This week’s parsha, Shlach L’cha, contains within it one of my favorite verses of Torah. To set the scene: the Israelites are camped beyond the land, and Moses has sent in spies to come back with a report of what to expect. Ten of the twelve return with cries of woe, calamity, and impossibility. They say that the land does, indeed, flow with milk & honey, but that it is also an “eretz ochelet yoshveiha,” a land that eats or devours its inhabitants.
That is among my favorite lines of Torah.
It sounds to me like the voice of fear, the voice of the child that says, “there’s a monster in my closet,” or of the adult who says, “I can’t possibly accomplish this task.” Fear of the unknown overwhelms ten of the twelve spies. It’s not an outlandish fear though: the terrain of the Middle East is quite harsh. I love this line because it says to me, “I am afraid of the bigness and vastness of the unknown that lies ahead!” and that feels very human.
Fear is a part of who we are; and so is courage. Caleb & Joshua, the two of the twelve who return with hope, tell us to “fear not!” Which is sometimes all we need.
Rabbi Callie Schulman
