This Shabbat we read the Torah Portion Shelach ("send forth") Numbers 13-15. It is one of the most dramatic of events in the entire Torah. "Hashem spoke to Moses, saying, "Send forth men, if you please, and let them spy out the Land of Canaan that I give to the Children of israel..."
You'll note that G-d leaves it up to Moses to make the decision. Why would that be. Truly Moses knew the land that they were about to enter was a gift from G-d and that it would be their land and there could be no danger because Hashem was with them. So why did Moses take the bait, so to speak, and send the twelve spies.?
The rabbi's say that Moses consulted with G-d saying, "I have told them the land is good but they are questioning me. (Sound familiar?) I will let them test me but the result may be that they will be denied entry." It is said that Moses hoped the people would come to their senses and once there was a spy party set they would recant and say..."Hey, no worries. We trust G-d."
But that didn't happen.
And so the wise men from each tribe went out. Every one a leader.
We know what happened. Ten came back with fearful stories. Two, Joshua and Caleb returned saying the land was good. But, no matter, the people feared and faltered and for that they were commanded to wander in the desert for 40 years.
Do we find this story surprising? Over and over again we have witnessed the weakness of the people. Over and over they complained. Even in last week's reading Miriam even complained and gossiped.
Trust is a powerful word. In this portion we learn that G-d gives us free will to make decisions. That free will can cause us to make the wrong decision and when we do we face the impact. In this case the people, once again, showed they did not trust G-d and it all came back to bite them.
What can we learn from this? How about the realization that G-d has set before us good and evil, blessing and curses and has given us the power to choose our path. How do we know what path to take? If our decision is in line with the Mitzvot (commandments) we can be pretty well assured that it's the right decision. It's when we take it upon ourselves to think we know better that G-d is when we get into trouble.
SERVICE SCHEDULE
Our next Shabbat Service will be July 26th at 7:15pm and our Torah Class (Midrash) will take place on Shabbat (Saturday) the 27th at 10:00AM at the Shul.
Thank you for reading. Shabbat Shalom and see you in Shul!
Question at the time the 12 man went out to examine the land, I’m holding the exactly where was this land at that time? Was it the land that is real now occupies what is it then downtown Cincinnati. Maybe I’m not reading with enough depth to pick up on that
Posted by: Prter | 06/29/2019 at 08:34 AM