Labour won a huge victory in Thursday's elections in the UK, taking nearly two-thirds of the seats in the House of Commons. A resounding victory for the left, perhaps? Well, they will certainly have a mandate, and the power to govern.
But Labour actually lost votes compared to the previous election, which had been a bad year for them. What happened was that the Conservatives lost support because the Conservatives were no longer conservative in any way.
The Conservative leadership could never fully get behind Brexit; then the party went for "green energy" fiascos that raised energy prices; and finally it proved itself totally incapable of standing up to the ongoing problem of mass migration.
Labour certainly won't do anything about that, either. It is a weak party with bad ideas -- which is why it is already being eclipsed in places by Muslim candidates who ran campaigns focused on opposing Israel's war against Hamas terrorists.
The upshot is that Nigel Farage, the man behind Brexit, is now in Parliament, albeit with a tiny party. And from that perch, he will continue to provide ideas and criticism that will expose the rot in both mainstream British parties.
So -- while Labour's victory looks like a step to the left for a major democracy, moving against the overall trend, it is really just a reminder that there is a limit to how much left-wing policy voters will tolerate from a conservative party.
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
