Parashas Shelach

This Shabbos Parsha Post of my writing has been sponsored by Mark Gaddin for a Refuah Shleimah Bekarov for Yenta Rochel bas Sohra Gitta and Layer bas Yenta Rochel and Brocha and Mazel for Devora bas Yenta Rochel .

Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Shelach . Due to what happened in this Parsha , we were not able to enter straight into Israel , but had to wonder in the Wilderness for forty years , for in this we learn of the negative report of the spies about HaShem's Gift to us of The Holy Land . The Haftorah for this Sedra is Yehoshuah Joshua 2 : 1 - 24 , and in this Haftorah , Joshua also sends two spies Pinchas and Kaleiv , to spy out Yericho Jericho , but these two spies do the correct thing in promoting HaShem and not Loshoning HaShem and His Gift , unlike ten of the twelve spies in the Sedra .

HaShem Starts the Parsha by Saying that HaShem Spoke to Moshe , " Shelach Lecha Anashim Veyaturu , " - " Send forth men if you please to spy out . " Why would HaShem Talk of sending men and then when they go and return , HaShem Punishes them and us . To answer this , let us have a closer look at the words . The word That HaShem Uses for " Spying , " is the word " Veyaturu , " when the usual word for ' Spy ' is ' Meragel . ' So what is HaShem Trying To Show us . Within the word " Veyaturu , " is the Hebrew word ' Yoter , ' which means ' More or Abundant . ' So What HaShem Was Actually Asking the spies , was to go and see for themselves and bring back word of the Land's Abundance , to show the people the Beautiful Land That HaShem Was Lovingly Giving them , but what they did was the exact opposite , for in saying that this was a land that devours it's inhabitants , they were directly lying and completely contradicting What HaShem Had Commanded Of them . No wonder HaShem Was So Angry , and also how they went around dishonestly telling all the people when they got back , that this was certainly not a Land of Abundance , but how it is a Land that devours its inhabitants . What an outright lie and slander , of the Beautiful Blessing Of Abundance , That HaShem Was Giving them And us , that the spies chose to ignore and twist around .

So how did this all take place with the Spies . It started when the men came to Moshe , as the Children of Israel were nearing the border of Israel and asked Moshe to let them be sent to spy out the land . This was never HaShem's Wish or Idea . Nor was it Moshe's . The people , nearing Canaan , felt that when they go into the Land , they will need to work the Land and Fend for themselves , for throughout their journeys through the Wilderness , HaShem Took Care Of their every need And Surrounded them With The Clouds of Glory . They knew of the many nations in Canaan and thought that they would have to fight wars to gain possession of the Land . This was not true at the time , for had they entered into the Land at that very time , HaShem Would Have Miraculously Blessed them With It , but seeing that this sad happening with the Spies took place , the Land had to be fought for , at the time of Joshua .

So the people approached Moshe , saying that they needed to spy out the Land so they could plan ahead for the campaign . They persuaded Moshe to agree to send them , for this reason , but Moshe was still reluctant and said that he needed to first speak with HaShem , to get permission for this , for by right , we should have total faith in HaShem's Assurance of how good is this Land and That HaShem Would Take Care Of our enemies . So when Moshe approached HaShem , HaShem Did Not Want spies sent and Felt That this action and their wish , was a lack of faith in HaShem . And this is why HaShem Says " Shelach Lecha , " - " Send for you , " not for Me . This action was never sanctioned By HaShem , Who Knew what the spies would do . But HaShem , when a person is set on a path of negativity , HaShem Allows their free choice , to lead them down that path they choose . And so HaShem Let them go and do what they so wrongly chose to do , Knowing their motive . But In HaShem's Mercy , HaShem Said to choose , " Anashim " - " Men " of renown , leaders , men of stature and high position , so that they could have the wisdom enough to still try to do the correct and right thing and bring a good report , but they had other ideas . A person , at any stage and point can still make their own choice . Moshe told them that they can go , hoping in his mind that they would see how good the Land is and what Blessings HaShem Was Giving them , and so , end up doing the right thing .

Thus HaShem Said , " Shelach Lecha , " - " Send for you " not for Me , For I HaShem Know The Land is Good , As HaShem So Many Times Tells us In His Torah . And so , Moshe sent a leader of each tribe , distinguished men of renown .

