It's easy to be liberal -- until they come for what's yours.
Many of us learn that lesson the hard way. I had already begun questioning some of my left-wing beliefs by the time the second intifada started in 2000, but the fact that the left was suddenly hell-bent on destroying Israel certainly prompted me to rethink my political worldview.
I've had liberal friends over the years come up to me over the years and admit that they were having conservative impulses after the government started trying to regulate their business or their hobby. It's fine when the state wants to redistribute someone else's money, or mess with someone else's business, but once they come for yours -- that's a different story.
One of the many drawbacks of an expansive welfare state is that you create that kind of entrenched interest in government programs. "Hands off my Medicare" etc. People have a quasi-"conservative" impulse to protect what they believe they are entitled to, even if it only comes because the state is coercing other people to pay for it. We've even seen some Democrats argue that Republicans should not cut government spending (when Republicans cared about cutting govenrment spending) because doing so went against supposedly "conservative" values, i.e. "conserving" existing government programs.
We've seen the beginnings of a conservative awakening in this country, as the Biden administration has followed the left's direction. But the two forms of "conservatism" -- to protect what exists in the private sector, and to protect what comes from the state -- are doomed to clash. And I'm not optimistic, at the moment, about which of those is likely to prevail.
This is the portion that all journalists should love: the Torah tells the story of the 12 spies, only two of whom tell the truth when the other ten shade it in a negative away (perhaps to suit a political agenda that is opposed to Moses).
It's not that the ten "lying" spies misconstrue the facts about the Land of Israel; rather, they interject their opinions that the land is impossible to conquer, which strikes unnecessary terror into the hearts of the people.
We have many examples of such fake news today -- from the Iranian propaganda outlets spreading false claims that they are winning the war, to California politicians spreading false horror stories about ICE raids in L.A.
The people realize, too late, that they have been fooled, and once they are condemned to die in the desert, they try to rush into Israel -- only to be defeated by the inhabitants, as the spies predicted that they would be.
But as consolation, God gives the people new commandments -- focused on things they must ...
This week's portion discusses the procedure for lighting the menorah, the holy seven-branched lamp, in the Tabernacle (and later the Temple). It also describes an episode where the people crave meat, and God punishes them by giving it to them in excess. We also read the story of Miriam, Moses's sister, who is punished with the spiritual skin blemish of tzara'at for speaking about her brother, thus violating the prohibition against lashon hara (evil tongue).
I heard a fantastic sermon this week about the lighting of the menorah: that while only the priests were qualified to clean and purify the menorah, anyone could light it. A reminder that each of us can inspire others along the way.
This week we study the vow of the Nazirite; a reminder that sometimes trying to be too holy is excessive, and the best we can do is to be the best that we are.
https://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading_cdo/aid/2495720/p/complete/jewish/Naso-Torah-Reading.htm
