By Nicole Martin
And that's the problem with their rebellion: not that it's a rebellion, not that rebellion in itself is good or bad, but that in this case they're rebelling not so much against an overbearing leader as against the very idea that there is a right in this world beyond the individual, that there is a good beyond whatever I think right now. And because they're wrong on that point, the rebellion is crushed--and they get exactly zero brownie points for underdogs, or for appearing to be on the side of transparency and democracy.
This is something that's worth keeping in mind, by the way, uncomfortable as it is, as we consider the experiences of the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement, and as we get ready for another summer of social protests here in Israel. I have more than enough memories of peulot at camp where we learned to march and shout slogans, but really, the parasha seems to say, what you're eventually judged on is what you're demonstrating for.
Wishing you a peaceful, and, for anyone in Ashkelon, Sderot, Beer Sheva, Netivot, Eshkol, Shaar Hanegev, and Gaza, a quiet Shabbat.