Even in the names of the ones chosen as the spies , except for Joshua ( from the Tribe of Ephraim ) and Kaleiv ( from the Tribe of Yehudah ) , are the essences of rebellion . Also in each of their names was the hint of words that would positively bring about Obeying HaShem , so that they could have fairly have chosen the Right , Good and Holy Path . But they sadly did not . " For the Tribe of Reuvein was Shammuah son of Zaccur , " where Shammuah is like the Hebrew word 'Shomeah ' which means ' to hear , ' and ' Zaccur ' has reference to ' rebellion , " For the Tribe of Simeon , Shaphat son of Hori , " has reference to ' Shofeit ' - ' A Judge ' and ' Har ' - ' Mountain , ' as if to say , he judges from high up and far away , to whatever suits his own needs , and not the closeness of the people . From the Tribe of Issachar , Yigal son of Yosef , " where the word ' Gal ' - ' Wave ' intimates that his nature was like a wave going back and forth with the tide , moving wherever it suits his own personal agenda . " For the Tribe of Binyamin , Palti son of Raphu , " has the word ' Pelah , ' which has reference to ' leveling ' and " Raphu " has within it ' Ropheah ' in reference to being in need of leveling and healing within him , thus showing he leveled or put down Miracles and was in need of Spiritual healing , being more physically minded then he ought to have been . " Raphu " like ' Refuah ' - ' Healing ' could also have meant that he could have brought Spiritual healing to the nation and " Palu " - ' leveling ' could have been leveling ones ego and being humble . From the Tribe of Zevulun , was Gaddiel son of Sodi , " where the word 'Gad ' refers to physical strength and ' Sod ' refers to being secretive , thus his character displayed secretiveness and trust in his own strength and not in HaShem's Strength . " For the Tribe of Manasseh , was " Gaddi son of Susi , " where again ' Gad ' represents strength and a ' Sus ' is a horse , that runs at the first sign of danger , leaving its rider to face the threat , making sure it saves itself and thus , his character was also a belief of strength in his own self and not in HaShem , where he unfaithfully bolts and leaves HaShem , and whatever he is put to face , to just save his own skin . " For the Tribe of Dan , Ammiel son of Gamalli , " where ' Ammi ' makes reference to being with his own group of people who have chosen the wrong behavior and ' Gamal ' refers to a ' Camel , ' that is very temperamental and not totally faithful to its owner rider , as he was unfaithful to HaShem in rebelling against HaShem , with the other spies . " For the Tribe of Asher , Sethur son of Michael , " where ' Satur ' has reference to arguing and putting down something of belief , and ' Macher ' refers to one who goes in for physical increase , thus ignoring HaShem . " For the Tribe of Naphtali , Nachbi son of Vophsi , " where ' Nach ' refers to resting and not acting , in this case for HaShem and ' Nachbi , ' ( Shimon Zilberman Dictionary Hebrew English ) , means ' hidden ' for so was he hidden and not straightforward with HaShem , and the nation , and ' Vav ' refers to a ' hook , ' pointed on which to hang physical things . " For the Tribe of Gad , " Geuel son of Machi , " where ' Galus , ' refers to being in exile , shunned by HaShem and ' Macah ' (Zilberman's Dictionary ) refers to ' hits and blows ' and physical actions against the holy way . Moshe had an idea that the Spies might try something negative and so , to the spy from Ephraim , Hoshea son of Nun , HaShem through Moshe , added a letter Yud , a letter in HaShem's Name , so Hoshea became Yehoshuah , so as to give Joshua HaShem's Strength against the Spies . Moshe then sent them and gave them certain things to look out for , hoping that they would not look from their own biased opinion , but rather be fair and holy . When the twelve spies returned after forty days , ten of the Spies answered most of Moshe's questions with an ulterior motive from their own negative point of view , twisting everything that they saw to the bad . Moshe had them enter Canaan Israel through the South , the same direction that Avraham did when he entered the Land . The Spies entered , already planning to put down the Land wherever they could , but Yehoshua and Kaleiv defended HaShem and the Land . The Spies found that Iyov Job was made to pass away , so that the inhabitants of the Land would not have any Spiritual Kavod protecting them and they saw also how the inhabitants were sickly , where HaShem Had Put on the inhabitants a sickness so that the Spies would go unnoticed and remain safe and unharmed , but the spies twisted this around with remarks of the land being uninhabitable and devouring its inhabitants . A total lie , where they could see the sweetness of the Land . On the way , they came to the region of Chevron , to the Cave of Machpeilah ,where Adam Ve Chava , and our Fore-Fathers Avraham , Yitzchak and Yaakov and our Fore - Mothers Sarah , Rivkah and Leah were buried . Kaleiv chose to remain there for awhile so as to pray at this Holy Site , so as to beg for strength against the plot of the other Spies , for he thought that he needed extra protection against their negativity , for he was not given a previous Blessing of protection , by Moshe , like Yehoshuah was before leaving to go Spy out the Land . As I mentioned , HaShem In His Mercy Still Tried To Mercifully Help the Spies , by bringing a sickness upon the inhabitants of the Land so that they would not be able to have the mind to take note of the Spies . Also , the holy man Iyov Job , whose holiness protected his surroundings , was made to pass away as I mentioned at that time , thus the inhabitants of the Land would lose the Kavod of his righteous protection . But the Spies had other ideas . As they journeyed near Chevron , they came upon the children of Anak ( the giant ) , who were Talmai , Sheshai and Achiman , where Anak , was the son of Arba , from whose name , that place also known as Kiriath Arba came from , where Arba - Four in Hebrew , also referred to the Four Giants that lived there . The Spies became so afraid that they tried to pronounce HaShem's Name , but because of their negative motives , the Giants never ran away , but chased them from there , telling them , that their time to conquer the land had not yet come ( not realizing How HaShem Had Still Saved their lives . They took a bunch of Grapes from the Valley of Eshkol , that was so massive and beautiful , that it took eight of the spies to carry it . One other spy took a fig and another a pomegranate ( Midrash Bamidbar Says - Rabbi M . Weissman ) . Yehoshuah and Kaleiv never carried these fruits as they knew the Spies ' negative intentions . The Twelve Spies returned after the forty days and went straight to Moshe and Aharon , without even respecting Moshe and Aharon's position . They started out telling of the Land positively , talking of the pools of milk and honey in it . And when they had the attention of the people , they turned deceitfully around , and started to Loshon This Beautiful Gift of The Holy Land That HaShem Wanted To Give us , and they played on the fear of the people , talking of Amalek and Giants , to put fear into the people's hearts to melt the hearts of the people . Kaleiv stood up against them , reminding them of HaShem's Miracles in Mitzrayim Egypt , and saying how we can conquer the inhabitants there . The Spies carried on talking and throwing the Gift Of HaShem , of the Land , back into His Face , by making such vile comments about how it is a land that " devours its inhabitants , " when in fact HaShem Had Only Protected the Spies during their sojourn while spying . They completely contradicted themselves by calling the people there " huge " which actually shows it is not a Land that devours its inhabitants . By now , the people were in a frenzy . They referred to the children of Anak , calling them Nephillim , who were the fallen ones in Noach's time , where there were only a small few left as family of Anak . They referred to the opinion of Anak for us as being , that " we were like grasshoppers in ' our ' eyes , and so were we in their eyes , " thus showing that it was from their ( the Spies ) own eyes and their own negative point of view , that the Spies saw themselves small , and not from the point of view of Anak at all .

