Shlach Lecha - Weekly Torah Portion

Eventually everything seems to be hanging on a thin thread, or, in the words of the Haftarah of this week from the book of Joshua, om a “cord of scarlet thread”. If you wonder what it is all about then we are speaking of spies, an attempt to understand what it is that is really happening, and understanding the difference between truth and reality which can be thin as the thinnest of ice. Joshua sends spies to check on Jericho, to understand what is its inhabitants’ attitude. The spies stay with a woman that provides them shelter and tells them, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have despaired because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard these reports, our hearts melted and no courage remained in anyone any longer because of you”.

The espionage business has traditionally carried a price tag and this case was no different whatsoever. The woman, Rahab, makes the spies swear before her, “Now then, please swear to me by the Lord, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother, and my brothers and my sisters, and all who belong to them, and save our lives from death.” The so do but on condition that, “We shall be exempt from this oath to you which you have made us swear, unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and gather into your house your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. And it shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house outside will have his blood on his own head, and we will be innocent; but anyone who is with you in the house, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him.” The accept the responsibility, however it is limited to those who are confined to Rahab’s premises and only for those who are actually there. She agrees and when the spies return to report to Joshua they disclose, “all that had happened to them. And they said to Joshua, ‘The Lord has indeed handed over to us all the land; furthermore, all the inhabitants of the land have despaired because of us.’”

Moses get an assignment, “Send out men for yourself to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.” Unlike Joshua’s spies, these twelve tribal representatives do not leave in secrecy and do not return without the people’s knowledge. In fact, they leave and return as a public affair, after all they were leaders of the community. Therefore, they report “to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel”. Now when ten spies come and claim that, “The land through which we have gone to spy out is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are people of great stature. We also saw the Nephilim there (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” words of encouragement and conviction coming from Caleb, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will certainly prevail over it.” are not quite as persuasive. The ritual then returns yet again, “all the congregation raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept that night. And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the entire congregation said to them, ‘If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or even if we had died in this wilderness! So why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder! Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?’ So they said to one another, ‘Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt!’”

The difference between success and failure is often as thin and tender as that scarlet cord. Many times, the failure is merely a matter of perception rather than a matter of fact. Even the greatest achievement of all may deemed as a disaster if we are unable to grasp what has really happened before our eyes. Ten of Moses’ spies saw exactly the same facts that were seen by Joshua and Caleb. There was no real difference but that delicate scarlet cord that allowed the latter to see an opportunity where the others saw just doom and gloom. Part of the wisdom of sound leadership is the ability to identify the opportunities, and being able to separate them from the pitfalls that are surely there too. These leaders are capable of seeing the almost invisible cord that provides us a line of life, an opportunity for success.

On Saturday evening, June 19th, Shabbat Khukat” the Israel Reform Movement shall have a farewell gathering to acknowledge the leadership of its former president and CEO, now MK rabbi Gilad Kariv. The event will take place at the HUC campus in Jerusalem and you can register until June 13th, so you should do so as soon as possible. Between June 17th and 28th the Movement shall conduct its first ever crowd fund raising campaign in Israel, following a successful campaign to fund the Movement’s Mekhina. Our congregations are invited to nominate ambassadors and using congregational landing pages will also raise part of the funds for their very own congregation. We request that you support this endeavor for Judaism without Partitions, and bring friends, family, and other supporters from near and far, to help fund the variety of activities that change the face of Israel. I call upon you to hang tour scarlet cord so that we can show our supporters here and abroad that “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will certainly prevail over it.”

Shabbat Shalom and wishes for Good Health.

Reuven Marko, 4 June 2021, 25 Sivan, 5781