{"id":46858,"date":"2018-07-09T17:41:16","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-130\/"},"modified":"2022-08-04T07:37:27","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T04:37:27","slug":"wall-130","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-130\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Torah-Numbers-13"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"130","date":"20260226","book":"Numbers","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"130","books_group":"Torah","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"47187","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Numbers 13 - Judy Hammond ","post_title":"Numbers 13 - Judy Hammond","slug":"numbers-13-judy-hammond","old_id":"47187","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"130","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Numbers 13","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"read by Judy Hammond","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/numbers-chapter-13-read-by-judy-hammond","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"130","date":"20260226","wall_id":"130"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"106937","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"God Save Joshua ","post_title":"God Save Joshua","slug":"god-save-joshua","old_id":"106937","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":62571,"post_title":"Yaakov Bieler","slug":"yaakov-bieler","old_id":"62571","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Bieler ","description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University in 1974. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"130","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"At least, that was Moses\u2019 blessing for him\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Prior to Moses sending out the members of the reconnoitering team on their mission, he changes one of their names: \u201cMoses changed the name of Hosea,<\/span> son of Nun, to Joshua\u201d (Num. 13:16). Several commentators wonder regarding the Tanach\u2019s previously referring to this individual by the name \u201cJoshua,\u201d as in Ex. 17:9, ibid. 10:13-4; 24:13; 32:17; 33:11; and Num. 11:28.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yosef Bechor Shor explains that while Nun originally gave his son the name \u201cHosea\u201d (see Num. 13:8), Moses, right from the start, referred to his assistant as \u201cJoshua,\u201d as reflected in the Torah\u2019s previous verses. Since being chosen to serve as Moses\u2019 \u201cright-hand man\u201d constituted a promotion, the precedent for a name change in such circumstances was already in place when God called Abram, Abraham (Genesis 17:5,) Sarai, Sarah (Ibid. 15,) and Jacob, Israel (Ibid. 32:29; 35:10). Furthermore, Pharaoh changed Joseph\u2019s name to Zaphenath-paneah (Ibid. 41:45); Nebuchadnezzar altered the names of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah to Belteshazar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego when they were added to the Babylonian king\u2019s court (Daniel 1:7; 2:49,) and he also transformed the name of the Jewish king \u00a0 from Mattaniah to Zedekiah (II Kings 24:17). Finally, Bechor Shor adds that Nehemiah became known as Tirshatha, reflecting a positive change in his status (Nehemiah 8:9). Therefore, re Num. 13:16, Moses merely made the name change official, one that he had instituted as soon as Hosea became his assistant, before sending him off as one of the spies to reconnoiter the Promised Land.<\/p>\r\n

Bechor Shor\u2019s interpretation could be made to complement that of Rashi: \u201cBy giving him this name \u2018Joshua,\u2019 which is a compound of Yah and Hosea \u2018God, may save,\u2019 he in effect prayed for him: \u2018May God save you from the evil counsel of the spies\u2019\u201d (Sotah 34b). I.e., Moses was reminding his student that he had changed his name, and that this name-change should stand him in good stead with regard to the challenges from his colleagues that he might encounter on this mission. However, Moses\u2019 intention regarding the earlier times when he called the man \u201cJoshua,\u201d need to be accounted for.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps we could say on behalf of Bechor Shor, that Moses, due to his own weakness regarding having a notoriously \u201cshort fuse\u201d when it came to what he perceived as shortcomings in others, was hoping that his servant would not be susceptible to similar impatience. Thus, with respect to the places where Joshua\u2019s name was previously mentioned, i.e., the war with Amalek, receiving the Torah on Sinai, the sin of the Golden Calf, and Eldad and Medad prophesying, by invoking the name \u201cJoshua,\u201d Moses was privately encouraging his student not to be overly upset with the struggles he was called to undertake. Our prayers at the conclusion of the morning liturgy known as \u201c<\/span>Birchot HaShachar<\/span><\/em>\u201d ask God to assist us in similar undertakings.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"130","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And for that, like a few select figures before him - he gets a new name\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Every single one of the spies is new to the text except for one, Joshua. After the text lists all twelve spies, it adds \u201cThose were the names of the participants whom Moses sent to scout the land; but Moses changed the name of Hosea son of Nun to Joshua\u201d (verse 16). There is one problem with this verse. Except for this chapter, Joshua is never named Hoshea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Exodus 17, in Joshua\u2019s first appearance, Moses appoints him to lead the garrison against Amalek. Joshua appears again in Exodus 32 informing Moses about the Golden Calf and in Exodus 33, as Moses\u2019s attendant. In Number 11, Joshua rushes to imprison Eldad and Medad when they begin to prophesize with the 70 elders. It is clear that Joshua was Moses\u2019 right hand man well before God selected him to lead the Israelites into the Land of Canaan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is a little odd that 11 of the spies are new and yet Joshua appears in the list. Furthermore, while Joshua and Caleb are the only spies allowed to enter the land, it is only Caleb who speaks out against the other 10 spies in verse 30.\u00a0 Moses must have been skeptical of the idea of sending spies. Some commentators explain that when God tells Moses \u201csend spies for yourself\u201d in the opening verse, the Torah is pointing the finger at the people. God did not see a need for the spies, but the people wanted them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sensing trouble, Moses sends Joshua hoping that at least one of the spies would come back with a positive message. When the spies return, however, Caleb speaks up to defend the land. Perhaps Joshua knew that if only he would speak up, the people would think he was biased. Instead, Caleb gets the speaking opportunity, but Joshua provides support later in chapter 14.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So then why is Joshua given a name change here? The midrash explains that God took the letter \u201cyud\u201d from Sarai\u2019s name when it was changed to Sarah, and gave it to Joshua. That is a very nice story, but what is the connection? When God changed Sarai\u2019s name he blessed her \u201cI will bless her so that she shall give rise to nations; rulers of peoples shall issue from her\u201d (Genesis 17:16). Joshua is the first appointed ruler of the Israelites. Moses comes on to the scene before they are a people, but Joshua leads them as a nation. The most difficult job of a new leader is to do what is right in the face of the mob. Moses knows that this mission is doomed to fail, and so at this time Joshua needs the power of the blessing from God to Sarai. He needs to be a leader.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":35832,"alt":"","title":"Ruth Fogelman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","width":969,"height":973,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--768x771.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":771,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","large-width":969,"large-height":973,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","1536x1536-width":969,"1536x1536-height":973,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","2048x2048-width":969,"2048x2048-height":973,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","post_full_size-width":969,"post_full_size-height":973,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--418x420.jpg","home_baner-width":418,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"130","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"How could you \/ tour the Land of our Longing \/ with grasshopper eyes\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

