Kamala Harris was a terrible district attorney in San Francisco; an abusive and failed California Attorney General; a nonentity as a U.S. Senator; and an embarrassment as Vice President. Still, she may "fail up" once again.
First, the argument against her. She is, or was, a terrible campaigner in 2020, dropping out in 2019 before a singe primary vote was cast. She is an awful speaker, repeating vapid platitudes ("unburdened by what has been" ).
He has a record of radicalism and failure, from bailing out rioters (and joining them), to failing to stop the migration crisis at the southern border, to... the list just goes on forever. She has no proven ability to do anything whatsoever.
Still: she is black (and Indian) and female. Amid all the cackling about DEI and its failures, politics does not really care about qualifications for office. She represents a chance for a historic first, which Democrats will feel good about.
The party has united behind her and its fear of defeat will motivate it to fight harder, not to capitulate. That is as it should be: we are Americans, and we do not go down easily. This will be a close election and Trump's victory is uncertain.
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
