Shlach

In this parsha

Moses sends twelve spies to scout the land of Canaan. Ten return with a frightening report, claiming the land devours its inhabitants and its people are unconquerable; only Caleb and Joshua urge trust in God. The people weep to return to Egypt, and God decrees that this generation will die in the wilderness over forty years. A group that tries to ascend anyway is routed. The parsha concludes with several mitzvos, among them challah and the fringes of tzitzis with their thread of techeiles.

Themes

• Mitzvos as divine mission
• Emunah above nature
• Tzitzis binding outer to inner
• Elevating the physical body
• Eretz Yisrael above nature
• White and techeiles: body and soul

Must-read teachings

1. 1Mitzvos as Divine MissionIn the following essay the Sfas Emes shows how the spies should have used the commandment that HaShem gave them to spy out the land, to actually push away their own selfish desire of spying and rather do it just for HaShem’s sake. Had they…תרל"א
2. 2Living above nature and the spies' failure of emunahOn the verse "We shall surely go up," Rashi explains: even if it were in the heavens and He said make ladders, we would succeed in all His words. Calev declared that even if entering the Land required ascending to the heavens by ladders, fo…תרנ"ו
3. 3Descending into the physical to elevate itRegarding the test of the meraglim (the spies). The Sefas Emes opens by framing the episode of the spies as a nisayon, a spiritual test. For they were the generation that received the Torah from Har Sinai. This was the elevated generation t…תרמ"ה
4. 4Tzitzis, tefillin, and the world of emunahOn the passage of tzitzis. The Sefas Emes opens on the section of tzitzis at the end of Parshas Shlach. It is taught in the Gemara: "At all times let your garments be white" (Koheles 9:8) — this refers to tzitzis; "and let oil not be lackin…תר"נ
5. 5The soul's mission and the two seals of tzitzisIn the Midrash: those sent on a mitzvah override the Shabbos, for nothing is as beloved before the Holy One as a shaliach (emissary) who is sent to perform a mitzvah and gives his life to succeed in his mission — like those whom Yehoshua se…תרנ"ח
6. 6Techeiles: hidden light transformed to revelationOn the posuk, "And they shall place... a thread of techeiles, and it shall be for you as tzitzis..." (Bamidbar 15:38–39). The Sefas Emes opens his discussion of the white (lavan) and blue (techeiles) threads of tzitzis. The matter of lavan …תרנ"א
7. 7Yaakov and Yisrael: battle and rest in the spiesConcerning the meraglim (spies) and the juxtaposition of the parsha of tzitzis. The Sefas Emes sets out to explain why the mitzvah of tzitzis is placed right after the episode of the spies. For it is taught: "At all times let your garments …תר"ס
8. 8Joining deed to word to rectify body and soulIn the Midrash: "Those sent on a mitzvah override Shabbos," etc. The Sefas Emes opens with the principle that messengers on a mitzvah-errand may set aside certain Shabbos restrictions. He will explain how this connects to the deeper relatio…תרמ"ט