Shlach Lecha

They made up their minds.

Moshe rabbenu dispatched twelve princes, spies, to determine their foothold in the land that God promised.  On the way as well as on the return trip ten of the twelve princes expressed their worry about the Canaanites in the land. Describing them as descendants of the giants of old they declared to the Israelite nation that the land was beautiful and fulsome but unattainable. (Hafetz Hayim) They declared with certainty that they would be squashed like gnats by the giants.

Two, Joshua and Caleb, went with an open mind and came back fully optimistic that the land was theirs, just as God ordained.

The people listened to both narratives and naturally agreed with the ten.

Against the will of Moshe, and Joshua and Caleb, the people voted to wander for forty years.  All because ten men had already made up their mind.

We are taught many lessons by this sidra.  One of the most vital is to curtail our pre-judgements and be willing to listen to counter arguments to our first impressions.  First impressions may be lasting ones but they are frequently incorrect.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bo

We are approaching the end of servitude for the Jewish nation.  The plagues that God inflicted on Egypt are at their climax.  Darkness and the death of the Firstborn were the final plagues that struck the Egyptians in this parasha. Imagine the terror everyone felt as one affliction after another the people were denied access to the life giving aspects of nature.  One by one the gods of Egypt were demythologized.  From the god the Nile to the sun god Ra each one was successfully degraded to show that there is only one God in the world who alone has the power to control destiny.  For thousands of years humankind has worshipped nature.  They have exported the idea that nature needs to be appeased and cultivated so that the gods of the sky, rain and crops would be good to them.  Imagine their disillusionment when they found that everything they were taught to believe was a lie. We live in a time when a plague confounds and con...
Read more

Vayaytzay

“And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of your son's mandrakes. And she said unto her, ‘Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and you would take away my son's mandrakes also?’ And Rachel said, ‘Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.’ And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, ‘You must come in unto me; for surely I have hired you with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.”   Genesis 30:14-16   Longing and love are in conflict. Leah loved Jacob.  She thrived on his love and presence.  Remember that she was the “second prize.”  Leah was the unwanted wife, the last minute substitution for all Jacob’s labors.    Jacob desired the younger, Rachel.  The reader cannot help but feel sorry for...
Read more

Nasso

  The Lord tells Aaron to bless the people in His name (Chapter 6).     What follow is the most famous blessing in the entire Torah.     Do you recognize it?     When is it recited and by whom?   1.It appears in the daily morning service.  The blessing is recited at the public repetition of the Amidah. 2. The blessing is said where the Kohanim still duchan – that is when they are invited onto the bima, place a tallit over their head and then bless the congregation.  In Israel, Kohanim duchan every Shabbat.  In America duchanning is usually reserved for the High Holy Days. 3. That same blessing is pronounced by parents over the heads of their children on Shabbat and festivals.   Rashi declares that this blessing must be given with kavanah, and a full understanding of what it means.  He further instructs that the words must not be said too quickly but with great care and deliberation.   The first p...
Read more