Weekly Mission: Parshat Shlach-Caleb Pride

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Weekly Mission: Parshat Shlach (5770)

“But my servant Caleb, because a different spirit was with him and he followed Me wholeheartedly, I shall bring him to the land to which he came, and his offspring shall possess it.”[i]

It is often difficult to imagine that one person can actually make a colossal difference in the world. We often struggle to wake up in the morning and many of our days are rote. When will we say to ourselves, “I too can change the world”? As human beings, we are terrified and overwhelmed by the world. We contemplate growth and change but when we see something far greater than our greatest thoughts, we retreat to the lower dimensions of our heart. Our motivation for greatness is stifled by another’s greatness. We are belittled because we feel inadequate and are unable to fathom our maximized potential.

Because of uncertainty, the Jewish people ask Moshe to send spies into the Holy Land. They were asked to, “See the Land—how is it? And the people that dwells in it—is it strong or weak? Is it few or numerous?”[ii] Moshe sent leaders to spy out the land. The spies’ consequent false reports showed a lack of belief and led the Jews to forty years of wandering in the desert. As the verse states: “Like the number of the days that you spied out the Land, forty days, a day for a year, a day for a year, shall you bear you iniquities…”[iii]

From the tribe of Judah, Caleb stood stronger than the rest. The Talmud tells us that, when entering the land, Caleb went straight to Hebron and pleaded to our Matriarchs and Patriarchs saying, “Pray that I be saved from the conspiracy of the spies” [iv]. Our Sages tell us that the spies did not want to take a sample of fruit for the people to see, so Caleb threatened them saying, “If you do not take, I will kill you or be killed” [v]. Repeatedly, Caleb reminds us of the Kingship of Judah, as is evident through commitment and bravery for HaShem’s name. Caleb and the tribe of Judah continuously strive for truth regardless of the nation’s uncertainty. As the verse states, “Caleb silenced the people toward Moses and said, “We shall surely ascend and conquer it, for we can surely do it.”[vi]

The story involving Caleb is one of the many biblical narratives that represents the statement: “Do not be a follower of the majority for evil…”[vii]. The Talmud points out that because Caleb followed truth, even when intense darkness hovered over the nation, he ultimately married Batya, the daughter of Pharaoh [viii]. Like Caleb, Batya rebelled against her father’s decree to kill all of the Jewish male babies.

The riots about the Gaza flotilla spurred political and social events around the world. People were frightened, angry, and some were apathetic. On Memorial Day, outside of the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles, there stood our very own Caleb. As hundreds of anti-Israel, “Palestine”-loving people held their flags and signs high in the air, one brave sixteen-year-old boy raised his right hand with kingship. He held his nation’s blue and white colors with truth. When asked if he was affiliated with any group, he pointed to his flag and said, “I am affiliated with Judaism and Israel.”

Unfortunately, he was on his own. Unfortunately, we are a sleeping nation and he is the Caleb. Unfortunately, we are deep in exile and the people who once lived truth stuck their heads into the ground. Friends, we wake up and we feel inadequate, we try and we fall, we see greatness and we are stifled, but truth and kingship are ours. We, my sweet friends, are great. We must wake up and realize that we too can change the world, and change our brothers’ and sisters’ frame of thinking. Stand strong and change what is clearly wrong to make it right.

In 62 C.E., the Romans surrounded Jerusalem. In 70 C.E., we were sent into exile. In 1918, Hitler returned angrily from German failure in WWI. At the end of 1945, half of our people were liquidated into ashes and blood. We define what we say about 2010…

This week I will try to: …Re-evaluate my life, re-evaluate my goals from last Yom Kippur, last New Year’s and my last birthday, and ask… “Have I accomplished half of these things (I haven’t)?” I will stamp out evil, and I will bring truth and light into the world. Caleb is Hebron; Hebron’s Jews are truly Caleb. I will try to connect with my Judaism because if I don’t, my kids won’t either, and then our fight for life throughout the millennia will come to an end.

“But my servant Caleb, because a different spirit was with him and he followed Me wholeheartedly, I shall bring him to the land to which he came, and his offspring shall possess it.”[ix]

Here is the link to our very own Caleb: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABjE_7uwA0I&feature=player_embedded

Shabbat Shalom!

Edited by Rachael B. Goldberg



[1] Numbers: 14:24

[1]13:18

[1]14:14

[1] Sotah 34b

[1] Bamidbar Rabbah 16:14

[1] Numbers: 13:30

[1] Mishpatim: 20:2

[1] Megillah 12a

[1] Numbers: 14:24

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