Torah Portion Shelach LeCha
Torah Portion Shelach LeCha
Bemidbar – Numbers 13:1-15:41
Num 13:1 YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,
Num 13:2 Send you men, that they may spy out the land of Kena`an, which I give to the children of Yisra’el: of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, everyone a prince among them.
“Spy” isn’t the best translation here.
H8446 תּוּר
tûr toor
A primitive root; to meander (causatively guide) about, especially for trade or reconnoitring: – chap [-man], sent to descry, be excellent, merchant [-man], search (out), seek, (e-) spy (out).
What Elohim told them to do is casually inspect the land, as a buyer inspects merchandise. It was never intended to be a mission to see how strong the enemy was militarily – after all, that made no difference whatsoever with Elohim leading them.
Numbers, continued:
Num 13:3 Moshe sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the mitzvah of YHWH: all of them men who were heads of the children of Yisra’el.
Num 13:4 These were their names: Of the tribe of Re’uven, Shammua the son of Zakkur.
Num 13:5 Of the tribe of Shim`on, Shafat the son of Chori.
Num 13:6 Of the tribe of Yehudah, Kalev the son of Yefunneh.
Num 13:7 Of the tribe of Yissakhar, Yig’al the son of Yosef.
Num 13:8 Of the tribe of Efrayim, Hoshea the son of Nun.
Num 13:9 Of the tribe of Binyamin, Palti the son of Rafu.
Num 13:10 Of the tribe of Zevulun, Gaddi’el the son of Sodi.
Num 13:11 Of the tribe of Yosef, [namely], of the tribe of Menasheh, Gaddi the son of Susi.
Num 13:12 Of the tribe of Dan, `Ammi’el the son of Gemalli.
Num 13:13 Of the tribe of Asher, Setur the son of Mikha’el.
Num 13:14 Of the tribe of Naftali, Nachbi the son of Vofsi.
Num 13:15 Of the tribe of Gad, Ge’u'el the son of Makhi.
Num 13:16 These are the names of the men who Moshe sent to spy out the land. Moshe called Hoshea the son of Nun Yehoshua.
Num 13:17 Moshe sent them to spy out the land of Kena`an, and said to them, Go up this way by the South, and go up into the hill country:
Num 13:18 and see the land, what it is; and the people who dwell therein, whether they are strong or weak, whether they are few or many;
Num 13:19 and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds;
Num 13:20 and what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is wood therein, or not. Be of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes.
Moshe appears to here have given instructions far in excess of what Elohim commanded. This was no doubt the cause of the later insurrection. Had he emphasized to them that Elohim was with them and there was not going to be any military difficulty in securing the land, they would not have come out with such a pessimistic mentality.
Numbers, continued:
Num 13:21 So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Tzin to Rechov, to the entrance of Chamat.
Num 13:22 They went up by the South, and came to Chevron; and Achiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of `Anak, were there. (Now Chevron was built seven years before Tzo`an in Egypt.)
Num 13:23 They came to the valley of Eshkol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it on a staff between two; [they brought] also of the pomegranates, and of the figs.
Num 13:24 That place was called the valley of Eshkol, because of the cluster which the children of Yisra’el cut down from there.
Num 13:25 They returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days.
The date of the “evil report” is traditionally considered to be Av the 9th, a day that many subsequent evil events occurred upon – most especially the destruction of both the first and second Temples began on Av the 9th.
Numbers, continued:
Num 13:26 They went and came to Moshe, and to Aharon, and to all the congregation of the children of Yisra’el, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them, and to all the congregation, and shown them the fruit of the land.
Num 13:27 They told him, and said, We came to the land where you sent us; and surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
Num 13:28 However the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified, [and] very great: and moreover we saw the children of `Anak there.
Num 13:29 `Amalek dwells in the land of the South: and the Chittite, and the Yevusi, and the Amori, dwell in the hill country; and the Kena`ani dwells by the sea, and along by the side of the Yarden.
Num 13:30 Kalev stilled the people before Moshe, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
Num 13:31 But the men who went up with him said, We aren’t able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
Num 13:32 They brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the children of Yisra’el, saying, The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up the inhabitants of it; and all the people who we saw in it are men of great stature.
Num 13:33 There we saw the Nefilim, the sons of `Anak, who come of the Nefilim: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
The Nephilim, as we learn in Parashat Noach, are descendents of fallen angels and human women, or, alternately, descendents of men who were followers of YHWH and women who were not. Either way, they were of great stature, perhaps having occult arts, and “men of name.” By this they are generally believed to be famous people whose identities later came down to us as the names of pagan gods.
