I spent much of the day at Hillsdale College in rural Michigan, an institution that has become crucial to the conservative movement. I am involved in some projects there, together with my wife.
We spent an hour in a lecture on political economy. The professor was going over an exam -- a multiple-choice test. Sound boring? It wasn't. The test was about Hayek and Bastiat, two great thinkers.
I attended Harvard College for four years and studied political theory. I never once encountered Hayek or Bastiat, though they are crucial to the classical liberal tradition. I was assigned Marx about five times.
The first time I heard of Hayek was in South Africa, when working for the political opposition. I only read his writing at Harvard Law School, when it was suggested by a friend. I never encountered Bastiat.
I relate this to you at the risk of exposing the deficiencies in my own education to show you just how benighted our elite institutions are. Harvard trains the brightest students to hate liberty, and themselves.
Hillsdale is countering that by offering its students -- who are also among the best -- a true grounding in the thinkers and values that make our society the freest and most successful in the world.
The purpose of education is not to flatter the status quo (Hillsdale teaches about Marx, too). But it ought to transmit society's values while providing the tools to succeed. Hillsdale is in a class of its own.
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
