SHLACH L’CHA 5770
Continuing our move through the Book of Bamidbar, we come to the episode of the Spies. Twelve important men enter the Land of Israel to spy it out and bring back a report to the rest of the Jewish people. However, their report turns the people against the mission of entering the Land. Only Calev and Yehoshua believe in the importance of following God’s word and moving towards the Land.
What is interesting is how democratic the process of sending spies was. In Devarim (1:22), we read that the Children of Israel asked by themselves for spies to be sent. This was not therefore a command directed by God. So we see a tension between the imperative and command directed towards us by God, and the democratic way in which we live the command down here on earth. Another detail is that representatives were sent from each tribe. When spies were sent by Joshua in Chapter 3 of his book, God had commanded and only two special individuals were chosen.
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