Okay, I won’t enter the debate about what’s considered fake news and how prevalent it is in the media today, or whether it is even worthy of discussion.
I’ll leave that for the pundits, media personalities and, well… the President of the United States.
But, I will argue that fake news was a concern for thousands of years.
When the Jews left Egypt – as recounted in this week’s parsha Beshalach – there were plenty of people shouting from the rooftops that it was fake news. Even after it was confirmed that the Jews had indeed departed Egypt, there were still those that questioned just how grand that exodus really was.
Pharaoh himself urged his people not to fall for the 'fake news' that G-d was protecting the Jewish people. “Let’s chase after them!” he insisted.
It wasn't only Egyptians that were prone to outbreaks of 'fake news' accusations. There were Jews as well who did not believe they were truly being saved from Egypt.
The minute there was a bump in the road, they started a petition to go back to Egypt, stating that life was better in Egypt!
Amazingly, Moshe, the leader who faithfully delivered them from Egypt, was the one who had to contend with these complaints.
The fact that Moshe believed in G-d is not so wondrous. What’s really remarkable is that he believed in the Jewish people! Again and again he 'carries them on his shoulders.'
In the end, it was worthwhile. The Jewish people go through many bumps in the road. Many prognosticators shout that it’s fake news that the Jewish people will ever reach the Promised Land. ‘Look at how little they believe in G-d! Look at how little they believe in themselves!’
But, Moshe always believed in them.
Of course, he was right.
He wasn’t right only to believe that they would make it as a people. He was right to believe in them, that they would be the ones to make it. That it would ultimately be something they embrace and earn.
***
History repeats itself.
Sixty eight years ago today (Yud Shevat) Rabbi Yosef Y. Schneersohn, the 6th Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch passed away. He was succeeded by his son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known simply as the Rebbe.
In a world decimated by the Holocaust and facing the tidal wave of American assimilation, the Rebbe believed.
Truth be told, many pious Jews remained steadfast in their belief, the horrors of the past notwithstanding.
That the Rebbe believed in G-d is no wonder. He was, after all, a tzaddik.
The wonder is that he believed in us.
Just like Moshe, he believed in us more than we believed in ourselves, envisioning a revival of Jewish life. He cherished the eternal soul of the Jewish people, and was its most vocal cheerleader, perhaps since Moshe himself.
Let’s finish the mission that the Rebbe started.
Let’s believe in ourselves. Each mitzvah brings us one step closer to making this world the real Garden of G-d it is meant to be.
That was the Rebbe’s dream. And, it’s our reality.