And Moses sent [the men] from the Paran Wilderness according to God\u2019s words, all those men were the heads of the Children of Israel\u2026. From the tribe of Joseph, [namely] the tribe of Menasseh, Gaddi Ben Susi\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Numbers 13:3, 11<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How could you?
\r\n<\/span>How could you join those who bring an evil report?
\r\n<\/span>In front of us, the ark with Joseph\u2019s bones
\r\n<\/span>the bones the Sea saw and fled \u2013 isn\u2019t that enough \u2013
\r\n<\/span>as clear as night\u2019s pillar of fire\u00a0 \u2013
\r\n<\/span>to see that we could have gone up?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How could you \u2013 a prince in Israel \u2013
\r\n<\/span>tour the Land of our Longing
\r\n<\/span>with grasshopper eyes
\r\n<\/span>rather than vision,
\r\n<\/span>you, who crossed the Sea on dry land
\r\n<\/span>who saw the sounds of Sinai?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I am shattered, choking on my tears
\r\n<\/span>in grief for all we have lost.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":65929,"alt":"","title":"is21-eyes","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes.jpg","width":1920,"height":1357,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes-300x212.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":212,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes-768x543.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":543,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes-1024x724.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":724,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1086,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1357,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes-1200x848.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":848,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes-594x420.jpg","home_baner-width":594,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Mrs. Ben Susi on her Husband\u2019s Return to Paran","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"How could you \/ tour the Land of our Longing \/ with grasshopper eyes","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":65929,"alt":"","title":"is21-eyes","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes.jpg","width":1920,"height":1357,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes-300x212.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":212,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes-768x543.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":543,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes-1024x724.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":724,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1086,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1357,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes-1200x848.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":848,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-eyes-594x420.jpg","home_baner-width":594,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"130","date":"20260226","wall_id":"130"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"375","name":"Faith","old_id":"775"},{"term_id":"807","name":"Spies","old_id":"1207"}]},{"order":5,"id":"47205","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Leading From Behind ","post_title":"Leading From Behind","slug":"leading-from-behind","old_id":"47205","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46959,"post_title":"Rachel Kohl Finegold","slug":"rachel-kohl-finegold","old_id":"46959","first_name":"Rachel Kohl","last_name":"Finegold","description":"Rachel Kohl Finegold is the Rabba at Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Montreal. 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Having returned from exploring the land of Israel, the scouts confront Moses and Aaron, lamenting that although the land seems fertile and beautiful, its dangers are too great. They foment fear and doubt within the fledgling nation. In the midst of the chaos, Caleb steps forward. He, too, has seen the land with his own eyes. But unlike the other scouts, he maintains his confidence in the nation\u2019s ability to conquer it, with the help of God. His is a voice of calm and comfort: We can do it! The verse opens with this phrase: (Chapter 13 verse 30) \u201cAnd Caleb silenced the people\u2026\u201d but then the verse continues with the words \u201ctoward Moses\u201d. Caleb silenced the people toward Moses.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Caleb is a powerful and influential leader. But as he quiets the people, he directs them to Moses. His aim is not to further his own leadership, but to bolster that of his senior colleague.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Caleb understands that his place, in that moment, is to facilitate the leadership of another. He is conscious of his ability to hold the attention of the terrified crowd, and he uses this power to enhance the people\u2019s trust in Moses. Caleb knows that Moses needs support, and\u00a0<\/span>offers this with no ego, no concern for his own standing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There are leaders whose names sit at the tops of letterheads or on electoral ballots. These leaders work hard, and take the risk of being in the spotlight. But for every elected official, every CEO, there are men and women who facilitate that person\u2019s ability to lead, often from behind the scenes. For every actor, there is a stage manager in the wings; for every basketball star, there is a teammate passing her the ball, a coach on the sidelines. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is tempting to think of leadership in terms of who inhabits the spotlight or the corner office. Being an effective leader, however, sometimes means facilitating the leadership of others, for the greater good. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In my own leadership career, I have found myself on both sides of this equation. I have benefited from mentorship, as well as from the support of colleagues who have bolstered me. There are also times where I step back in order to allow others to step forward. Sometimes, I facilitate the leadership of another, in a supporting role. This leadership<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>demands a high level of graciousness and generosity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Caleb uses his leadership to restore order and enhance the leadership of another. Sadly, it is not enough. In the next chapter, as the people continue to complain against their leaders, Moses and Aaron will not know how to respond, how to motivate the nation to move forward. For all of Caleb\u2019s attempts, it seems that Moses\u2019 leadership has run its course. Nonetheless, the leadership of Caleb serves as an important model of the kind of leadership that focuses not on what is good for the leader, but what is good for the community.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56233,"alt":"","title":"jud16-leadership","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","width":1280,"height":963,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-300x226.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-768x578.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":578,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-1024x770.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":770,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":963,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":963,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-1200x903.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":903,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-558x420.png","home_baner-width":558,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Leading From Behind","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Being an effective leader can mean facilitating the leadership of others, for the greater good","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56233,"alt":"","title":"jud16-leadership","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","width":1280,"height":963,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-300x226.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-768x578.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":578,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-1024x770.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":770,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":963,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":963,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-1200x903.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":903,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud16-leadership-558x420.png","home_baner-width":558,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"130","date":"20260226","wall_id":"130"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"397","name":"Moses","old_id":"797"},{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"807","name":"Spies","old_id":"1207"},{"term_id":"809","name":"Caleb","old_id":"1209"}]},{"order":6,"id":"47195","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"We Looked Like Grasshoppers ","post_title":"We Looked Like Grasshoppers","slug":"we-looked-like-grasshoppers","old_id":"47195","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":39525,"post_title":"Erica Brown","slug":"erica-brown","old_id":"39525","first_name":"Erica ","last_name":"Brown","description":"Dr. Erica Brown is associate professor at the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at The George Washington University and director of its Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership. 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Her forthcoming book is The Book of Esther: Power, Fate and Fragility in Exile (Maggid\/OU).","short_description":"Dr. Erica Brown is Director of the Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership at The George Washington University.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":39526,"alt":"","title":"erica brown","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","width":154,"height":186,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","medium-width":154,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","medium_large-width":154,"medium_large-height":186,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","large-width":154,"large-height":186,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","1536x1536-width":154,"1536x1536-height":186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","2048x2048-width":154,"2048x2048-height":186,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","post_full_size-width":154,"post_full_size-height":186,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","home_baner-width":154,"home_baner-height":186}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"130","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"How self-image influences our perceptions of others\u2019 perceptions of us","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cBut the men who had gone up with him said, \u2018We cannot attack that people, for it is stronger than we.\u2019 Thus they spread calumnies among the Israelites about the land they had scouted, saying, \u2018The country that we traversed and scouted is one that devours its settlers. All the people that we saw in it are men of great size; we saw the Nephilim there\u2014the Anakites are part of the Nephilim\u2014and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them\u2019\u201d (Num 13: 31-33).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The leaders who scouted out Canaan returned with a mixed report. The fruit in the Promised Land was big but so were the enemies. What good would abundance do if it could not be enjoyed in safety? This tremor of worry spread quickly through the camp, hampering the movement forward, resulting in tragedy. The people who were anxious about dying in the future were instead punished with death in the present for their betrayal of the mission.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

