I haven't quite known what to make of today's stunning revelations in Uvalde. The one thing that remains the same is that Border Patrol stopped the killer. But there was no school resource officer and the killer used an unlocked door.
There is a lot of speculation about police refusing to go in, or being too afraid, or adhering to some kind of protocol. Maybe not. Maybe they were stalling to evacuate as many children from other classrooms as possible. We don't know.
My default assumptions -- my bias -- is that police, especially armed police, will do the right thing in these situations; and that Texas police will show heroism. I don't know that we've seen convincing evidence otherwise. We still don't know.
But no one can fail to be moved by the fear and concern that parents were expressing as they urged the police to go in and were instead told to leave the area. Was there, in fact, a failure of leadership? We still don't know. We will.
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
