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Joe Says... Get Your Grill On Kick off a tasty summer with grilling favorites t%FMJHIUGBNJMZBOEGSJFOETXJUIQVSFIPVTFNBEF CFFGCSBUT64QSJNFDIPJDFCFFGHSPVOEUIBU EBZBOEUIFGSFTIFTUTBMNPOUJMBQJBDPEBOENPSF t.BLFUIFCFTUCVSHFSTBOETBOEXJDIFTXJUI IPNFNBEFSPMMTBOEMPBWFTGSPN"SUPG#SFBECZ +PFTQFSDFOUBEEJUJWFGSFF t$PNQMFUFZPVSUBCMFXJUIDPPLPVUGBWPSJUFTMJLF IPVTFNBEFQPUBUPTBMBEBOECBLFECFBOTQMVT UIFGSFTIFTUDPSOPOUIFDPCBSPVOE t5PBTUUPTVNNFSXJUIBXJEFTFMFDUJPOPGCFFS BOEXJOF t"OEEPOUGPSHFUUIFDVTUPNNBEFEFTTFSUT So different from the big supermarkets – Joe's is truly your neighborhood market with experts who are obsessed with your satisfaction. $BMMUPPSEFSPSGPSNPSFJOGPSNBUJPO 84FWFO.JMF3PBE-JWPOJB.* Explore Joe's Produce Gourmet Market +PFT.FBU4FBGPPEt"SUPG#SFBEt+PFT(PVSNFU$BUFSJOH J O E ' S P R O D U C E Gourmet Market 2087390 W e know the story well: The Children of Israel react to the scary message of most of the spies whom Moses had sent to scout out the land, and their lack of self- confidence, courage and faith condemn the people to 40 years of wandering in the desert. Moses had chosen the 12 men to traverse Canaan and return with a report about the land and the people who dwelled there. All come back and announce that the land is good, but 10 fear that the local residents are too powerful to be conquered by a group of former slaves. Only Joshua and Caleb disagree, saying with conviction that the Israelites can overcome the chal- lenge. But the majority of the scouts, and indeed all the congregation, break into cries, complaints and pleas to return to Egypt. As a result (although there are other issues, revolts and crises that affect God's decision), only these two brave men will merit entering the Promised Land. Why did the Holy One instruct Moses to send the spies in the first place? The 13th-century sage Nachmanides, among others, insists that it was the will of the people to send their scouts on ahead into the unknown and that Moses brought this request to God. The response was "Shelach lechah!" ("Go ahead — you send them if you think it's really neces- sary!"). And then, when the report was so strongly negative and discouraging, God realized (Moses probably did, too) that the Children of Israel were still filled with feelings of inadequacy and weakness. Or, my teacher Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman has commented that Moses may have misunderstood God's word: He was supposed to send "Anashim … men with clarity of vision, faith in the Eternal and, above all, the capacity to dream and actualize what seemed to be … the impossible." God wanted Moses to choose lead- ers who could inspire others, who were known not merely for physical bravery, but for the proven ability to turn dreams into reality. But the leaders who went on the mission to scout out the land saw only the physical facts, not the truth and potential for the Israelites' future. They saw only present danger and did not have the faith to encourage their follow- ers to "become a free people on their own land." Dr. Barry Holtz of the Jewish Theological Seminary added another dimension: If the spies were really telling the truth (as they saw it), why should they be punished? Perhaps they failed as leaders in not understanding the real impact of their words. They literally brought a rebellion into the camp, rather than hope and optimism — "they proved themselves unworthy of the trust Moses had placed in them." And finally, most of us can prob- ably see ourselves, at some moment or another, in this narrative. The "self- perception" of the scouts was their downfall and the sad consequence for all the people. Yes, the Canaanites were powerful — but hadn't the Children of Israel previously witnessed God's pro- tection and support? Joshua and Caleb were convinced that their people could prevail. They saw the same things that the doubting men had seen; but they had faith and confidence. The other 10 did not: "All the people we saw are of great size … and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them." These 10 were weak; their discourag- ing words to Moses represented a failure of their own self-image, not the reality of the situation that faced the Children of Israel, poised to enter their Promised Land. Sadly, our people have gone from the "highest of highs" at the shores of the sea and at Mount Sinai, to a low level of despair, weakness of will, and an inabil- ity to believe in the destiny and promise that God had prepared for them. * Norman T. Roman has served as senior rabbi of Temple Kol Ami in West Bloomfield since 1986. As of July 1, he will become rabbi emeritus. » t o r a h p o r t i o n June 30 • 2016 33 Rabbi Norman T. Roman A Poor Self-Image Parshat Shelach Lechah: Numbers 13:1-15:41; Joshua 2:1-2:24.