Mark Roberg

SUMMARY of Weekly Parsha - Shalach Lacha

In Sh’lach L’cha, we read about the Children of Israel escaping their oppressors in Egypt, still raw from the dangerous journey in the desert.

As they approach the Promised Land, God tells Moses to send scouts to assess the quality of the land and the nature of the inhabitants.

Twelve high-ranking men are chosen and after 40 days they return. Ten of them bring terrible news: the people are so superior that the Israelites won’t be able to defeat them. The last two scouts have a different report, stating that God will lead them to possess the land.

That night the Israelites speak about finding a way to be led back to Egypt and, abandoning their trust in God, they weep.

According to the Rabbinic tradition (Mishnah Taanit 4:6), this day became Tisha B’Av, a day of weeping and misfortune for ever.

In the second part of the parashah, God instructs Moses with the words, “When you arrive in the land,” describing the precise quantities of materials to be used for offerings of pleasing fragrance.

These rules apply equally to the Israelites and the ger, the stranger who lives amongst them – both being the same before God. The juxtaposition of this section with the story of the twelve spies highlights how the condition of the Israelites changed from being the aliens themselves in Egypt, to living as stateless nomads in the desert, and finally to being the settled community where other individuals became the stranger.

They had a responsibility to behave towards the stranger within a set framework, the same laws applying to all – not just for a short time but throughout the generations.