In my latest piece at Breitbart, I report that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has called the election result there "the biggest election scam, maybe, in history."
He is referring to the fact that his party, which is the biggest (though well short of a majority), is set to be pushed out of power by a coalition of much smaller parties, led by a tiny party that barely managed 6% of the vote (and is led by his former chief of staff, Naftali Bennett).
The parallels to the 2020 election in the U.S. are interesting. Almost no one is saying the election was "stolen" -- thanks to in-person voting and hand counts -- but there is a sense on the right that the new government is illegitimate. Here are some parallels:
- Politician with almost no support taking power
- Successful incumbent losing office despite massive achievements
- Betrayals by "Never Trump"-type rivals on the same side
- Extreme media bias against the incumbent government
- "Deep State" prosecutors investigating the leader on flimsy charges
- Foreign interference (hello, Biden administration?)
It will be interesting -- and somewhat worrying -- to see where this goes. A crisis of democratic legitimacy is the last thing war-weary Israel needs.
Here's a poll: do you think the new Israeli government will last?
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
