I recall a story about a football coach -- I think it was Alabama legend Nick Saban -- who won a national championship and then came into work the next day to study game films and prepare for the next season.
That's how Republicans have to be. On the one hand, you have to act quickly, because it's a strong possibility Democrats will pick up seats in the 2026 midterm elections, as opposition parties do, despite the current left-wing disarray.
On the other hand, you want to govern so successfully that voters reward you with continued governing power. This is, in fact, possible -- not just because the Democrats are going to have trouble regrouping, but because Republicans can achieve wins.
Republicans face a challenge, in that Trump -- unexpectedly -- outperformed the Republican ticket in general. He won't be on the ballot in 2026 (or 2028), so the wins are going to have to be especially salient for Republicans to do well.
The top priorities must be:
- Closing the border
- Resolving wars in Europe and the Middle East
- Lowering inflation and improving economic optimism
These are all doable. There are many, many other things that Trump should do, but these are the priorities for voters who came to Trump from nontraditional backgrounds (disaffected whites, former Democrats, minorities).
What you don't want Democrats to be able to say is that the Republicans took the votes of these people for granted and then did what old-fashioned GOP elites had always wanted to do. Delivery has to be on everyone's mind.
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
