Moshe tried to minimize the potential damage by appointing men of stature to serve as scouts. Unfortunately, it did not help. The person who puts his trust in natural means will become much more disillusioned than the one who puts his trust in G-d. The spies saw a land, that although beautiful, seemed insurmountable. They found huge people and fortified cities. Ten of the twelve spies began to feel insecure and insignificant in front of the inhabitants of the land. They saw no natural way that they could conquer it and they came back with a very demoralizing report.
The people listened to their report, despite the protests of Joshua and Caleb, and were so frightened that they cried to Moshe that they didn’t want to enter the Promised Land. They rebuffed the wonderful gift that G-d had planned as their ultimate destination. Although Moshe prayed on behalf of the nation, the punishment for this sin would be even more severe than the punishment for the sin of the Golden Calf. The nation would have to wander through the desert for forty years, and all men who were twenty years and older would die before the nation could enter the land.
Although the generation was told they could not enter into the Promised Land, G-d wanted to reassure them that their children would indeed enter the land. For this reason, immediately after the sin of the spies the people were instructed in the mitzvos of tithing the dough and the wine libations that were offered with the sacrifices. Although these mitzvos would not apply until they entered the land, they served as a guarantee that the next generation would indeed enter it.
At the end of the portion the Torah discusses the mitzvah of tzitzis. Fringes are placed on the four corners of a garment to serve as a visual reminder of G-d and His mitzvos. Blue woolen fringes of techeiles, a dye extracted from a marine animal, is also tied, to serve as a reminder of the heavens and G-d’s commandments. The tzitzis are meant to prevent a person from straying after the desires of his eyes and heart.
…long in patience… (Num.14:18)
The Children of Israel sinned by thinking that had giants not inhabited the land they could have conquered it without G-d’s assistance.
Someone sponsored a kiddush in the synagogue. He explained that he wanted to express his gratitude to G-d for his having been in a serious car crash, and emerging from the car unharmed. The following week another person sponsored a kiddush. He explained that he also wanted to express his gratitude to G-d for emerging from his car unharmed, and without even damaging his car!
It is important to remember that we need G-d’s assistance not only in miraculous situations, but just to get through our everyday life too.
Did You Know...
A man should check the tzitzis each time before donning his tallis to make sure the strings are not tangled and that the knots are tight. On Shabbos one may not tighten the knots, as that is considered tying which is prohibited on Shabbos.
One should also check to see if the strings are broken. Generally, if one string is broken the tzitzis are still kosher, depending on how far down the break is found. If two strings are broken it must be determined whether both strings are from the same string or not, since each string is actually doubled. If both breaks are on the same string, the tzitzis are not kosher.
