comportment on the part of the Sh’khinah to turn Her back toward the people?

With the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program damaged, and its regional influence diminished, the U.S. must now prevent it from recovering, and, if possible, weaken it further. Benjamin Baird argues that it can do both through economic means—if Congress does its part:

Legislation that codifies President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” policies into law, places sanctions on Iran’s energy sales, and designates the regime’s proxy armies as foreign terrorist organizations will go a long way toward containing Iran’s regime and encouraging its downfall. . . . Congress has already introduced much of the legislation needed to bring the ayatollah to his knees, and committee chairmen need only hold markup hearings to advance these bills and send them to the House and Senate floors.

They should start with the HR 2614—the Maximum Support Act. What the Iranian people truly need to overcome the regime is protection from the state security apparatus.

Next, Congress must get to work dismantling Iran’s proxy army in Iraq. By sanctioning and designating a list of 29 Iran-backed Iraqi militias through the Florida representative Greg Steube’s Iranian Terror Prevention Act, the U.S. can shut down . . . groups like the Badr Organization and Kataib Hizballah, which are part of the Iranian-sponsored armed groups responsible for killing hundreds of American service members.

Those same militias are almost certainly responsible for a series of drone attacks on oilfields in Iraq over the past few days