Numbers, continued:
Num 14:1 All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
Num 14:2 All the children of Yisra’el murmured against Moshe and against Aharon: and the whole congregation said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would that we had died in this wilderness!
Num 14:3 Why does YHWH bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey: wouldn’t it be better for us to return into Egypt?
Num 14:4 They said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
Num 14:5 Then Moshe and Aharon fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Yisra’el.
Num 14:6 Yehoshua the son of Nun and Kalev the son of Yefunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes:
Num 14:7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Yisra’el, saying, The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land.
Num 14:8 If YHWH delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us; a land which flows with milk and honey.
Num 14:9 Only don’t rebel against YHWH, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is removed from over them, and YHWH is with us: don’t fear them.
Num 14:10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. The glory of YHWH appeared in the tent of meeting to all the children of Yisra’el.
Num 14:11 YHWH said to Moshe, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them?
Num 14:12 I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.
Num 14:13 Moshe said to YHWH, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them;
Num 14:14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, YHWH, are in the midst of this people; for you, YHWH, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.
Num 14:15 Now if you shall kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying,
Num 14:16 Because YHWH was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.
Num 14:17 Now please let the power of Adonai be great, according as you have spoken, saying,
Num 14:18 YHWH is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and that will by no means clear [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.
Num 14:19 Pardon, Please, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your loving kindness, and according as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
Num 14:20 YHWH said, I have pardoned according to your word:
Num 14:21 but in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of YHWH;
Num 14:22 because all those men who have seen my glory, and my signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not listened to my voice;
Num 14:23 surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised me see it:
Num 14:24 but my servant Kalev, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him will I bring into the land into which he went; and his seed shall possess it.
Num 14:25 Now the `Amaleki and the Kena`ani dwell in the valley: tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way to the Sea of Suf.
Num 14:26 YHWH spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying,
Num 14:27 How long [shall I bear] with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Yisra’el, which they murmur against me.
Num 14:28 Tell them, As I live, says YHWH, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you:
Num 14:29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me,
Num 14:30 surely you shall not come into the land, concerning which I swore that I would make you dwell therein, save Kalev the son of Yefunneh, and Yehoshua the son of Nun.
This is important to notice. This was a military revolt, an attempted coup, and only those of the military census were sentenced to death. It is commonly thought that everyone under the age of 20 was commanded to death, but that is simply not the case. Not included in those who were women, children, Levites, the deformed or disabled who could not serve in the military, and the very old. Granted, to the very old this was likely a death sentence which would be carried out before they got to enter the land, but the elders of any community have an obligation to keep the young hotheads in line, and they obviously failed to do that.
Numbers, continued:
Num 14:31 But your little ones, that you said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have rejected.
Num 14:32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.
Num 14:33 Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness.
Num 14:34 After the number of the days in which you spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall you bear your iniquities, even forty years, and you shall know my alienation.
The “year for a day” principle is an important one in Hebrew prophecy and on Elohim’s calendar. The entire Tribulation is portrayed as 7 days on Elohim’s calendar – Tishri 3rd through Tishri 9th. The next day is Tishri 10th – Yom Kippur – and is both the day and the year which inagurates the Messianic Kingdom. Two days prior to the third is Tishri 1st, Yom Teruah, which kicks off Rosh Hashanah (Tishri 1st-2nd) and represents the Parousia on Elohim’s calendar, showing that the Parousia can occur up to 2 years prior to the start of the Tribulation. The Tribulation itself lasts seven years and will be preceded by the “birth pangs” of the “Season of Repentence” (which begins Elul 1st) which will not exactly be a picnic themselves. This could represent the 30 years prior to the Parousia in which the earth groans under the labor pains of natural disasters, economic woes, and political upheavals.
Numbers, continued:
Num 14:35 I, YHWH, have spoken, surely this will I do to all this evil congregation, who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
Num 14:36 The men, whom Moshe sent to spy out the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report against the land,
Num 14:37 even those men who did bring up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before YHWH.
Num 14:38 But Yehoshua the son of Nun, and Kalev the son of Yefunneh, remained alive of those men who went to spy out the land.
Num 14:39 Moshe told these words to all the children of Yisra’el: and the people mourned greatly.
Num 14:40 They rose up early in the morning, and got them up to the top of the mountain, saying, Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which YHWH has promised: for we have sinned.