They were told to report on what they saw but instead reported on what they felt, making calamitous and limiting judgments on their own capabilities. The text identifies the inhabitants of Canaan as men of great size using two Hebrew names; Anakites and Nephilim (giants and titans) both suggest humans of mythic proportions. In contrast, the Israelites saw themselves as lowly and small: \u201c\u2026and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

You can state what you think of yourself but cannot always be trusted when assuming what someone else thinks of you. They may have seen themselves as grasshoppers, but their enemies did not. In fact, the Israelites were completely wrong, as one of my students once observed. Moab when speaking to the elders of Midian about the Israelites compared them to one of the strongest animals in the ancient world: \u201cNow this horde will lick clean all that is about us as an ox licks up the grass of the field\u201d (Numbers 22:4).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sometimes we see ourselves as weak and believe that others think of us the same way. But perhaps we\u2019re wrong. We usually look stronger than we deemed possible.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: MyStocks\/shutterstock<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":47196,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1088312105","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","width":5000,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-1200x600.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"We Looked Like Grasshoppers","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"How self-image influences our perceptions of others\u2019 perceptions of us","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":47196,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1088312105","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","width":5000,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-1200x600.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"130","date":"20260226","wall_id":"130"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"807","name":"Spies","old_id":"1207"},{"term_id":"808","name":"Strength","old_id":"1208"}]},{"order":7,"id":"47198","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Unsung Hero ","post_title":"Unsung Hero","slug":"unsung-hero","old_id":"47198","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46672,"post_title":"Judith Hauptman","slug":"judith-hauptman","old_id":"46672","first_name":"Judith ","last_name":"Hauptman","description":"Rabbi Judith Hauptman is the E. 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When the scouts returned from their reconnaissance trip to the Promised Land, they said to Moses: \u201c. . . we came to the land you sent us to. It does indeed flow with milk and honey. However, the people who inhabit the country are powerful . . . \u201c (vv. 27-29). The Torah then relates (v. 30) that Caleb hushed the people before Moses, saying, \u201cLet us by all means go up.\u201d But the other scouts refused to be persuaded by Caleb and responded, \u201cWe cannot attack that people for it is stronger than we\u201d (v. 31).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The rabbis of the Tosefta, a companion volume to the Mishnah, interpret these verses a little differently.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Joshua said, \u201cWe came to the land you sent us to.\u201d<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Caleb said, \u201cLet us by all means go up, and we shall gain possession of it.\u201d<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The scouts said, \u201cHowever, the people who inhabit the country are powerful.\u201d (Tosefta Sotah 9:2)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The ancient rabbis are claiming that it was not eleven scouts (all but Caleb) who said, \u201cwe came to the land you sent us to,\u201d but Joshua alone who said that the land is flowing with milk and honey. These rabbis also claim that it was the other ten scouts, not including Caleb or Joshua, who went on to say, \u201cHowever, the people there are powerful.\u201d In this reading, ten scouts refused to go up to the land, whereas two implored the others to continue the journey.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why did these ancient rabbis introduce Joshua into a text that makes absolutely no mention of him? Why do they portray him as acting as nobly as Caleb? Probably because they wanted to shine a positive light on Moses\u2019 successor. They thus portray Joshua, like Caleb, as someone with great faith in God and no fear of the people, even though this is not what the verses of Chapter 13 are saying. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The aggrandizement of Joshua, however, leads to the diminution of Caleb. He becomes merely a sidekick of Joshua, rather than the hero the verses suggest that he is. The plain sense meaning of the Torah is that Caleb grasped the \u201cpower of one,\u201d that he understood that the other scouts were misguided, foresaw the dire consequences of their stance, and bravely tried to change their minds. True he did not succeed. But he made a valiant attempt. We should therefore return Caleb to his rightful place in Jewish history. No longer should he be an unsung hero.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":47277,"alt":"","title":"Num13-Dore","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","width":476,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore-238x300.jpg","medium-width":238,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","medium_large-width":476,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","large-width":476,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","1536x1536-width":476,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","2048x2048-width":476,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","post_full_size-width":476,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore-333x420.jpg","home_baner-width":333,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Unsung Hero","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We need to give Caleb his due","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":47277,"alt":"","title":"Num13-Dore","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","width":476,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore-238x300.jpg","medium-width":238,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","medium_large-width":476,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","large-width":476,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","1536x1536-width":476,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","2048x2048-width":476,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","post_full_size-width":476,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore-333x420.jpg","home_baner-width":333,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"130","date":"20260226","wall_id":"130"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"392","name":"Hero","old_id":"792"},{"term_id":"627","name":"Talmud","old_id":"1027"},{"term_id":"806","name":"Joshua","old_id":"1206"},{"term_id":"809","name":"Caleb","old_id":"1209"}]},{"order":8,"id":"47201","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Moral of Demoralization ","post_title":"The Moral Of Demoralization","slug":"the-moral-of-demoralization","old_id":"47201","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. Rabbi Sacks passed away on 7th November 2020, aged 72. He was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, who bridged the religious and secular world through his ground-breaking canon of work.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z\"k (1948-2020) was the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, and the International 929 president.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36222,"alt":"","title":"JSacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","width":437,"height":548,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-768x448.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":448,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-1024x597.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":597,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","1536x1536-width":437,"1536x1536-height":548,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","2048x2048-width":437,"2048x2048-height":548,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","post_full_size-width":437,"post_full_size-height":548,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"130","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"One of the fundamental tasks of any leader from president to parent is to give people a sense of confidence","post_main_content_content":"

