This is my favorite portion in the entire Torah, and often brings me to tears. After Judah's passionate plea on behalf of Benjamin, Joesph reveals himself to his brothers, and comforts them, saying their sin was part of God's plan.
Pharaoh, too, is delighted, and urges Joseph to bring his family, including his elderly father, to Egypt. Pharaoh adds: "Do not even give a thought to your belongings." (44:20). There perhaps is an important lesson in that remark.
When we make changes, we have to commit to them. Jacob and his sons would have to leave the Promised Land to descend to Egypt. In doing so, they would certainly have been wondering if they were making a reasonable choice.
Were they not already in the Promised Land? Why wouldn't they stay there once they had arrived? Hadn't it been hard enough to return once, when Jacob -- now Israel -- had to face the prospect of war and death at the hands of Esau?
Sometimes we have to make choices that turn out to be part of our overall destiny, even if they do not appear at first to be in line with our goals. That does not mean giving up on our goals, but perhaps giving up a level of control.
Note that Pharaoh -- at this stage, a God-fearing character -- does not tell them to forget about the Land of Israel. He tells them to forget about their "belongings" -- their material possessions that they must one day lose anyway.
We have to let go of things that do not matter in order to make choices that take us down unexpected paths toward the things that matter most. And we have to trust that God Himself in in charge of our overall mission and journey.
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
