1. Trump was right all along: Hunter Biden's job was to protect Burisma from a prosecutor, and Joe Biden had him fired using the threat of U.S. loan guarantees. Trump was impeached for being right.
2. Biden lied all along: He lied about not talking to his family about their businesses; he lied about his family not making money from China; he lied about not having anything to do with Burisma.
3. Dan Goldman is a clown: He played the role of fearsome prosecutor when empowered by Adam Schiff during the impeachment inquiry. But today he tried to defend the indefensible.
4. The media are pathetic: Now they are trying to pretend everyone knew all along that Biden had talked to his son's business partners, when in fact no one outside conservative media reported it or cared.
5. The DOJ is part of the coverup: They are going after Trump while trying to cut sweetheart deals for Hunter Biden that would bury the evidence of Joe Biden's wrongs -- and they are doing it in plain sight.
That's just the beginning. But essentially Biden is a corrupt family boss, and the media have covered for him, and Democrats have bought into hoax after hoax after hoax. It might eventually bite them.
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
