I've said before (as recently as last weekend) that Trump remained the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2024. The disastrous dinner with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes did not "prove" that Trump is a bigot, because his record shows otherwise, but he clearly is not exercising his best judgment.
The primary process will sort some of this out. It will either produce a candidate who replaces Trump -- but without his enthusiastic following; or it will produce a weakened nominee in Trump who cannot win a general election, and who hurts the party along the way. There is also the distant possibility that a non-Trump candidate brings along the Trump base. Ron DeSantis has the best shot, if he runs; Nikki Haley will try, and she is, at least, not bashing Trump right now.
But here is the bigger picture. Trump showed the Republican Party how to win, how to expand its appeal, and how to govern effectively. The party lacks another leader. He is weakened, meaning the party is confused and somewhat chaotic.
That means there are huge challenges ahead. But the mess is also an opportunity for conservatives to examine what it is that they truly believe. And though Trump's victory in 2016 created a mystique that is hard to shake off, it is far better to sort through conservatism in the wake of that victory than it would have been had he lost that election and left a smug establishment in charge.
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