Joshuah and Kaleiv tried their best to stand up for HaShem and the Land and contradict the evil report of the Spies , even reminding the other Spies How HaShem Had Saved us At The Yam Suf , but to no avail , the people would not listen . The Spies ran from tent to tent , till all the people were in mass hysteria and cried all that night , for no reason at all , For HaShem Had Shown us His Almighty Love And Protection throughout , Fighting our battles For us , but the people that night cried out in vain , for no reason . That night was the night of the Ninth of Av , the night we cried out in vain for nothing and so , Did HaShem Say that we cried for no reason on that night , so from then on , HaShem Would Give us a reason to cry through the centuries on that night , which became the night of Tisha B'Av ( The Ninth of Av ) . It is on the date of this night that we Jews have suffered throughout the centuries , for our total loss of faith in and disobedience of HaShem and Ungratefulness of His Goodness To us Throughout the years . It was on Tisha B' Av , that we lost both our Holy Temples . It was on this very date , that the Chmielnetsy massacres took place in the Ukraine about 400 years ago . It was on this date , that the Expulsion from Spain took place just over 500 years ago . It was on this night that the city of Betar fell to the Romans and our bodies were left lying on the ground , with no Roman permission to bury them . It was on this date that The Final Solution was promulgated , in the holocaust . It was on this night that so many calamities have happened to our Jewish people and still we cry and shed tears , for the effects of Tisha B'Av will continue till Moshiach's time .

