George Pryjma, a beloved math teacher at Niles North High School, passed away in late February at the age of 77. He was my calculus teacher, and an outstanding one at that: he was "Teacher of the Year" in 1994, my junior year. He was also the coach of the successful high school math team, which I led.
Mr. Pryjma, as we called him, was always positive and jolly. More than that, he was passionately committed to excellence. For much of my senior year, he met me before school to drill me on the advanced math I was learning as part of the math oral presentation competition. I was first place in a competitive division.
In the years that followed, we connected on Facebook, and he was always very supportive of my political efforts. I was somewhat surprised, since he had not brought up his own views in the classroom, as others did -- but that was also part of his greatness. He is missed and beloved by many thousands of students.
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
