I'm not just defending my old boss here; I'm defending sanity. What could Bannon possibly know about the January 6 riot (a.k.a. "insurrection)? He left the administration more than three years before it happened. He's not mentioned in hundreds of federal court documents in trials of rioters. Nor is Kash Patel, the former Trump national security advisor who caught Democrats in their unmasking scandal. But he's also been subpoenaed about January 6.
The clue here is the involvement of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the execrable House Intelligence Committee chair who lied to the public about his role in the engineering of the first Trump impeachment, broke his pledge to make the so-called "whistleblower" available, and spied on fellow committee members. Schiff has always wanted to get Bannon, and hates Patel for blowing the whistle on the Democrats for abusing their power in the Russia collusion hoax.
The public is being told that these subpoenas are so important that they warrant criminal referral when defied. In fact, what these subpoenas demonstrate is that the January 6 commission is nothing more than a totalitarian show trial, and anyone involved in them -- especially Republicans Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger -- should not only be ashamed but should be voted out of office and opposed vigorously if they ever seek public office again.
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