It was perhaps the single greatest collective failure of leadership in the Torah. Ten of the spies whom Moses had sent to spy out the land came back with a report calculated to demoralize the nation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cWe came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large \u2026 We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are \u2026 The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height \u2026 We seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.\u201d (Num. 13: 27-33)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This was nonsense, and they should have known it. They had left Egypt, the greatest empire of the ancient world, after a series of plagues that brought that great country to its knees. They had crossed the seemingly impenetrable barrier of the Red Sea. They had fought and defeated the Amalekites, a ferocious warrior nation. They should have known that the people of the land were afraid of them, not the other way round. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

And so it was, as Rahab told the spies sent by Joshua forty years later\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Only Joshua and Caleb among the twelve showed leadership. They told the people that the conquest of the land was eminently achievable because God was with them. The people did not listen. But the two leaders received their reward. They alone of their generation lived to enter the land. More than that: their defiant statement of faith and their refusal to be afraid shines as brightly now as it did thirty-three centuries ago. They are eternal heroes of faith.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

One of the fundamental tasks of any leader from president to parent is to give people a sense of confidence: in themselves, in the group of which they are a part, and in the mission itself. A leader must have faith in the people he or she leads, and inspire that faith in them. As Rosabeth Moss Kanter of the Harvard Business School writes in her book Confidence, \u201cLeadership is not about the leader, it is about how he or she builds the confidence of everyone else.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Confidence, by the way, is Latin for \u201chaving faith together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From:<\/span>Confidence (Covenant & Conversation, <\/span><\/i>Shelach Lecha <\/span><\/i>5774)<\/span><\/i><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":94159,"alt":"","title":"job13-hope 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Moral Of Demoralization","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"One of the fundamental tasks of any leader from president to parent is to give people a sense of confidence","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":94159,"alt":"","title":"job13-hope 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Sacks","old_id":"754"},{"term_id":"375","name":"Faith","old_id":"775"},{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"502","name":"Fear","old_id":"902"},{"term_id":"806","name":"Joshua","old_id":"1206"},{"term_id":"809","name":"Caleb","old_id":"1209"}]},{"order":9,"id":"47393","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Change of Heart ","post_title":"The Change Of Heart","slug":"the-change-of-heart","old_id":"47393","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34004,"post_title":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg","slug":"avivah-gottlieb-zornberg","old_id":"34004","first_name":"Avivah Gottlieb","last_name":"Zornberg","description":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg lives in Jerusalem where she has been lecturing on Torah since 1980. She reads biblical narratives through the prism of midrash, literature, philosophy and particularly psychoanalysis.\r\nShe was born in London and grew up in Glasgow, where her father was a Rabbi and the head of the Rabbinical Court. She studied Torah with him from childhood. Her PhD in English Literature is from Cambridge University, England. She taught English literature at the Hebrew University before turning to teaching Torah. She now teaches throughout the Jewish world, at synagogues, universities, and psychoanalytic institutes.\r\nShe is the author of five critically acclaimed books. Her latest book, Moses: A Human Life, was published by Yale University Press.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg lives and lectures on Torah in Jerusalem. She is the author of five critically acclaimed books. ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34006,"alt":"","title":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","width":454,"height":359,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg-300x237.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":237,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","medium_large-width":454,"medium_large-height":359,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","large-width":454,"large-height":359,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","1536x1536-width":454,"1536x1536-height":359,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","2048x2048-width":454,"2048x2048-height":359,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","post_full_size-width":454,"post_full_size-height":359,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","home_baner-width":454,"home_baner-height":359}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"130","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Far from being an isolated incident this story gives expression to profound movements in the Israelite soul","post_main_content_content":"

The narrative of the Spies, with its tragic aftermaths, lies at the very heart of Sefer Bamidbar\u2014at the very heart, we might say, of the <\/span>midbar<\/span><\/i>, the wilderness, itself. This is the critical point, the great failure, that radically changes the future history of the people. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

A delegation of princes is sent to spy out the Land. The Spies bring back a report that reduces the people to terror and tears and the cry, \"Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?... Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt!\" (Num. 14:3-4). Beginning as a wish, the idea of returning to Egypt becomes, for the first time, a concrete proposition. Rashi connects this moment with the very beginning of the Exodus from Egypt: <\/span><\/p>\r\n

