There's a big fuss over Trump's recent comments about suspending the Constitution, which he walked back somewhat. But here are my thoughts.
1. Is Joe Biden upholding the Constitution? No.
2. Could President Trump override the Constitution? No.
3. You can understand the sentiment behind his statement: in most areas of life, if a process is unfair, the aggrieved party can ask for a do-over, or for the results to be set aside. Trump's reaction is ... sort of normal.
4. The Constitution does not prevent fraud.
The latter point is the most important. Our Constitution was designed to accept fraudulent election results! The much-maligned Electoral College is a way for leaders to deliberate about disputed results and come up with a plan to move forward. On three occasions -- Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, Richard Nixon -- a candidate has been cheated out of the presidency. The remedy? They run again, and win, the next time they have the chance.
Trump decided not to wait until 2024 and to use mass protest in January 2021 -- the way it had been used against him in May 2020 -- to make his stand. That was the wrong choice, and so he -- and we -- live with the consequences.
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