Num 14:41 Moshe said, Why now do you disobey the command of YHWH, seeing it shall not prosper?
Num 14:42 Don’t go up, for YHWH isn’t among you; that you not be struck down before your enemies.
Num 14:43 For there the `Amaleki and the Kena`ani are before you, and you shall fall by the sword: because you are turned back from following YHWH, therefore YHWH will not be with you.
Num 14:44 But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of YHWH, and Moshe, didn’t depart out of the camp.
Num 14:45 Then the `Amaleki came down, and the Kena`ani who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down, even to Chormah.
Num 15:1 YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,
Num 15:2 Speak to the children of Yisra’el, and tell them, When you are come into the land of your habitations, which I give to you,
Num 15:3 and will make an offering by fire to YHWH, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a freewill offering, or in your set feasts, to make a sweet savor to YHWH, of the herd, or of the flock;
Num 15:4 then shall he who offers his offering offer to YHWH a meal offering of a tenth part [of an efah] of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of oil:
Num 15:5 and wine for the drink offering, the fourth part of a hin, shall you prepare with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.
Num 15:6 Or for a ram, you shall prepare for a meal offering two tenth parts [of an efah] of fine flour mixed with the third part of a hin of oil:
Num 15:7 and for the drink offering you shall offer the third part of a hin of wine, of a sweet savor to YHWH.
Num 15:8 When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for shalom offerings to YHWH;
Num 15:9 then shall he offer with the bull a meal offering of three tenth parts [of an efah] of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil:
Num 15:10 and you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to YHWH.
Num 15:11 Thus shall it be done for each bull, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the young goats.
Num 15:12 According to the number that you shall prepare, so shall you do to everyone according to their number.
Num 15:13 All who are native-born shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to YHWH.
Num 15:14 If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to YHWH; as you do, so he shall do.
Num 15:15 For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner [with you], a statute forever throughout your generations: as you are, so shall the foreigner be before YHWH.
Num 15:16 One Torah and one ordinance shall be for you, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner with you.
There is one Torah for both the native-born and those grafted-in to the House of Israel. It applies to each alike. A House divided against itself cannot stand, as Yeshua reminds us. Elohim’s House is not divided. Grace is not license for sin (Romans 6). Sin is, by definition, the transgression of the Law – the Torah (I John 3). Egro, grace is not license for transgressing the Torah. The Torah applies to All Israel, natural born or adopted, then and now and in the future.
Numbers, continued:
Num 15:17 YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,
Num 15:18 Speak to the children of Yisra’el, and tell them, When you come into the land where I bring you,
Num 15:19 then it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall offer up a wave offering to YHWH.
Num 15:20 Of the first of your dough you shall offer up a cake for a wave offering: as the wave offering of the threshing floor, so shall you heave it.
Num 15:21 Of the first of your dough you shall give to YHWH a wave offering throughout your generations.
It is difficult to do this today with no altar available to us, but we can obey the spirit of the commandment by taking a pinch of dough when we make bread and saying the “Challah” blessing, then burning the pinch either in the oven or over some flame, such as a fireplace or grill. Some simply discard the pinch, but others do not feel comfortable throwing an offering to Elohim in the trash. It is the practice of some to save all the “pinches” in the freezer until a more convenient time to burn them. Each person who makes bread will have to be convinced in their own minds what is the best way to perform this commandment with the options they have available.
Numbers, continued:
Num 15:22 When you shall err, and not observe all these mitzvot, which YHWH has spoken to Moshe,
Num 15:23 even all that YHWH has commanded you by Moshe, from the day that YHWH gave mitzvah, and onward throughout your generations;
Num 15:24 then it shall be, if it be done unwittingly, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bull for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor to YHWH, with the meal offering of it, and the drink offering of it, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering.
Num 15:25 The Kohen shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Yisra’el, and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their offering, an offering made by fire to YHWH, and their sin offering before YHWH, for their error:
Num 15:26 and all the congregation of the children of Yisra’el shall be forgiven, and the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them; for in respect of all the people it was done unwittingly.
If your assembly or congregation finds out you have been doing something seriously wrong, the fact that you did not know it does not make your sin go away – when you become aware, you incur guilt for your past infractions. An offering must be made – in our case, prayers and a monetary charitable donation will have to suffice, since we lack a Temple at which to make offerings. Ideally, the amount of money offered would be the cost of buying an actual bull. If that is not practicle, a day of fasting and prayer will suffice. As Hoshea says, our lips must compensate for the bulls [we lack].
