I've been really angry about the Georgia indictment. Maybe because it includes several people who I happen to know professionally, who are the furthest thing from criminals I can possibly imagine. Maybe because the indictment includes ordinary political speech, meaning that people like me could be next in line for voicing our opinions.
What happened to the America I knew? I grew up in the liberal Chicago suburbs, where we learned to prize freedom of speech as the ultimate virtue. What happened to those Democrats?
The worst are Republicans like Brian Kemp, who are piling on with their "I told you so" lines about the 2020 election. This isn't about the 2020 election. It's about the perversion and politicization of justice in their own state, which they evidently care nothing about.
I'm bummed. And I hear the notes of defeat. I hear the voices telling us Republicans will never win another election because of vote-by-mail, and how Democrat billionaires have bought the media, and how AI will replace us all anyway so we might as well prepare for that.
Then I hear -- or don't hear -- from people in other contexts who otherwise would have every reason to respond to me but who have gone totally radio silent because they have found out I am a conservative and they can't handle it, so they'll just let me hang.
And I could let this get me down. And I get I have let it get me down, for a few hours. But I went for a run in the California sunshine -- which they haven't ruined yet -- and I swam in the wild sea and I realized that this is the kick in the pants I needed before next week.
Next week I will be in the spin room at the Republican debate. And I'm not going to ask about policy. I'm going to ask what these guys are doing to deal with the threat that the left's perversion of justice poses to all of us. Because that's the only thing that matters now.
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
