spies
Shlach – Seeing Through the Lie
Why does Hashem respond so harshly to the Jewish people’s lack of faith when they cry with the spies’ report? Why were the Jewish people so afraid to enter Israel if they had just seen, and continued to see, the many miracles Hashem performed on their behalf? Why did they not believe they would continue…
Read MoreShlach – Releasing Fear and Bias
What was at the root of the mistake of the spies? What was the Jewish people’s mistake in sending them? Why were Caleb and Joshua different? What are the signs of a true agent? How does one deal one’s naturally occurring bias and fear? Find out in this week’s parsha podcast. Running time: 21:42
Read MoreShlach – Letting Go Of Results
Why is the rectification for the sin of the spies forty years in the wilderness which correspond to the forty days they traveled through Israel? How does this fit the crime? What was behind the spies assumption that the Jewish people could not overcome the inhabitants of Israel? How does the concept of humility play…
Read MoreShlach – Inclusive Spirituality
Why does the Arizal indicate that the spies and their generation were on a level that was beyond the land of Israel? How does this reconcile with the fact that they sinned in speaking negatively of the land? What is the antidote for the challenge of the description of Israel as a ‘land that swallows…
Read MoreShelach vort 2 – Deeper truth
I had two thoughts this week on the parsha. The first was the official ‘studio’ recording podcast. This is the second which I presented in my parsha shiur this morning in Beis Medrash Ahavas Shalom. Presented is the very beautiful and deep concept of R’ Nachman, as expounded by R’ Nosson, which is the concept…
Read MoreShelach – Spiritual resonance
What is the deeper idea behind the story of the spies? What was the great sin of the Jewish people in this story? Why does Hashem seem so angry with them, to the point that He is ready to destroy them? How does one access the power of spiritual resonance? Find out in this week’s…
Read MoreShlach – Power of trust
Did the spies really look like grasshoppers in the eyes of the giants? Why did Hashem allow the negative desire of the spies – to prevent the Jewish people from entering Israel – to be fulfilled? Why would Hashem listen to a prayer for the death of the Kohen Gadol? Why would Hashem listen to…
Read MoreThoughts on Tisha B'av
A few years ago on Tisha B’av, a member of my shul spoke, Mr. Stimler z’l. He was a holocaust survivor, married to a holocaust survivor. I distinctly remember the first time I met him, when he made a ‘tikun’ after davening. Usually there is a name to mention when you say your brachos. The…
Read MoreDevarim – Tisha B'av and the spies
What was the story of the spies from the perspective of the Jewish people? How could the Jewish people say that Hashem ‘hated’ them if He had shown them so many miracles and was constantly providing for them? Why does Hashem seem to confirm their fears and remove His presence from them? Why does the…
Read MoreShelach – Transcendent Jewish Unity
Why does the Torah seem to imply that Hashem initiated the sending of the spies, if in fact, as Rashi says, it was initiated by the Jewish people themselves? What were the spies expected to accomplish, and what was their fundamental failure? How did the spies know they would lose their positions of significance when…
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