Sh'lach - 1st Portion

Join me as we learn about Parshat Shelach. Sunday Parshat Shelach, the first Torah reading, chapter 13, verse 1. We are now going to read about the scouts. Last week's Torah reading, we read about the story of Miriam and Aaron how they spoke about their brother Mosha. Today, we go as the Jewish people continue on their travels towards the land of Israel and how Mosha wants to send scouts to the land of Israel to spy out the land and see and tell the Jewish people about the wonderful land that they are going to get. Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe lemor, and God spoke to Moses saying, "Shlach lecha anashim, send for you." Meaning, send out if you wish people. Ve-yasuru et ha'aretz Kena'an, and they will inspect the land of Kena'an asher ani noten livnei Yisrael, which I am giving to the Jewish people. Ish echad ish echad lemateh avotav, you must send one man for each one of the tribes. Lemateh avotav, meaning according to the father's tribe. Ve-ish echad ish echad lemateh avotav tishlachu, should they should be a leader amongst them. Rashi, Shlach lecha anashim. Over here, we're reading about the Torah reading of the scouts right after the Torah reading of the story of Miriam. Technically, in the order of events, the story of Korach happened before this. As we read in Deuteronomy, Rashi pointed out there. So, why then does the Torah put it in this order? That the story of Miriam next to the story of the scouts. Lamah nismekha parshat meraglim leparshat Miriam? Why is the story of the spies next to the story of Miriam? Lefei she-Shulchan Aruch Yisrael dibrah she-dibrah ba'achiv, because since Miriam was punished because she spoke about her brother, u-resha'im al lo yiru, and these wicked people saw what happened, ve-lo lakchu musar, and they did not learn a lesson from it. To tell us the severity of what they've done wrong, therefore the Torah tells us and puts it next to the story of Miriam. Shlach lecha, why does it say send to you? Leda'at'cha, it's up to you. Ani eineni metzaveh lecha, I not commanding you. If you want send. Why did Moshe respond? Why did Moshe send? Because the Jewish people came along to Moshe and said, we'd like to send some people people in ahead of us to inspect the land commission never asked Moshe recounts in the book of Deuteronomy. That they like all come that you all approach me and said let us send people. Moshe so Moshe asked God only God said I already told you that it's a good land. As God told us in the book of Exodus that I brought you from the painful land of Egypt to a land of flows of milk and honey. I promise you I know it's going to come to this. I can give you a spot the meaning that I will allow them to make the mistake. And believe the words of the spies. The man so they will be punished and they will not be able to inherit the land. Meaning the very fact that they did not believe in God and believe that what God told them that the land is good and over here they now want to send spies and inspect it. That in itself is sinful enough that they are not worthy to enter the land of Israel. So over here God allows the spies to make that mistake the people they make the mistake to believe in them because of their lack of belief in God that the land is actually good. Verse three. Moshe Moshe sent them in the midbar param from the param desert up here as shem with God's permission they were all men of distinction leaders amongst the Jewish people. With the permission of God surely he gave he did not hold them back. Call them all. Call them all anytime you found it to find the terminology and notion referring to people in the time in the Torah Lashon Hara it's a term of importance. But even though you're going to say how can they be important if they came back and said such bad news about the land of Israel? But at that moment they were kosher meaning they were fit people to do the job and something happens along the way. Who are the people? Verse four These are the names to the tribe the tribe of the tribe of Ephraim the son of Nun. the tribe the tribe of the son of Gamali the tribe of the tribe of God for the tribe of Verse 16 These are the names Moses sent to inspect the land. Took the name of Hoshea the son of Nun and changed his name from Hoshea to Yehoshua. Rashi by you come on the way here. He loved he prayed for him that God should save you from the plot of the spies. That's why he added the word Yehoshua coming from the God that Moses saw that there may be something along the way that the spies may do something corrupt and he prays that Yehoshua should not be involved in that plot. As well as the Talmud explains that if you look at the names of the spies the first name may symbolize that they were holy and then the second name also may symbolize the fact that they corrupted along the way. Verse 17, Mosha tells them instructions of what to do when they go to inspect the land. Yish La Mosha Mosha sent them lots of the Saudis to inspect the land and such as