Shalach
Shelach l’cha enoshim,
My¾¥s¦n£a
¿K«l-H¡l¾«s means "send for yourself
men". The reason, "to spy out the land of Kena’an, which I give to the
children of Israel." The L-rd was testing them to see if they could trust
Him to give them the land He promised their fathers.
The spies went forth and brought
back a report that was breathtaking. They carried back grape clusters that
took two men to carry on a pole between them. However, the negative reports
were there as well, saying, "We were in our own sight as grasshoppers,
and so we were in their sight."
Here are the names of the twelve
who went in to spy out the land.
Name
meaning
father meaning
Shammua renowned
Zakkur mindful
Shaphat judge
Choriy cave dweller
* Kalev guard/attack
Yefunneh prepared
Yig’al avenger
Yosef increase
* Hoshea deliverer, Yeshua
Nun perpetual
Palti delivered
Rafu cured
Gaddi’el fortune of G-d Sodi confident
Gaddi fortune
Susi horse-like
Ammi’el people of G-d Gemalli camel-driver
Setur hidden
Milka’el Who is like G-d?
Nachbi secret/occult
Vofsi additional
Ge’u’el majesty of G-d Makhi pining
Upon hearing the report of the spies,
the children of Israel wept loudly. Only Hoshea (Joshua) and Kalev
(Caleb)
said the land can be taken with G-d’s help. The other spies said, "The
people are too strong for us." HaShem said "you are right."
HaShem became angry with
Israel and said that none of them which live (except Hoshea and
Kalev)
will enter the promised land. Then the people changed their minds and tried
to cross over into Canaan.
HaShem
departed from them and the Canaanites
fought them back and destroyed them.
HaShem then led the children
of Israel around in the wilderness for forty years while He weakened their
enemies. When they finally came to the promised land, there were not only
fewer giants, there were also not as many blessings, such as huge grape
clusters, etc.. Additionally,
HaShem
made them fight their own battles
to gain the land.
We should take a lesson from
this. G-d gave us the Sabbath and His commandments to bless us. When we
choose not to enter into the covenant, we are only hurting ourselves. We
think we can earn more money if we will work on Shabbat. He said we will
be cut off from among our people if we work on Shabbat. We think we will
have more money to spend if we steal His tithes and offerings. He said
bring me the tithe and offerings and the destroyer will be removed from
us.
HAFTORAH Joshua
2:1-24
Here we see the continuing saga
of Israel’s journey into her Promised Land. How much effort the enemy uses
to prevent our journey. When the king sent to capture the two spies that
were sent in by Yehoshua a prostitute protected them from harm. Her name
was Rahab. Her only request was that when Israel took Kanaan that her and
her household would be spared. She signaled the soldiers her whereabouts
by tying a scarlet cord to the window that was used to help the scouts
escape. Spiritually, this is an admission of guilt. “Though your sins be
as scarlet they shall be white as snow.”
Did you ever notice that
the further people are from truth,
the more they consider someone
who turns away from evil to be a fool?
When there is no truth in
the world, anyone who wants
to turn away from evil has
no choice but to play the fool.
From The Empty Chair by Rebbe Nachman of
Breslov
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