Leah’s Blog Parashat Shelach – 2025

Shlach – Leah’s blog – June 2025

Before Moshe and I got together and made Aliyah nearly forty years ago, (!) we had both been in Israel individually. I was a sophomore in college and did the unthinkable- I took a hiatus and the earliest plane I could to Israel because it was my desire to see the land I dreamt about. On arriving, I was thrown into a series of heart flutters and stomach turns along with the usual jet lag, as I spent the first week in Tel Aviv before moving on as planned to a kibbutz in the Galilee. Not new to the club scene, as I was thrust in my teen years into the music culture and embedded in it, the nightlife discos felt peculiar and abnormal here. The cocktail waitresses were hardly dressed- right here in the holy land. I tightened my jeans jacket over me, feeling lost. The smoke rose from the streets and the graffiti looked and felt like Hell’s Kitchen. In this carnal atmosphere I asked myself not once- am I really in eretz yisrael!? Hoping as I hopped on the bus going north that scenes of nature and Zionist spirit would have me feeling better, reclaiming my inner GPS. What I didn’t know at the time was that the pit of my stomach told me I would have to look deeper or admit that it was a bad report. One day on break at the avocado orchard, I climbed to the highest point and looked south. Pointing to the very distant mountains I asked the driver of the harvesting machine what and where that was. He just shrugged and had a vague look in his eyes as he seemed to not know or care. Just years later I would be living in that place.

Later events repair earlier events.

There is a mantra running through our story and we are blowing shofars now. The walls of Jericho fell – the walls of Tehran, the heart of hearts of JIHAD- as the DOOMSDAY CLOCK HALTS IN POWER CUTS- fall- as miracles occur- the miracle that our overview has been fixed.

This parsha- Shelach, has the princes of the tribes being sent on a mission they fail in. Only forty years later as stated in this Haftarah two un named spies (Pinchas and Calev) reveal the nakedness of the land in Rachav the harlot, lodged in the walls of Jericho. Their report is the fixing of the first impressions of the first twelve spies as they proclaim- ” Truly the Lord has delivered into our hands all the land and moreover all the inhabitants of the Land as they do melt away before us!” Rachav recognized Hashem and the miracles performed for His people, Israel. Her testimony proves that every person of every nation is bound with Israel and they too have to choose. The humble un named spies of Joshua knew deep down that “Which I gave to the children of Israel” not for NOW as they climbed down the scarlet chords smiling, but a long time ago in a clanging memory, Hashem entered a covenant with our Patriarchs and Matriarchs and gave it THEN as an everlasting covenant to the descendants and their descendants – to us! Hashem keeps His word! No matter how it might look- the approach is one of complete faith in a good eye.

The shofars blow!

The evil report of the spies was told on the ninth of Av- the same day as the destruction of both of our Holy Temples in Jerusalem as well as the primordial selling of Yosef by his brothers. What comes out of this lesson is that UNITY comes first – as Yosef later collects his brothers- and national identity within each of us – Yosef’s dreams come true -about our heritage, what that involves and where it is meant to happen. Our story is full of pain and crisis, and also one of growth and setting it right. The last forty years has seen a steady decline in the eyes of the media and in the mouths of the media (aside from channel 14 here in Israel)- the culture of PROGRESS and radical self- hating belittlement of national pride scarily resembles the generations of the spies. They carried out horrific damage. AMALEK truly does exist as much as we don’t want to face up to evil. That’s why we are reminded to remember it and if we don’t it will come to bite us. They dragged us into the abyss. What WE KNEW in 1995 – they only know today.

Now a new generation of brave Jewish warriors has arisen, changing the over view completely. And now we rise like the lion. This process is amazing- it is speeding up now into a new political and spiritual formation rising from the unknown humble people that are giving their lives to fight this war. This is the generation of Victory.

The shofars blow!

Israel is in a state of emergency. It is crunch time. At this juncture when the media will never be the same and we won’t be saying “I told you so”- the task of the nations comes into play now. This is the theme of Rachav and the fixing of the sin of the spies- this is about choices we make in our overview of Israel, about growing with us in this time of mission.

Blessings to all our dearest friends! We love you! Leah