| Spies: They wear cloaks and daggers, use periscopes to peer around corners and telescopes to observe enemies, and can tell where you are from by the way you hold a fork. Very different from us ordinary folk. Or so Hollywood would like us to think. This week's Torah portion, Shelach, tells us about another kind of spy. On the brink of entering the Promised Land, Moses dispatched twelve men to check out the Land of Canaan, soon to be the Land of Israel. He told them to take note of the land, its cities and its people. The spies did their due diligence and reported on the land and its people, but then added, "We are unable to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we." Disheartened, the people were filled with dread of the mighty Canaanites, and because of this G‑d decreed that they wander in the desert for forty years. What did the spies do wrong? Were they not asked to report on the land and its people? The answer is that Moses had asked them to tell what Canaan looked like—not to decide whether it was conquerable. They were charged with a fact-finding mission—not asked for their expert assessment. This is because, if G‑d had promised to take them into the land, there was nothing to worry about. The job of these spies job was to report facts, not to formulate opinions. We are all spies in our own lives. There are challenges that come our way. Like spies, we must open our eyes wide and know what lies ahead of us. And like spies, it is not our job to despair of succeeding. If G‑d believes in us, so should we. Menachem Posner,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team |
 | By Mordechai Wollenberg |  |
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| Shelach: Eyes on Spies |
| | We weren't "tourists" or "sightseers"; we were backpackers. Or so we believed . . .
By Elisha Greenbaum |  |
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| | In this edition of the Week in Rejew, Jono interviews a giant grape. Dovid Taub & Jonathan Goorvich |  |
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| | The other morning, I woke up to discover a little truth. At least, it seemed like a truth to me, but I wanted to make sure . . .
By Tzvi Freeman | |
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| | The bond between Moses and his disciple Caleb was not always known to all—even to Caleb himself. By Mendel Kaplan | |
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| | How the spies miscalculated the power of Jewish people to redeem the world.
By Shaul Yosef Leiter | |
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| | Shelach
Overly spiritual spies, consecrated dough, wrongly gathered sticks and rightly knotted strings . . .
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| Let's Debate |
| | After speaking to my friend for a few minutes, it seemed clear to me that she had been brainwashed . . .
By Aron Moss | |
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| | Can you imagine knowing something for certain? Without any shadow of a doubt? Not even science can afford us such luxury . . .
By Rucheli Manville | |
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| | Should Judaism adapt with the times, or resist the changes of modernity? with Manis Friedman and Michael Kigel | |
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| | Sometimes the majority gets it wrong . . .
By Yossy Goldman | |
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| | How do I walk away from the holiday with more than the leftover cheesecake in the fridge?
By Yisroel Cotlar | |
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| Let's Get Practical |
| | A Constant Reminder
Explore the significance of the ritually fringed four-cornered garment. | |
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| | A practical guide to the Kaddish: How to say it and why. Includes "Kaddish Pro," an interactive trainer.
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| | Most people don't think of Judaism as a fringe religion. Yet that's our uniform . . .
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| Let's Bake Challah |
| | Before baking her toil and talent into bread for herself and her family, she pinches off a choice bit . . .
By Yanki Tauber | |
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| | There are three fundamental mitzvot entrusted to every Jewish woman. The Rebbe discusses the special quality that each of them possesses. | |
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| | Tips for baking like a pro and recipes for every table: Traditional Challah, Rye Oatmeal Challah, Raisin Challah, Tasty Challah, Moroccan Challah . . .
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| On Caring for Others |
| | After dancing for a few minutes, the man turned to Menachem and said, "You Jewish, right? I like Jews."
By Ann Goldberg | |
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| | It's hard to say who has grown more in these fifty years: me or my students. As I continue teaching, I find myself receiving much more than I give.
By Yehudis Fishman | |
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| | There are eight levels of charity, each one greater than the last. The greatest level is to support a fellow Jew by endowing him with a gift or loan . . .
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| | The Rebbe and the Prisoner
Are we victims of chance or chosen by Providence?
By Mendel Kalmenson | |
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| On the Upswing |
| | Soon the advice vultures descended. "Try holding your breath." "Try standing up straighter." I couldn't believe it. Here was a gorgeous woman, and all anyone could see was what was wrong with her . . .
By Yvette Miller | |
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| | Honoring my parents
Where was my head all this time? Why didn't I sense their pain, the hurt I was causing by bragging about my new life?
By Mindy Rubenstein | |
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| | I hear something, something familiar, something I haven't heard in a long time. I sit up and listen, and I want to answer back, but something keeps me silent . . .
by Sarah Dinah Hirsch | |
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| | Part I
I'm not interested in a heritage of pogroms and persecution and annihilation. I don't want to hear about all the suffering of the Jews . . .
By Linda Tucker | |
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| Stories to Tell |
| | Every time I touch the tzitzit, it is as if I am touching my father. The braided cord is a tangible reminder of one of his sweetest lessons.
By Jessica Klein Levenbrown | |
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| | "When I will arrive to the upper worlds," the chassid explained, "I do not want to waste my time on discussions and debates with the horses . . ."
By Dovid Zaklikowski | |
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| | There was nothing unusual about Herschel, except for the fact that over his head floated a brilliant pillar of spiritual fire!
From the writings & talks of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch | |
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| | Exactly seventy years after the Soviets closed his grandfather's school in Dnepropetrovsk, Zalman married Yehudis.
By Dovid Zaklikowski | |
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