Today is a very special day for me: it's my younger daughter's second birthday. She is a blessing and a delight. It's also ... a busy news day. Trump won the straw poll at the Turning Point conference, and RFK Jr. is causing enough problems for Biden that he's being attacked.
On that attack: it's garbage. RFK Jr. is being accused of saying that COVID-19 was engineered to spare Jews, presumably because the Jews were in charge. He said nothing of the sort: he said we need to be concerned about bioweapons that target certain groups, and that the differential impact of COVID-19 (scientifically supported) showed that such weapons could, in fact, be produced and were dangerous.
The people who spread the smear did it for clicks and laughs; they also intended to hurt Kennedy and help Biden. Not to defend Jews.
In fact, the antisemitic conspiracy theory that had to be made up to fill in for RFK Jr's lack of actual antisemitism was the only actual bit of antisemitism in the whole episode. Mazel tov to Team Outrage: you spread misinformation and bigotry for political points and yuks.
We'll talk about "Sound of Freedom," the independent hit film that dramatizes the effort to rescue child victims of human trafficking. Should it matter that the original story is not exactly as told? And what about the Hollywood actors' strike -- should we care at all?
Next -- we'll look at the week ahead. Israel's ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, is going to speak to Congress and visit the White House. President Biden has yet to invite the country's elected leader, Benjamin Netanyahu. Is this just a ploy to divide and weaken Israel?
Democrats are seizing on the RFK Jr. moment: even though he's a fellow Democrat, he's a threat to Biden. But what about the bigots in their midst? Ilhan Omar is already boycotting Herzog -- who is a man of the left -- and Pramila Jayapal calls Israel a "racist" state.
All this plus the latest in the New York redistricting case, as Democrats try to use the courts -- which shut down their attempted gerrymander last year -- to win through the legislature what they could not win at the ballot box. And the latest from Wimbledon!
Special guests:
Patrick Courrielche -- co-founder of the Red Pilled America podcast
Jonathan S. Tobin -- editor-in-chief of Jewish News Syndicate
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) -- from New York's 24th district
Tune in: SiriusXM Patriot, 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call in: 866-957-2874
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
