untitled4

Shabbat Shalom!.

Shabbat Shalom!.

Click here to add text.

Shelach

Numbers 13:1-15:41

Sivan 22-28 5769

Torah Reading for Week of June 14-20, 2009

Moshe instructing twelve tribal representatives to survey the land of

Israel:

And you shall see what kind of land it is. And as for the people

who live in it, are they strong or weak, few or many? And how is

the land in which they live: is it good or bad? And what are the

cities in which they live: are they in open areas or fortresses?

And how is the land: is it rich or poor? Does it have trees in it, or not? And you shall strengthen yourselves and take some of the fruits of the land. And the days were the days of the first fruits of the grapes (Bamidbar 13:18-20).

And they (the spies) returned from scouting the land at the end of forty days. And they went and they came to Moshe and Aaron and the entire assembly of Israel…(Bamidbar 13:25-26)

This is the land that Hashem promised to the Jewish nation and the famous description of the Land of Israel as a “land flowing with milk and honey.” is taken from this parsha. But, in Parsha Shelach the Jewish People make one of the most tragic mistakes of our history. They believe in the negative report of the spies, rather than the belief that Hashem will guide them as they continue on their journey and enter the land of Israel. The spies return insisting that the land will ultimately destroy them and the extraordinary strength of its inhabitants will consume them. They urge the people not to occupy the land, despite the assurances of G-d and Moshe that they would be able to do so successfully. Only two spies Caleb and Joshua felt that Israel should enter and take the land immediately.They were confident in their knowledge that they would conquer the land as G-d had promised them. They knew that with G-ds instruction they would not fail.

”Do not fear the people of the land…their security has left them and G-d is with us; do not fear them.”(14:9)

However, the Jews panicked upon hearing the report of the 10 scouts. Why this lack of faith? What happened to their belief after all the open miracles which had been seen in the desert?

“All those men who saw my glory and my miracles that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness…and they did not listen to my voice.”(14:22)

Despite all of the miracles they had experienced in the wilderness they still were not able to rely on G-d's past record, and trust Him on entering the Land.

People look at the world with different perspectives and outlooks. Two people can look at the same situation and take away entirely different meanings. The spies that were sent to view the land were leaders of each tribe and Moshe was hoping they would act responsibly and return with the positive report which supported a belief in G-d. As humans we are blessed with the ability to choose to try to create a balance between "bitachon" (trust in G-d), and "hishtadlus" (human effort). We must not only trust in G-d but we must trust in ourselves for who we are. This ultimately determines our perspective on a situation. Whether a scout came back with the proper attitude or not was based on each individual's personality, perceptions, and conclusions. As in Frank Sinatra’s famous song ,”Looking at the world with Rose colored glasses”, Some people look at the world and are constantly optimistic. However, and unfortunately for the people of Israel only 2 came back with this positive and uplifting account of the land, while the others were fearful and showed a terrible lack of faith.

“The land that we passed through to explore her is a land that eats her inhabitnats.”(14:32)

Focusing on the positive is one of the more important aspects of having a good life and is an important lesson of this parsha. The spies looked at the deficiencies of the land with a negative attitude. And the sin of the spies showed to Hashem that the Jewish People were not ready to assume the role or the spiritual level, that G-d had in store for them, and so they were prohibited from going into the land for another 40 years(until the present generation died out).

It is interesting that following this terrible experience of the spies the torah discusses the importance of wearing Tzitzis for a man. G-d spoke to Moshe, saying:

"speak to the children of Israel and say to them: They should make tzitzis (tassels) for themselves on the corners of their garments, throughout their generations.....When you see it, you will remember all the commandments of G-d to perform them, and you will not follow after the 'spies'." (15:37)

We are commanded by G-d to remember on a daily basis, the exodus from Egypt. As is everything else in the torah it is not a coincidence that the commandment of Tzitzis follows the story of the spies.Tzitzis reminds us and is a vehicle to inspiring us to remember, to reach up and achieve that spiritual connection to G-d, to be able to grasp the significance of trust, so that we won’t ever experience the sins and the repercussions that the spies and inevitably the entire Jewish people experienced.

Shabbat Shalom,

Miriam

This was the time of the ripening of the grapes, Bikurei Anavim- The first fruits. The Fulfillment of the mitzva of Bikurim involves taking fruits of Israel and bringing them to the Temple and then to declare our thanks to G-d. With Bikurim, joy is not only there - it is "commanded".

"and you shall rejoice in every good thing which HaShem your G-d has given to you".

In addition to the famous luster of grapes, the mishnah specifically mentions the three species that the scouts

brought back

"And they arrived at the Stream of Eshkol, and from there they cut a branch and one cluster of grapes, with two carrying it on a pole, as well as from the pomegranates and the figs (13:23).

This chicken salad is delicious, combining sweet red grapes and walnuts,

with chicken.

Chicken Salad with Red Grapes and Walnuts

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 Tbsp. onion, minced

1 small bunch of red grapes, chopped

1 handful of walnuts, chopped

1 cup of mayonnaise

1/2 lemon, juiced

salt and pepper to taste

Cook chicken breasts on medium low heat in a pot of half chicken

broth/half water for 2 hours. Let cool Place chicken cubes in bowl.

Add all other ingredients

Binyamina winery (Photo: Effie Shrir)

Eating the products of the vine lights up ones face, as does the Torah

Wine Spritzer

Also known as a poor man’s champagne, spritzer is mixture of white wine

and soda. The drink is very light and refreshing in summer months.

Calimocho

calimocho (aKa Bamboo) is drink consisting of approximately 50% red wine and 50% cola-based soft drink. In some areas of Spain, calimocho is served in bars in short glass tumblers. Plenty of ice is added, then the red wine and cola.

Sangria

1 Bottle of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rioja,

Zinfandel, Shiraz)

1 Lemon cut into wedges

1 Orange cut into wedges

1 Lime cut into wedges

2 Tbsp sugar

Splash of orange juice or lemonade

2 Shots of gin or triple sec (optional)

1 Cup of raspberries or strawberries (may use thawed or

frozen)

1 Small can of diced pineapples (with juice)

4 Cups ginger ale

Preparation:

Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon, orange and lime into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and pineapple then add sugar, orange juice and gin. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale, berries and ice just before serving. If you'd like to serve right away, use chilled red wine and serve over lots of ice. However, remember that the best Sangrias are chilled around 24 hours in the frig. - allowing the flavors to really marinate into each other.