And it was when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer; for God said, \"The people may have a change of heart when they see war and return to Egypt\" (Exod. 13:17). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi: If they had traveled by the direct route they would have returned [immediately]. Even so, in spite of the fact that God took them by the circuitous route, they said, \"Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt!\"\u2014If He had taken them by the direct route, how much more so! <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In an unusual narrative move, the Torah informs us of what God said to Himself; God communicates His thoughts to no one. In soliloquy, God articulates a reality in which the desire to return to Egypt is bound, at some point, to erupt. Returning to Egypt is, in effect, a core fantasy of the people; from the outset, it secretly organizes their inner world. Sooner or later, in reaction to the fear of war, it will inevitably disrupt the project of the Exodus. And indeed when the people cry, \"Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt!\" they give a newly political expression to an old desire, till now never so fully articulated. Something has been waiting to crystallize. Even God's strategy, the roundabout route out of Egypt, has been able only to delay an inevitable crisis. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The change of heart that God foresaw is realized in the Spies story. The roots of the narrative therefore reach back into the past. Its impact is felt, moreover, far into the future. According to a classic mishnah, this narrative is dated the ninth of Av, which is to become a fatal date in Jewish history. Time after time, catastrophes will fall on this day, so that it will be institutionalized as a national fast day, accumulating its own complex history of cataclysmic loss. Far from being an isolated incident, then, this story gives expression to profound movements in the Israelite soul. It becomes the rootstock of many future national sorrows. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":100778,"alt":"","title":"2chron25-torn heart","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart.png","width":1920,"height":1609,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart-300x251.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":251,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart-768x644.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":644,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart-1024x858.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":858,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1287,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1609,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart-1200x1006.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1006,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart-501x420.png","home_baner-width":501,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Change Of Heart","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Far from being an isolated incident this story gives expression to profound movements in the Israelite soul","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":100778,"alt":"","title":"2chron25-torn heart","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart.png","width":1920,"height":1609,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart-300x251.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":251,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart-768x644.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":644,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart-1024x858.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":858,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1287,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1609,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart-1200x1006.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1006,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron25-torn-heart-501x420.png","home_baner-width":501,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"130","date":"20260226","wall_id":"130"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"386","name":"Psychology","old_id":"786"},{"term_id":"394","name":"Emotions","old_id":"794"},{"term_id":"447","name":"Heart","old_id":"847"},{"term_id":"585","name":"Soul","old_id":"985"},{"term_id":"598","name":"Israelites","old_id":"998"}]},{"order":10,"id":"47202","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Can We Challenge God\u2019s Judgement? ","post_title":"Can We Challenge God\u2019s Judgement?","slug":"can-we-challenge-gods-judgement","old_id":"47202","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42746,"post_title":"Michal Kohane","slug":"michal-kohane","old_id":"42746","first_name":"Michal ","last_name":"Kohane ","description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. She holds degrees in Israel studies , education and psychology, and has been a leader and educator in Northern California for over 25 years. Her first novel, Hachug (\"Extracurricular\") was published in Israel in 2016 and her weekly blog can be found at http:\/\/www.miko284.com\r\n\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42747,"alt":"","title":"michal kohane","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","width":214,"height":226,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium_large-width":214,"medium_large-height":226,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","large-width":214,"large-height":226,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","1536x1536-width":214,"1536x1536-height":226,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","2048x2048-width":214,"2048x2048-height":226,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","post_full_size-width":214,"post_full_size-height":226,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","home_baner-width":214,"home_baner-height":226}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"130","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Even God can\u2019t decide for you who you are, what you\u2019ll be, where you go...","post_main_content_content":"

Last summer I had the amazing opportunity to do chaplaincy training at Bellevue Hospital in NYC, the first public hospital in the US. During a Sunday shift, all alone in the 800 beds facility, the phone rang: the psych patients on the 18th floor are bored and want a little spiritual something. Would I please come up?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The people in the room are Christian, Chinese, Muslim, Used-to-be-Jewish and of no religion at all. I have no idea what they are expecting, and anyway, I can\u2019t do anything but tell them my people\u2019s stories, specifically, about that week\u2019s Torah portion. I share briefly the story of the spies (Numbers 13). I ask them what they think about checking up on God, if God promises you a Land of milk and honey, should you be a true believer, who trusts God, or still send someone to check once again what\u2019s going on before schlepping 2 million people in?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Their vote is unanimous: definitely check again. But, I try to push-back, it\u2019s God\u2019s Land! What if God sends you? \u201cAh\u201d, they wave me off with a sad smile, not knowing they are in essence quoting Or Hachayim and others, \u201chere we all hear God telling us all sorts of things all the time. Even God can\u2019t decide for you who you are, what you\u2019ll be, where you go... You do. God gives you options, good and bad. You need to figure things out for yourself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThese men did good\u201d, they summarize confidently, and I think, this story will never look the same.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Can We Challenge God\u2019s Judgement?","tile_main_caption":"Even God can\u2019t decide for you who you are, what you\u2019ll be, where you go... You do. God gives you options, good and bad. You need to figure things out for yourself","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"130","date":"20260226","wall_id":"130"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"375","name":"Faith","old_id":"775"},{"term_id":"376","name":"Choice","old_id":"776"},{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"}]},{"order":11,"id":"47213","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Touring the Land \u2013 Then and Now ","post_title":"Touring the Land \u2013 Then and Now","slug":"touring-the-land-then-and-now","old_id":"47213","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"130","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A midrashic expansion, and a modern application","post_main_content_content":"

