Last week\’s portion ends with a ferocious battle; this week\’s begins with the after action report and the distributing of medals. We learn the names of those killed
and those rewarded and then all the troops are mustered and counted, to see who remains alive from the fighting.
In this week\’s Torah Portion, Shelach Lecha, Moshe Rabbeinu designates an advance party of 12 scouts to survey the Promised Land. The Jews are approaching their destination and the fulfillment of their destiny, and Moshe opts to have a team of prominent Jewish leaders, comprised of one delegate from each of the 12 tribes, investigate and report back.
A bush that is on fire but doesn\’t burn is indeed a mysterious phenomenon. But arguably, there is a far more mysterious element in the story of God\’s commanding Moshe to go down to Egypt to the palace of Pharaoh.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.