Shelach
Saying It Right
The spies come to the promised land, what a sight they see: They return with a very grim prognosis: "We cannot attack those people; they are stronger than we are." We are stuck with the worst neighbors in the world.
Did we expect them to come back and tell fairy tales that the land is as beautiful?
Especially considering that the spies were assigned a critical and decisive mission for the conquest: to gather intelligence to find the right way to break into the land. Moshe had emphasized from the start that their mission was to learn about the defensive capabilities of the enemies: does the land produce strong or weak people?
Are the people numerous or few? And do they live in tents or fortified structures?
Why then, is Moshe upset with them, and Hashem in turn upset with the nation entire?
This episode, will teach us an important lesson also in interpersonal relationships as well; how to effectively rebuke and chastise, to elicit change within the person, rather than panic.
