Shlach

📜 The Story

Moses sends twelve spies, one leader from each tribe, to explore the land of Canaan before the Israelites go in. Two of the spies, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, turn out to be very different from the others.

The spies traveled through the land for forty days. They saw that it was a very good land. They came back carrying a bunch of grapes so big that two men had to carry it on a pole, along with pomegranates and figs, to show everyone how much good food grew there.

But ten of the spies were afraid of the strong nations living in the land. Their report scared the whole nation. Only Joshua and Caleb kept their faith. They said God would help them take the land, and that the land was very, very good.

The Israelites cried all that night. They did not trust God. Because of this, God said that generation would wander in the desert for forty years, one year for each day the spies were gone. Only their children would enter the land.

Later in the parsha come more mitzvot (commandments): separating challah, a piece of the dough, before baking bread; and the story of a man who gathered wood on Shabbat (the Sabbath). The parsha ends with the mitzvah of tzitzit, the fringes on the corners of a garment. The Torah says, 'You will see them and remember all of God's commandments.'