The parsha this Shabbos is Shlach, the story of the "meraglim." The Jewish Publication Society (JPS) translates the word as "the men sent to scout the land." I grew up calling them "spies," but now there are other and better translations available. The meraglim bring back a discouraging report from the Promised Land, saying that the people there are giants and the nations are too strong for the Jewish people. Of the twelve who had been sent, only Joshua and Caleb express confidence that with God's help, the Jews will prevail. The unfavorable report of ten of the scouts causes rebellion among the Jewish people, and only Moshe's plea convinces God not to punish them immediately for their lack of faith. However, God does decree that, except for Joshua and Caleb and a few other exceptions, none of the rebellious, older generation would live to reach the Promised Land.
More specifically, in their report, the scouts said that the natives in Canaan were "nefilim," giants, and that they, the scouts, appeared in their eyes like "chagavim," grasshoppers. The obvious question is, how did the scouts know what the "giants" thought about them? Rashi explains that the scouts overheard the native Canaanites talking with one another about the Jews. I have lived in a family of psychologists, and they gave me another explanation. If a person thinks of himself as a grasshopper, he or she will think that everyone else has the same opinion. I think the psychologists call it "projection."
The parsha ends with a section setting forth the laws of Tzitzis. That paragraph, of course, is part of the Shma prayer, and is recited twice daily. Every word in the paragraph is important, of course, The Talmud explains: And you shall see it (u'reisim oso), then you shall remember God's commandments ("u'zechartem"), and you shall perform them ("va'asisem osam"). The rabbis learn from this the general principle that seeing an object causes the mind to remember obligations implied by that object, and when one remembers an obligation, it will lead to performing the obligation.
The paragraph goes on to say that after one sees the tzitzis, he will not stray after his "eyes" and after his "heart." The rabbis ask: Which strays first, the eyes or the heart? One answer is that the heart strays first, for after all, isn't a blind man or woman able to commit all the sins in the world? At the same time, the rabbis state that first, a person's eyes "see" the sinful conduct, and then the heart, having seen the conduct, desires it, and the person follows his or her desires. So either the heart or the eyes can bring us to sin.
Appropriately, the haftorah, from the Book of Joshua, describes how Joshua, having assumed leadership from Moshe, also sent scouts into the Promised Land. They were assisted by Rahab, a woman of Jericho, who was confident of the ultimate Jewish military victory. She famously lowered the scouts from her window, once they had promised to spare her and her family after the Jewish victory, The scouts report to Joshua that God has given the city to the Jews in the coming war. The story continues beyond the part used as the haftorah. That's when "the walls came tumbling down," in the words of the traditional song.
PIRKE AVOS
Akavya ben Mehalalel says, Pay attention to three things and you will not fall into the hands of sin. Know ... where you came from -- from a fetid drop; where you are going -- to a place of worms and maggots, and before whom you will, in the end, have to stand in judgment -- before the Supreme King of Kings, the Kadosh Baruch Hu.
