I'm going to try to offer a little observation from the Torah portion each week. This week, Jewish communities around the world read Korach (Numbers 16:1 - 18:32), about the rebellion of Korach against Moses. Notably, the rebellion comes right after the disaster of the spies, when the Israelites were denied permission to enter the Promised Land and punished with 40 years of wandering in the desert. Calamities often foster disunity, and it was interesting to me -- and disheartening -- how the media and the opposition refused to unite behind the president last year when the coronavirus pandemic hit. They intended to exploit the situation to take power -- and they succeeded. But are they the better for it? And look at the cost to our society -- continued division, and a lack of faith in our values and institutions. There are lessons we can draw from this week's reading for the future, so we can avoid repeating our mistakes.
(This post was written before the Sabbath and scheduled to run in advance.)
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