At the beginning of our Chapter, at the command of God, Moses sends out the twelve leaders of the Israelite tribes to \u201cscout out\u201d (Hebrew \u201ctur\u201d, note the similarity to the English word \u201ctour\u201d) the Promised Land. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Talmud (Bavli Sotah 34a-35b) expands the biblical text providing additional detail and dramatic tension. This is achieved partly by combining this account with the later story of the other \u201cIsraelite spies\u201d in the time of Joshua (Joshua chap. 2). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In our chapter Joshua (formerly called Hosea) is named as the leader of the tribe of Ephraim (Numbers 13:16). By linking these two biblical narratives, the Talmudic- Midrashic elaboration adds considerable detail, for example concerning the storied cluster of grapes (Numbers 13:23-27). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

By actual \u201con-site\u201d examination, two rabbinic sages are said to have calculated that the weight of each of the twelve stones lifted out of the Jordan by Joshua\u2019s men (Joshua 4:5-9) was forty seah (roughly 350 kg by some estimates). This is then said to be the same weight of the enormous cluster of grapes, which, for this reason, needed to be carried by eight of the spies, on not one but on two poles (compare Numbers 13:23). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In our day, the image of Moses\u2019 scouts carrying the oversize cluster of grapes serves as the logo of the Israel Ministry of Tourism. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to our Talmudic-Midrashic text, Caleb, leader of the tribe of Judah, upon reaching the Promised Land, prostrated himself on the graves of the Patriarchs, asking for their help to disassociate himself from the plan of the other spies to report the impossibility of conquering the supposedly invincible inhabitants of the Land that the Israelites would need to overcome. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Caleb\u2019s prayer was answered in a notable way. When the spies made their slanderous report of the impossibility of conquering the Land, according to the biblical text, Caleb stilled the people (13:30). According to midrashic elaboration, he first led the people to believe he was going to speak in support of the other spies, but then, he surprisingly launched into a rousing celebration of Moses\u2019 leadership: \u201cHe brought us out of Egypt and parted the Sea for us. If he would tell us to make ladders and ascend to the heavens, would we not obey him?! Then \u201cLet us ascend [to the Promised Land] and possess it!\u201d (13:30). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Tragically, Caleb\u2019s inspiring charge to the Israelites to possess the Promised Land was not heeded in the time of Moses (13:31-14:45). But the people did \u201cascend\u201d to the Promised Land in the time of Joshua, as we have \u201cascended to\u201d and settled the Land of Israel yet again in our day.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image from: <\/span>http:\/\/peasant-arts.blogspot.com\/2011\/07\/spies-israeli-ministry-of-tourism-more.html<\/span><\/a><\/p>\r\n

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Is it a land of milk and honey or is it a land that eats its inhabitants? Is it a land whose surrounding nations are giants, making us seem nothing but grasshoppers, or is it a land of good fruit, of trees, of plenty? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

My family and I made Aliyah four years ago and these are still my questions. It is not two different parties, arguing with each other, the faithful Caleb and Joshua against the faithless spies. It is myself, arguing with myself. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is a land of long supermarket lines and horrible driving, impossibly expensive cereal prices and unaffordable apartments. It is a distant land, so far from my sister that I have yet to meet my new nephew. It is a land where my children will be drafted to the army and where borders await resolution. It is a land where my paycheck is half what it was, where my office is half what it was, where it takes twice as long to get anything done, and often three times as long to get it done well or right. When I say to my son who is complaining about his minimal homework that he has far less reading or writing to do than I did at his age, he looks at me and says, \u201cThis is Israel. If you wanted me to do more reading and writing, we should have stayed in America.\u201d I can practically finish his sentence with the words of the children of Israel: \u201cWe remember the watermelons and the garlic.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

But somewhere in this litany \u2013 a litany of many sorts of fear, as much as stress and disappointment \u2013 a different note sounds. It is a good land. Of hills and trees, mountains, springs, rivers, ravines, figs, grapes, milk and honey. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

When it rains, my children mention the rising water level in the Kinneret. At the first rain after Sukkot, they, too, celebrate with their friends. In America, there is no \u201cfirst rain,\u201d and the change in daily prayer asking for rain in the winter bears no connection with the real life of teenagers.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

My youngest daughter comes home from school with a list of the Hebrew words invented early in the history of the State, laughing at how archaic they seem by comparison with the slang she knows. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I take the bus early in the morning on the way to work and the young Israeli woman sitting beside me lifts her phone to photograph a quiet, cloud-filtered sunrise over the Judean Hills, murmuring, \u201ckamah yafeh,\u201d how beautiful.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

On the way home, on the road going up to Jerusalem, I tune in to the radio. The daughter of Amos Oz is eulogizing her father, and the radio station carries the entire speech, fifteen minutes long, including the song into which the audience breaks midway through. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

These notes sound, too. I hear them more now than I used to. Caleb and Joshua, the spies: this tale of love and darkness inside myself.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image by: \u00a0by Jan Jansson (1588-1664) that was published in Amsterdam circa 1658;
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The unique illuminated books contain hundreds of original drawings that offer a profound, provocative and humorous perspective. \r\nFor the entire weekly portion series, visit: https:\/\/avnermoriahprints.com\/collections\/parasha\r\nFor more of his work visit: https:\/\/avnermoriah.com\/\r\n","short_description":"Avner Moriah is a prolific Israel artist who is illuminating the entire Chumash.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":46173,"alt":"","title":"avner moriah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679.jpg","width":1387,"height":1425,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-292x300.jpg","medium-width":292,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-768x789.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":789,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-997x1024.jpg","large-width":997,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679.jpg","1536x1536-width":1387,"1536x1536-height":1425,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679.jpg","2048x2048-width":1387,"2048x2048-height":1425,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-1168x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1168,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-409x420.jpg","home_baner-width":409,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"130","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

