Kol Ramah

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Sh’lach [Numbers 13-15] is primarily concerned with the episode of the so-called spies [Numbers 13-14]: Moshe, apparently at God’s bequest, sends 12 men, each a princes of his tribe, to scout out the land in anticipation of entrance and conquest by the Israelites, in fulfillment of God’s promise to the ancestors. They come back with a devastating report by 10 of the 12, which sets back the history of the people by 40 years, since God’s response is to declare that no one over the age of 20, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua [from the tribe of Judah and Ephraim, respectively], will enter the land. The generation of the spies is condemned to live their remaining days in the wilderness. Chapter 15, which itself is worthy of a show, contains legislation about sacrifices, the curious story about the wood-gatherer [15:32-36], and the best known passage, 15:37-41, which became the third paragraph of the Shema in Jewish litu