The effort by the left to topple President Donald Trump by staging unrest outside the White House the weekend after the death of George Floyd -- violently, at least at night -- was the real "insurrection," an attempt by the Democrats, the media, the activists, and the Deep State to mount a "color revolution" that would force the president to cede power voluntarily.
Trump's walk across the park to the church was a public statement that democracy still governed the country, and not the mob. That is why they had to lie about it -- to mock it as a "photo-op" and to spread the lie that he had used violence to disperse "peaceful protesters" (which the journalists knew was a lie, because they themselves had been assaulted by the "peaceful protesters" ).
The event was the subject of a massive disinformation campaign -- aided by former senior members of the military, including Trump's own former Secretary of Defense, James Mattis. The media, who still obsess about Russian "disinformation," were part and parcel of an intense effort to mislead the public and provide the justification for regime change. (They eventually succeeded, in a way.)
What happened seven months later, on January 6, was an echo of the violence of that weekend, and the whole summer. When you attempt to seize power through mob force, all while chanting "this is what democracy looks like," there is a good chance at least some people on the other side will believe it.
The real "insurrection" was at Lafayette Square, and the truth will no longer be silenced.
This week'd portion begins the book of Numbers. Interestingly, the Hebrew name for the book is "In the Desert," not "Numbers." The portion, which happens to be my bar mitzvah portion, focuses almost as much on the names of the princes of each tribe as the number of soldiers it fielded. It also focuses on the configuration of the tribal camps around the central Tabernacle and the Levites.
So why "Numbers" instead of "Names" or "Places"? The numbers are, to be sure, a unique feature of the opening of this Biblical book -- but they are not the focus of the rest of the narrative. The Hebrew focuses on the place where the events in the book take place, because essentially this is the narrative of the Israelites' wanderings from Egypt to Israel, across 40 years. We move from the giving of the Torah and the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus and Leviticus, to the final valediction of Moses in Deuteronomy -- Bamidbar is the story of wandering that happened in between.
The question of ...
This week's portion begins with the laws of the Sabbath and the Sabbatical year, and the Jubilee year that restores all land to its original (tribal) owners. It also explores laws of property and labor that will apply in the Land of Israel, and the laws of vows and inheritance.
The Israelites are presented -- not for the last time -- with the essential moral choice that they must face, and the rewards for choosing well, along with the consequences for choosing poorly.
We learn that doing good things will earn God's protection from enemies. That does not mean that victims of terror, God forbid, were sinful. But it does mean that we can respond to evil by committing ourselves to a higher path.
This week's portion describes the major sacrifices that are to be offered by the Jewish people, including those that are offered only by the priestly Kohen class, and physical requirements of the people (men) who serve in that role.
Inter alia, there are interesting commandments -- such as an injection to treat animals with respect and care, first, by letting a mother animal nurse her offspring for a week before being offered in any sacrifice; and second, by refraining from slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the same day.
The commandments regarding animals remind us of the purpose of those regarding human beings: to uphold a divine connection, through ritual.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111878/jewish/Rabbi-Isaac-Luria-The-Ari-Hakodosh.htm