Numbers, continued:
Num 15:27 If one person sins unwittingly, then he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering.
Num 15:28 The Kohen shall make atonement for the soul who errs, when he sins unwittingly, before YHWH, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.
Num 15:29 You shall have one law for him who does anything unwittingly, for him who is native-born among the children of Yisra’el, and for the stranger who lives as a foreigner among them.
Again, when a person finds out their traditions or things they learned in the past are not correct, they incur guilt for the past transgressions. A person must, of course, repent from their mistakes just like the community as a whole would, and offer a prayer and perhaps a monetary gift to charity in the amount of the cost of a lamb. Failing that, a day of fasting and prayer should be observed.
Numbers, continued:
Num 15:30 But the soul who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, the same blasphemes YHWH; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Num 15:31 Because he has despised the word of YHWH, and has broken his mitzvah, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.
A person who sins by accident or through ignorance is in a different class than someone who knows the Torah and disobeys anyway. Such a person is arrogant and a bad influence and must be Karet – cut off or expelled – from the congregation until they repent completely. Be careful, however, that such a person is truly acting outside the bounds of the written Torah and NOT just outside somebody’s interpretation or tradition. We are not bound by traditions and precedents – only the written text of Elohim’s Torah is our plumbline.
Numbers, continued:
Num 15:32 While the children of Yisra’el were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the day of Shabbat.
It is clear that the intent for observing the Sabbath is that no household chores, no work for pay, no schoolwork, no yard or garden or farm chores (except to feed and water livestock), and no preparation for doing any of these at a later time is permitted. This man either did not prepare for the Sabbath or decided to do a chore that should have been done on a weekday. We do not know if his family lacked the firewood needed for keeping themselves or their food warm, or if he was simply trying to get a jump on the workweek – either way, however, his actions were a violation of the Torah commandment to not work on Shabbat. If his family was in need, he could surely have asked of his family, friends, or neighbors and shared their tent or food. If he was trying to prepare for the workweek, his actions are deliberately disobedient.
Numbers, continued:
Num 15:33 Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moshe and Aharon, and to all the congregation.
Num 15:34 They put him in custody, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.
Num 15:35 YHWH said to Moshe, The man shall surely be put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp.
Num 15:36 All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones; as YHWH commanded Moshe.
Num 15:37 YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,
Num 15:38 Speak to the children of Yisra’el, and bid those who they make them tzitziyot in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the tzitzit of each border a cord of blue:
Num 15:39 and it shall be to you for a tzitzit, that you may look on it, and remember all the mitzvot of YHWH, and do them; and that you not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to play the prostitute;
Num 15:40 that you may remember and do all my mitzvot, and be holy to your Elohim.
Num 15:41 I am YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your Elohim: I am YHWH your Elohim.
Like the commandments for Shabbat, the commandment for men (benai – masculine plural) to wear tzitzits is still very much in force.
The Rabbinate claims that the word here translated as “blue” refers only to a specific kind of dye from a specific sea creature and since we no longer know what that is, that tzitzits should be plain white. Karaites reject this reasoning and say that tzitzits without a blue string violate the commandment. If a man already owns all-white tzitziyot and changes his mind to want blue threads, there is no specific way to weave tzitziyot mentioned in the written Torah – simply add a blue yarn to the already existing tzitziyot either by using a needle to thread it through or by unwinding the tzitziyot and re-braiding them with the blue yarn added.
Either way, however, a man is required to wear tzitzits every day.
They do not necessarily have to be visible to the public – many men wear a “tallit kattan,” (“little tallit”) with tzitziyot on it as an undershirt. The swaying and dangling of the fringes underneath the clothing, they feel, is a sufficient reminder – and you see them at any time when you loosen or remove any of your clothes, which to some would be a time when being reminded of sin is a good idea. These can be found at http://www.premierjudaica.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=neatzit and some local retailers.
However, if an undershirt annoys you, there are Karaite (with a blue thread) tzitziyot available which attach to belt loops or buttons to be visible to everyone. These can be found at www.karaite-korner.org and some local retailers.
There is a PDF document online showing how to make tzitziyot at home. This can be found at http://www.wholebible.com/PdfLibrary/TyingTzitzit.pdf
There are also some videos online that teaches a way to make your own tzitziyot.
Next: Haftarah Shelach LeCha
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