Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

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Sending in Men to Scout Out the Land

The incident regarding Miriam (see last week's parsha) look place in an area called Chatzeroth.

The incident regarding Korach (see next week's parsha) also took place there according to Rashi.

In this current Parsha, we are told that they traveled from the Desert of Paran (which was where they camped after Chazeroth). Thus chronologically, this parsha occurred after the story of Korach, yet it is written into the text before.

Rashi explains that this was in order to juxtapose the story of Miriam who was afflicted due to her speaking in a way which she shouldn't have, to the story of the spies, who did not learn from this.

The Israelites had said that they wanted to be allowed to send men into the Land of Israel to scout it out. Moshe consulted G-d in this regard, who told him that he was leaving the decision up to Moshe. G-d allowed for this option to send in the spies who would ultimately lead them to sin, because the very act of asking to send in spies demonstrated their lack of faith.

G-d says that the men that are to be sent in should consist of one leader per each of the tribes.

So Moshe went ahead and sent these leaders out.

All of these men were at the time honorable (though they later came to sin).

These are the men who were sent out:

* Representing the tribe of Reuven was Shamua the son of Zaccur

* Representing the tribe of Shimon: Shaphat the son of Hori

* Representing the tribe of Yehuda: Caleb the son of Yefuneh

* Representing the tribe of Issaschar: Yigal the son of Yosef

* Representing the tribe of Ephraim: Hoshea the son of Nun

* Representing the tribe of Binyamin: Palti the son of Raphu

* Representing the tribe of Zevulun: Gaddiel the son of Sodi

* Representing the tribe of Menashe: Gaddi the son of Susi

* Representing the tribe of Dan: Ammiel the son of Gemalli

* Representing the tribe of Asher: Sethur the son of Michael

* Representing the tribe of Naphtali: Nachbi the son of Vophsi

* Representing the tribe of Gad: Geuel the son of Machi

Before they left for this mission, Moshe prayed that G-d should save Hoshea the son of Nun from the scheme of the spies, and thus called him Yehoshua (literally "may G-d save you").

In accordance with the custom of merchants to display their worst products first and save the best products for last, Moshe told the men to begin the scouting by ascending in the south, which was the inferior part of the land and to ascend the mountain there.

Moshe tells them to to look at the land and find out if it produces strong or weak people by checking if the cities are fortified. If the cities are unwalled, this would indicate that they are strong, and if they are fortified, this would indicate that they are weak.

They are also to find out:

* If the land increases or decreases the inhabitants population.

* If the land has springs and healthy deep wells or not

* If it is fertile or barren

* If the land contains an upright citizen (poetically referred to in the text as a "tree") who's merits could protect them.

Moshe tells them that they should strengthen themselves and take from the fruit of the land. The first ripening of the grapes was during that time.