The Children of Israel murmured against Moshe and Aharon , calling for us to return to Egypt , calling for an appointment of a new leader to lead us back to Egypt . Moshe and Aharon fell on their faces in prayer to try save the people . Joshua and Kaleiv tore their garments and tried their best to defend HaShem and His Land , but the people tried to pelt them with stones . The Glory Of HaShem Appeared In The Tent Of Meeting To all the Children of Israel , Asking Moshe how long we will provoke Him , and not have faith in Him , after all the Signs HaShem Performed For us . HaShem Said He Would Destroy us and Make of Moshe and his descendants a more powerful nation then them . But faithful and humble and selfless Moshe still prayed for us to be saved . Moshe , having learned the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy at Har Sinai after the people had sinned with the Chait Ha Eigel , when HaShem Taught him these 13 principles of mercy to use whenever he needs to seek mercy for us , chose to pray with 8 of these 13 principles , to attain mercy for us , the other 5 principles he knew he could not use in this case due to the nature of the people's lack of faith and sin . Moshe continued to pray and beg for forgiveness for us , And HaShem Forgave because of Moshe's words , But Commanded that none who left Egypt would see the Land then , except for Kaleiv and Yehoshuah , and the women who did not sin in this sin , they would see the Land of this generation , but not the others who had tested HaShem , these ten times . The Ten Spies who had slandered the Land died in a Plague before HaShem . HaShem Commanded That we turn back toward the Wilderness and so , for every day that the spies spied out the Land , we would spend a year in the Wilderness , and so , we spent 40 years between Egypt and finally entering into Canaan Israel . Also , it was decreed that every year at this time on Tisha B' Av then , the people between the ages mentioned would have to go out and dig their own graves , and lie in them , where they would die . This carried on year after year , until the year before they came to the border of Canaan , where on that year that they went out to dig their graves and lie in them , they found that the next morning , they were still alive . They did this every night for the next few nights , thinking that maybe they had gotten the date wrong , and by the time of the 15th of Av , when they saw that there was a full moon , they realized that they had not mistaken the date , and That HaShem Had Lifted this particular decree , and so they rejoiced and this day of Tuv B'Av - the 15th of Av , became a day of rejoicing .

When the people heard all the Decrees Of HaShem , they mourned and some wanted to go up toward Canaan , against HaShem's Decree , realizing that they had sinned , but Moshe warned them , that they must not go up , for HaShem Will Not Be In their midst and the Amalekim and the K'na'anim would kill them , but they did not listen , and so , when they tried to go up , the Amalekites and Canaanites struck them and killed them .

The people started to think they might sin again and that HaShem May never let them into the land , so HaShem Mercifully Gave them the Commandment of the Libation , that is performed in the Land of Israel , to let them know that they would perform this Commandment one day in Israel .

HaShem Also Commanded about taking the portion of the Challah as Lehafrish Challah Al Ha Issah , that was a portion for HaShem , given to the Kohanim . Today , we burn that portion .

HaShem Commanded about Atonement for unintentional idol worship , but for an intentional sinner of idol worship , they are to be cut off .

A man was found gathering wood on The Shabbos and he was placed in custody and Moshe asked HaShem what was to be done to him . HaShem Commanded , that he be taken outside the Camp and be stoned to death . And so it was done . The name of this person is not mentioned here , so as not to embarrass him , for our Rabbis say , he did this action , as a show to what happens to people who break HaShem's Laws and Shabbos . Though we know his name , Rabbis say we are not to mention it , for he is known .