Illustration for Chapter 13:<\/p>\r\n

This chapter relates the episode of the twelve spies that Moses sent to Canaan to scout out the land: \u201cAre the people who dwell in it strong or weak, few or many? Is the country in which they dwell good or bad?\u201d (Num. 13:18\u201319). Forty days later they returned carrying wonderful fruits and told of their findings to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Their report was in keeping with what they were asked to do, so why did it evoke such hysteria among the people and God\u2019s anger?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the painting<\/span> for this<\/span> parasha <\/span><\/i>the solid range of hills in the background marks the border of Canaan, from where the spies were dispatched: \u201cGet up there into the Negev and on into the hill country\u201d (Num. 13:17). On the far right are eight bearded men in striped gowns imaged as a single entity. In front of them we see two men with \u201ca branch with a single cluster of grapes, [so big that] it had to be borne on a carrying frame by two of them\u201d (Num. 13:23). Further to the left we see Caleb with a basket of pomegranates and Joshua with a basket of figs.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The spies face Moses and Aaron standing to the left with all of the Israelites behind them as they report, and the painting figures an account of what was a three-part exchange. The spies first displayed the fruit as a sign of the land\u2019s fertility. They then countered their positive words: \u201cHowever, the people who inhabit the country are powerful and the cities are fortified and very large\u201d (Num. 13: 28). Then Caleb exclaimed: \u201cLet us by all means go up and we shall gain possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it\u201d (Num. 13:30), whereas the ten spies pictured behind him chose to add a frenzied, unsolicited judgment: \u201cWe saw the <\/span>nephilim<\/span><\/i> there\u2026and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves and so we must have looked to them (Num. 13:33). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Here the artist gives visual expression to their words with an image on the hilltop of \u201cthe <\/span>nephilim<\/span><\/i>,\u201d<\/span> miniature figures of four of the giants they saw looking down at them. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Israelites standing behind Moses and Aaron are depicted as a tightly packed group. The eight spies on the far right of the picture are figured without shoulders and arms, their bodies forming a rectangular block decorated with a meandering ornamentation that seems to hint at their stormy reaction to the spies report. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Aaron standing next to Moses and Joshua next to Caleb tried to convince them to obey God\u2019s decree and proceed into the land of Canaan, but to no avail; the Israelites refused to go on. Thus, as they were so lacking in faith, the spies and all of the people of Israel were punished: \u201cYou shall bear your punishment for forty years, corresponding to the number of days \u2013 forty days \u2013 that you scouted the land, a year for each day\u201d (Num. 14:34). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Artwork by: Avner Moriah, by courtesy of the artist<\/p>\r\n

Text by: Dr. Shulamit Laderman, who holds a\u00a0<\/span>PhD in Art History and has published extensively on Jewish and Christian influences on biblical interpretive illustration.<\/p>\r\n

For the entire weekly portion series, please visit: <\/span>https:\/\/avnermoriahprints.com\/collections\/parasha<\/span><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":47183,"alt":"","title":"Num13-Shelah-Lekha","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha.jpg","width":2500,"height":1614,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha-300x194.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":194,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha-768x496.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":496,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha-1024x661.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":661,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":992,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1322,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha-1200x775.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":775,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha-651x420.jpg","home_baner-width":651,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Chapter Illustrated: Shelach","tile_main_caption":"The Scouts: Their Report, Evaluation and Eventual Punishment","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Discouragement, fear and a lack of faith and hope","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":47183,"alt":"","title":"Num13-Shelah-Lekha","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha.jpg","width":2500,"height":1614,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha-300x194.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":194,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha-768x496.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":496,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha-1024x661.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":661,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":992,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1322,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha-1200x775.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":775,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Shelah-Lekha-651x420.jpg","home_baner-width":651,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"130","date":"20260226","wall_id":"130"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"807","name":"Spies","old_id":"1207"}]},{"order":15,"id":"47185","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Difference of a Yud ","post_title":"The Difference Of A Yud","slug":"the-difference-of-a-yud","old_id":"47185","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":47056,"post_title":"Danny Dubin","slug":"danny-dubin","old_id":"47056","first_name":"Danny ","last_name":"Dubin ","description":"Danny Dubin is a first year rabbinical student at Hebrew College in Boston. Danny received his bachelor\u2019s degree in Public Relations and Marketing from American University in Washington, D.C., and found his passion for learning Torah while studying abroad at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Danny is a professional magician and performs magic for corporate and private events nationwide.","short_description":"Danny Dubin is a first year rabbinical student at Hebrew College in Boston.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":47057,"alt":"","title":"danny dubin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/danny-dubin-e1546842248856.png","width":86,"height":98,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/danny-dubin-e1546842248856.png","thumbnail-width":86,"thumbnail-height":98,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/danny-dubin-e1546842248856.png","medium-width":86,"medium-height":98,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/danny-dubin-e1546842248856.png","medium_large-width":86,"medium_large-height":98,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/danny-dubin-e1546842248856.png","large-width":86,"large-height":98,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/danny-dubin-e1546842248856.png","1536x1536-width":86,"1536x1536-height":98,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/danny-dubin-e1546842248856.png","2048x2048-width":86,"2048x2048-height":98,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/danny-dubin-e1546842248856.png","post_full_size-width":86,"post_full_size-height":98,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/danny-dubin-e1546842248856.png","home_baner-width":86,"home_baner-height":98}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"130","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Changing names, changing destinies","post_main_content_content":"

