This reading reviews some of the laws and rules regarding conduct among human beings. Among the more interesting laws is that of Deuteronomy 24:5: "When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out in the army, nor shall he be subjected to anything associated with it. He shall remain free for his home for one year and delight his wife, whom he has taken."
When my wife and I were first married, we had to live apart for several months, because I had committed to a congressional campaign in Chicago and she had taken a job in Washington, DC, partly to maintain her legal immigration status. (She became a citizen the following year.) She sometimes admonished me with the lesson of Deuteronomy 24:5, suggesting that perhaps I should have put politics aside for the sake of the newlywed year. Things would have been tough, anyway: it was the midst of the recession, and jobs were in short supply. We could not afford a honeymoon. But we could at least have been together all the time, instead of just on weekends.
I knew she was right. In some ways, I regret that choice. You never really get that first year back. We are very happy, 12 years later, but I learned the wisdom of that Biblical passage. And the importance of setting time aside for one another doesn't end after the first year. You need to make time to reconnect, beyond the pressures of work and the duties of family, which have no end, unless you set a boundary to them.
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
