Lead Tidbit
No, No, Not Again!
Variation of an old joke: Guy is watching the 6:00pm news report of a terrible crash during a car race. He sees the video of the crash and his heart goes out to the hapless driver. Later, he's watching the 11:00pm news and sees the same video clip. After the car crashes, the viewer exclaims: No, not again - didn't he learn from last time not to take the curve at such a speed?

Every year we read Parshat Sh'lach. Every year we read about the terrible decree on Dor HaMidbar, the terrible consequences of not heeding G-d's call of Lech L'cha and Kalev's echo of ALOH NAALEH. And as the joke would go, every year we want to scream at the Meraglim not to do what they did.

But in this context, it is no joke. Those Meraglim will continue to make the same mistake every time we reread Sh'lach. They are like the racecar driver at 6:00 and 11:00 o'clock. But every generation of Jews has its Meraglim and has people who have a choice to harken to the call of Kalev and Yehoshua or to succumb to the specious arguments of "we have everything we need to live a full Jewish life here in (you fill in the blank) - why live in Israel?

The episode of the Meraglim in Parshat Sh'lach is NOT a rerun of last year's Torah reading. It is a fresh, ongoing reminder and warning to the Jewish People to learn the lessons of Jewish History and to choose wisely and properly at every crossroad of one's life.

"Why did G-d bring us to this land to fall by the sword...?" That's one of the Meraglim's questions. Seriously flawed question - unacceptable premise. Think Kalev - If this is what G-d wants of us, then we will prevail. Just don't rebel...