The emotion that best describes this week’s Torah portion is disappointment. Deep disappointment.
The Jewish people were riding high off the Exodus, the splitting of the sea and the receiving of the Torah and were eagerly anticipating the completion of their journey: entering the Land of Israel. Unfortunately, due to the sin of the spies, the Jewish people would have to wait another 40 years before being allowed to enter the Land of Israel. In the meantime, almost all of the Jews that had left Egypt would pass away and not merit to enter the Holy Land.
In order to properly understand the depth of the Jews’ disappointment, a metaphor would be helpful. A comparison could be made to a football game. The game is up to the fourth down and the receiver has the ball. The receiver runs almost all the way across the field and is two or three feet away from scoring a touchdown when he is suddenly tagged out. Can you imagine his disappointment?
This must be how the Jewish people felt when they were punished for listening to the slander of the spies. This reminds me of a joke:
How do you know the spies were JETS fans?
BECAUSE THEY WERE AFRAID OF THE GIANTS!
by Yankel Moskowitz