HaShem Then Commands About Tzitzis Fringes , that we males are to wear on a four-cornered garment . The Tzitzis are a reminder to us of the 613 Commandments in The Torah to the Jew . The word " Tzitzis " comes to 600 in Gematriah , and with the 5 knots and 8 strings on each corner , we get 613 , the number of Commandments to a Jew . The four corners represent the four directions of Creation , where we are to fill every corner of Creation with HaShem's Mitzvos and Light . The letters of HaShem's Name " Yud Key Vav Key " comes to 26 in Gematriah and 2 + 6 = 8 , thus the 8 strings on the Tzitzis , are a sweet carrying of HaShem , with us as we wear it . The Tzitzis are a very holy garment , worn by the Jewish male and when HaShem Mentioned this Mitzvah , HaShem Also Commanded About the one blue Techeilis string as part of the 8 strings on each corner , which was taken from a water creature called the Chilazon so as to represent the colour of Shamaim Heaven . In today's times , that Creature was hidden from us , for we are now not worthy , to have the colour of Shamaimin near us , so we put a longer strand of white . We are to look at the Tzitzis and remember the Commandments Of HaShem and do Them , remembering all the Commandments Of HaShem , and being Holy to HaShem . HaShem Says , " I Am HaShem your G-D , Who Has Removed you from the Land of Egypt to be a G-D unto you ; I Am HaShem your G-D . " So ends the Parsha .

This Parsha of " Shelach " - " Send " is so filled with meaning , as every part of The Torah is . The whole idea of being sent , has a lot of connotations . We need to realize , that we , of our own mind , sometimes speak for HaShem , even though HaShem Never Commanded such a thing . We are all servants Of HaShem our G-D . So we need to realize , that seeing as Creation is not ours , and that HaShem Is All - Knowing , we need to have total faith and trust in HaShem . The very fact that we are servants Of HaShem means that in essence , HaShem Gives us life and so , " Shelach " - " Sends " us out to make His Creation Holy and a Place For HaShem To Dwell With us . So when the " Shelach " - " Sending " is according to HaShem's Command and Wish , That " Sending , " that " Shelach , " is in accordance with Creation , and It's Path to the End of Days and It's Intended Completion . But when we send ourselves out on our own wants , desires and wishes , and to defend our own position , we think incorrectly that we make ourselves feel better , by making out that what we are doing is what HaShem Wants , then we delude ourselves and hurt Creation at large , and we sadly wrong HaShem and His Beautiful Gift of Creation . HaShem Gives us all life , so that we can be His Messengers of Light and Holiness , for when HaShem Gives us Life , HaShem Is Actually " Shelach " - " Sending " us out on His Will . To defy that , Chas Ve Shalom , is to defy Life and It's very meaning , The Very Life That HaShem Gives us , and when we do not do as HaShem Commands us to do , it halts the Coming of The End Of Days Olam Habah . We are not here for selfish reasons . We are not here to fulfill meaningless physical desires of no long lasting value . We , you and me and all of us , are here as Messengers " Shelach " - " Sent " From HaShem , to Bring HaShem Into Everything That Is . Doing this , will also benefit us all , for a Spiritual Existence , is so much sweeter and more beautiful than anything physical can ever be . It is True and Eternal . It Is True Holiness . The word " Shelach Lecha " is 10 Gematrically ( 300+ 30 + 8 + 30 + 20 = 388 and 3 + 8 + 8 = 19 and 1 + 9 = 10 ) , the number of Completion , bringing all Creation to Completion , from the Time That Creation Was Created , to Completion , with HaShem's Ten Pronouncements That HaShem Used To Create Creation , and that 10 of Completion , becomes 1+0 = 1 , where we are all at one , with HaShem , Who Is One . Such a Beautiful Existence , Is Truly " Shelach Lecha , " - " A Sending for you , " for us and our benefit . HaShem Does it all for us , you and me , not for Himself . Such a " Shelach , " is the step with Moshiach into that holy time into the End of Days , Olam Habah , the Time of 10 , of Completion , where we are At One With HaShem Ha Kadosh Baruch Hu , The Holy One Blessed Be He .

I wish HaShem With Deepest And Sweetest Love , A Most Beautiful And Sweet Shabbos Kodesh With All My Eternal Love , and to all my fellow Jews and Creation , a Sweet and Beautiful Shabbos Kodesh With Love .