The interesting thing about a name is that its meaning is not automatically found by the person who bears that name. While a child\u2019s name can hold significance for those who named the child, the child themselves may not inherently connect to the name. It is quite obvious that names hold a special significance in Jewish tradition, and it is no small event when names are changed in the Torah; Avram changed to Avraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel and now Hosea to Joshua. God or an Angel of God oversaw these first three name changes. But Hosea to Joshua was completed by Moses himself right before the 12 Scouts entered the Land of Israel: \u00a0\u201cand Moses called Hosea ben Nun\u2026 Joshua\u201d (13:16).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We learn from Rashi\u2019s comment on Gen. 17:5 that the \u201cyud<\/em>\u201d from Joshua \u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05e9\u05e2 originated from Sarai \u05e9\u05e8\u05d9, whose name was changed to Sarah \u05e9\u05e8\u05d4. Rashi explains that the \u201cyud<\/em>\u201d was angry at the Shechinah when it was taken from \u05e9\u05e8\u05d9; the letter was finally put at ease once it was added to \u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05e9\u05e2. So, it seems that this \u201cyud<\/em>\u201d was destined to travel throughout the Torah through Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob, Rachel and Leah and all of the 12 Tribes of Israel until it rested in Joshua.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This special letter helped helped Joshua to fulfill his divine potential. Or HaChaim writes that the added \u201cyud<\/em>\u201d represents the number ten; Joshua needed this letter to resist the wrongful advice of the ten doubtful scouts whom did not believe that Israel could conquer the Land of Canaan. Joshua, along with Caleb, had faith in Moses and God\u2019s plan even when all of the other Tribes were doubtful. Joshua is the warrior who lead the Israelites\u2019 conquest throughout the Land of Canaan later in Tanakh, and perhaps he could not have done so without this added \u201cyud<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We learn that much like every letter of the Torah contains a special meaning, so too does every letter of a name hold significance. Joshua was only able to reach his potential as a leader and individual once his name change was complete. Like Joshua, we can connect to our true divine purposes by connecting with the letters within our own given names.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":71620,"alt":"","title":"jer36-silver - 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If only we could rectify the past!<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>If only we possessed a time machine<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To move us backwards after having seen<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The consequences of our deeds. \u00a0How fast<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The arid winds of error blow, they last<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A lifetime, yet they bring no rain. How lean<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The harvest in our desert, for no green<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Can heal our yellow \u2014 barren, bleak and vast. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

If only we could take the words we said<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And bury them beneath these desert sands.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>If only we could forge an iron sword<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To cut the noose we wound around our head,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To cut the ropes we tied around our hands.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>If only we could change the past, O Lord.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104143,"alt":"","title":"-625d3abce3da7--625d3abce3da9ex3-clocks time 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Numbers 13 \u00a0is devoted to the story of the twelve spies. Gustave Dor\u00e9's engraving \u201cReturn of the Spies from the Land of Promise\u201d and Giovanni Lanfranco's painting \u201cMoses and the Messengers from Canaan\u201d both depict the men returning from their mission, carrying the fruits of the land. The renderings differ both in the cast of characters portrayed and in how those figures are depicted, allowing for varied understandings of the spies' report and intentions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

Dor\u00e9 depicts the spies approaching and displaying their finds to the entire nation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

Lanfranco, in contrast, depicts them returning specifically to Moses.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To whom did the spies report according to the Biblical text? At first glance, the verses seem to support Dor\u00e9's rendering, as Numbers 13:26 presents the spies speaking to both the leaders and the congregation. The very next verse, though, states \u201cthey told him,\u201d in the singular, suggesting that the spies spoke only to Moses.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The two possibilities relate to several other questions as well. What was the purpose of the spies' mission? Was it military in nature, in which case one would have expected a private debriefing, or was it a scouting mission meant to encourage the nation, necessitating a more public report? Even if one takes the latter possibility, one must question the logic of sharing a negative report with the masses. Did the spies purposefully share their negativity with the nation,<\/span> or was this simply a tactical error on their or Moses\u2019s part?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Adapted from: ALHATORAH.ORG<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For fuller analysis, see: <\/span>http:\/\/alhatorah.org\/The_Spies_in_Art<\/span><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Spies In Art","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Did the spies purposefully share their negativity with the nation, or was this simply a tactical error?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":47278,"alt":"","title":"Num13-Lanfranco","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Lanfranco.jpg","width":544,"height":480,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Lanfranco-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Lanfranco-300x265.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":265,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Lanfranco.jpg","medium_large-width":544,"medium_large-height":480,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Lanfranco.jpg","large-width":544,"large-height":480,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Lanfranco.jpg","1536x1536-width":544,"1536x1536-height":480,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Lanfranco.jpg","2048x2048-width":544,"2048x2048-height":480,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Lanfranco.jpg","post_full_size-width":544,"post_full_size-height":480,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Lanfranco-476x420.jpg","home_baner-width":476,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"130","date":"20260226","wall_id":"130"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"690","name":"Art","old_id":"1090"},{"term_id":"807","name":"Spies","old_id":"1207"}]},{"order":19,"id":"47186","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Numbers 13 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Numbers 13","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-numbers-13","old_id":"47186","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. 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\u201cBeing Surprised about the Spies\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Sara Wolkenfeld: Venture more deeply into the narrative of the spies. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cSelective Memory: Devarim and the Creation of a Communal Narrative\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Jenna Englender: How does the story of the spies change across Biblical texts and beyond? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Numbers 13","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Click to get links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"130","date":"20260226","wall_id":"130"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":21,"id":"106910","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points To Ponder: Numbers 13 ","post_title":"Points To Ponder: Numbers 13","slug":"points-to-ponder-numbers-13","old_id":"106910","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"130","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Personal responsibility.<\/em> Each of the spies was mentioned by name on the eve of their depart\u05d5\u05e8\u05e7 (verses 4-16); perhaps to indicate that each would bear personal responsibility for the outcome of the mission, even after it devolves into group anxiety and fear.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Conquest and settlement.<\/em> The character of the tasks that were part of the spies\u2019 mission fit the two operational objectives of the entrance into Canaan. In order to conquer - they had to know the enemy. And in order to settle - they had to know the land.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Not just grapes<\/em>. Everyone remembers the impressive bunch of grapes, but it wasn\u2019t the only souvenir brought back. The proof of the agricultural cornucopia was brought also from pomegranates and figs (verse 23).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. A land that devours its inhabitants.<\/em> Verse 32 is the origin of this very striking and painful phrase.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. In the eyes of the beholder<\/em>. The description of the spies and the encounter with the giants of the land expresses their subjective experience, and its influence: \u201cwe looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them\u201d (verse 33).<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Daily Summary","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder: Numbers 13","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"130","date":"20260226","wall_id":"130"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/46858"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}