I'll be heading to South Africa in February for a research trip -- and seeing relatives and friends. It will be my first visit in 9 years... kind of amazing, considering that I lived there for 7 years and became deeply enmeshed in South African life. I am looking forward to it -- but I am also a bit nervous about it.
When I first went there on my own as an adult, I was a Rotary scholar, interested to see the country's political changes, enthusiastic about the country's left-wing policies, eager to test Alexis de Tocqueville's ideas about democracy against a real-world example of democracy in motion.
Now I feel I am going there with a new question: given that people there keep telling me -- only half-jokingly -- about "collapse," is the South African experiment a failure? And if it has faltered, is it salvageable? Some people seem happy there; others seem terrified of what tomorrow might bring. We'll see.
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