Canaan and the land of Canaan by Yem and he tells them I'll lose that by negative. Go up this way through the south. Valisa Mesa Har and climb the mountain. Rashi Why is he telling them to go through the south first? Who hired up say La La Israel? The south was considered the lesser quality of the land of Israel because the property there the land there is not so great. Shakeem there and this is usually the way of merchants when they want to sell something. Madimus up say La they should first show you the not such great things about the place. The Madimus and then they show you the better place. This is Mosha giving real estate agents teaching lessons and telling them if you want the person to understand the value of something and their last impression should be about the better place. So therefore you show the person first the buyer you show them first the not so good things about the house and then you show them the wonderful things about it and this way the person's last impression as well he will see the difference between the better and lesser qualities that are there. The reason why the south and was more of the desert land and therefore there wasn't it was very dry and parched land and because of that it was not from the greatest quality. Verse 18. What is the matter with you and you'll see the land Mahi what it is with the all my usual land the people who inhabit it. A Zaku are they strong? I would rather or are they weak? Are they few or are there many? Rashi as I ordered Mahi verse 18. Yes it's my God yes it's my God my lotion. What is he telling them? He says naturally there are certain lands that there are strong people there and certain lands that there are weak people there." As he goes on to explain, what does this mean? Yesh megadel v'yesh me'at chalashim. There is a land that has lots of people living there, and then there are some places that there are very few people living there. And this you can also see by he continues the next verse as he lets them know how one can tell. Echazak hu o rafeh? Is it strong or is it weak? How can you tell? So, Moshe gave them a sign of how they can tell if it's a weak land or a strong land. Siman moser lahem, he gave them a sign. Im b'farazim, if they're sitting with in cities without any walls, yoshvim there there settled, chazakim hem, they're strong. Just as malgvirosam, they know they're strong, they don't need a wall to protect them. V'im badim b'tzuros, but if the cities there have a wall to protect them, im yesh mechalashim hem, that means they're weak because they need a wall to protect them. That's why he says in the next verse, he asks them to check if there's walls or not around the cities. Verse 19. Uma ha'aretz asher hu yoshev bah, and what is the land that they inhabit? Where is the water supply coming? Hatovah hi, is it good im ra, or is it bad? Uma ha'arim, and what about the cities asher hu yoshev bahem, now that they are sitting in it, that they live in it? Hab'machanim, are they open cities im mivtarim or fortresses? Rashi, hab'machanim, Targum like the Targum, the Aramaic translation, av patchin krachin psuchin um'suchen im krayma, are they open that there are no walls around it? Hatovah hi, are they good? What does it mean good? How do you can you tell if a property is good? u'm'sotet u'm'vrim, as God tells us in the book of Deuteronomy that God brings you to a land that where there's streams of water, so therefore he tells them what is good, check if there's a what's the water source, where's the water supply, can it is it going to be dried land, is it going to be a land that the soil can grow? And this is what he was telling them to look at the health level of the properties that are there. Verse 20. Um, What is the soil like? Is it rich or poor? Even though the soil was a poor. Is there any trees that provide shade in iron or not? And you must be courageous and take from the fruit of the land the hayamin. And the Torah tells you at that time when the tribes went it was the season you may be could have known him the time when the grapes be first began to ripen. Rashi Here Rashi takes an explanation the midrashic explanation to mean that is there a what is the meaning if there's a tree? Of course there are trees there. So what is he talking about here? Is there a tree meaning is there a kosher person? Is there a tzaddik? Is there a righteous person? That because of him and his merit there there we will not be able to conquer the land. It was a time was the beginning of the ripening of the grapes and therefore it was it was that time where there was however when it would be at the end of the ripening of the grapes there would be so many of them they would not be able to cut it without people noticing. Therefore he says it's in the beginning of the ripening so people don't know how many grapes or whatever may be and they would be easier for them to take grapes and bring it back as a sample to show the Jewish people. This concludes the first Torah reading of parshas shlach.