BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

SHELACH Seeing Beneath The Surface Unable to see beyond their own fears and insecurities, 10 of the 12 spies despaired of conquering Canaan . By Rabbi Neal Joseph Loevinger Overview As the Israelites approach the Land of Israel , spies are sent ahead to scout out the Land. They return with a discouraging report, and the people believe that it will be too difficult to possess the Promised land . They long to return to Egypt; God wants to destroy the faithless people, but Moshe persuades God to relent. Instead, God lengthens their wanderings to 40 years, so that none of the generation of the Exodus will enter the Land. The parasha ends with various laws of sacrifice which will take effect when they are settled in the Land; the final paragraph contains the commandment to attach fringes [ tzitzit ] to the corners of their clothing. In Focus "And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, 'The land we explored devours those living in...

B"H Parshat Shlach It Depends On Love - - - - - - - - - - Many challenges face a person in his or her life as a Jew in the modern world. In fact, there always were challenges, even very long ago. For this reason our Sedra [1] concludes with a law which is especially intended to remind us, day by day, that we have a deep relationship with G-d. This is the law of Tzitzit, the fringes which are worn at the corners of a rectangular cloak called the Tallit, worn during the morning prayers. The Sages explain that this law is carried out by men [2]. When a married man wears a Tallit, the kabbalists say that he is including his wife in the merit of the Mitzvah. In fact, in some communities, such as the Hasidim, a man starts wearing a large Tallit only when he gets married. However men and boys wear also a small Tallit with fringes, called in Hebrew Tallit katan. In the time of the Temple the fringes were made of white threads and also a thread dyed deep blue with a special dye. Many centu...