Parashat 37 Portion 110 B’Midbar/Numbers 14:1-45 – Ezekiel 20:18-44 Hebrews 11:1-3

Bar’chu et YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed!

Baruch ata YHVH Eloheinu melech ha-olam asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim, v’na-tan lanu eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”

(Bless YHVH the blessed One; Blessed is YHVH, the blessed One for all eternity. Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have selected us from among all the peoples, and have given us your Torah.)

We start off with the prophecy of Ezekiel describing the sad pattern of rebellion throughout history of those who are called to serve and worship YHVH.

      Eze 20:5  “And you shall say to them, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “On the day when I chose Yisra’ĕl and lifted My hand in an oath to the seed of the house of Yaʽaqoḇ, and made Myself known to them in the land of Mitsrayim, I lifted My hand in an oath to them, saying, ‘I am יהוה your Elohim.’

Eze 20:8  “But they rebelled against Me, and would not obey Me. All of them did not throw away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Mitsrayim. So I resolved to pour out My wrath on them to complete My displeasure against them in the midst of the land of Mitsrayim.

Eze 20:9  “But I acted for My Name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the eyes of the gentiles among whom they were – before whose eyes I had made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Mitsrayim.

Eze 20:10  “So I took them out of the land of Mitsrayim, and I brought them into the wilderness.

Eze 20:11  “And I gave them My laws and showed them My right-rulings, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them.’

Eze 20:12  “And I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign¹ between them and Me, to know that I am יהוה who sets them apart. Footnote: ¹See Ex. 31:13-17.

Eze 20:13  “But the house of Yisra’ĕl rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My laws, and they rejected My right-rulings, which, if a man does, he shall live by them. And they greatly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.

Eze 20:14  “But I acted for My Name’s sake, not to profane it before the gentiles, before whose eyes I had brought them out.

Eze 20:15  “And I Myself also lifted My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, not to bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, the splendour of all lands,

Eze 20:16  because they rejected My right-rulings and did not walk in My laws, and they profaned My Sabbaths. For their heart went after their idols.

Eze 20:17  “And My eye pardoned them, from destroying them. And I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.

Eze 20:18  “And I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the laws of your fathers, nor observe their rulings, nor defile yourselves with their idols

Parashat 37 Portion 109 – “Shelach lecha” – send! You send Bemidbar/ Numbers 13:1 -33 Josh 2:1-24 Eph 6:10-18 Blessing for the Torah

Bar’chu et YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed! Baruch ata YHVH Eloheinu melech ha-olam asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim, v’na -tan lanu eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”

(Bless YHVH the blessed One; Blessed is YHVH, the blessed One for all eternity. Blessed are

you, YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have selected us from among all the peoples, and have given us your Torah.)

Only two sins on a national scale are singled out during Israels’ wilderness journey: the sin of the golden calf – Shemot/Ex 32-34 and the rebellion of the scouts sent out to spy the promised- land described in this week’s parashah. In both cases YHVH threatens Israel with annihilation. Mosheh intervenes and pleads for YHVH’s mercy and YHVH withdraws His Hand of destruction.

1Sa 15:23  “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as wickedness and idolatry. ..”

Aliyah Rishon 13:1-20

Num 13:1  And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,

Num 13:2  “Shelach lecha” – send! You send men to spy out the land of Kenaʽan,(Heb – kana – humbled) which I am giving to the children of Yisra’ĕl. Send one man from each tribe of their fathers, everyone a leader among them.”

 Num 13:3  And by the command of יהוה Mosheh sent them from the Wilderness of Paran, all of them men who were heads of the children of Yisra’ĕl. (Paran is believed to be the same place as modern day Petra)

Midrash – it has been speculated that this verse implied that the spies (prominent leaders) were sent out to see how desperately overwhelming the circumstances were in the land. The implication is that only a series of major miraculous interventions from YHVH would be able to save them from being completely destroyed by the inhabitants of the land. The inhabitants of the land were not only physically intimidating but were also steeped in occult power and practices which caused great fear to come into any potential enemy.

Today we too need to trust YHVH to show us the true reality of what is happening in our world and that only His miraculous powerful intervention will be able to save us. The challenges facing His people today are very challenging.

Vs 4-15 give the names of the leaders of the tribes. The tribe of Levi is excluded because YHVH was their inheritance. We must remember that these leaders did not bring back false reports, what they saw was real, they failed however to believe that YHVH would be able to deliver them, in spite of all the miracles they had witnessed in the wilderness. 

Num 13:16  These are the names of the men whom Mosheh sent to spy out the land. And Mosheh called Hoshĕa the son of Nun, Yehoshua.

A “yud” is added to “Hoshea's” name. His name then becomes “Yehoshua” the same name Hebrew name was used for our Messiah. This name means that “YHVH” will save or help.

Num 13:17  And Mosheh sent them to spy out the land of Kenaʽan, and said to them, “Go up here into the South, and go up to the mountains,

Num 13:18  and see what the land is like, and the people who dwell in it, whether strong or weak, whether few or many,

Num 13:19  and whether the land they dwell in is good or evil, whether the cities they inhabit are in camps or strongholds,

Num 13:20  and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are forests there or not. And you shall be strong, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first-fruits of grapes.

Aliyah Sheni 13:21-14:7

Num 13:21  So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Tsin as far as Reḥoḇ, near the entrance of Ḥamath.

Num 13:22  And they went up through the South and came to Ḥeḇron. And Aḥiman, Shĕshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anaq, were there. Now Ḥeḇron had been built seven years before Tsoʽan in Mitsrayim.

Num 13:23  And they came to the wadi Eshkol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes. And they bore it between two of them on a pole, also of the pomegranates and of the figs.

Num 13:24  That place was called the wadi Eshkol, because of the cluster which the men of Yisra’ĕl cut down from there.

Num 13:25  And they returned from spying out the land after forty days.

Num 13:26  And they went and came to Mosheh and Aharon and all the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl in the Wilderness of Paran, at Qaḏĕsh. And they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.

Num 13:27  And they reported to him, and said, “We went to the land where you sent us. And truly, it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

Num 13:28  “But the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are walled, very great. And we saw the descendants of Anaq there too.

Num 13:29  “The Amalĕqites dwell in the land of the South, while the Ḥittites and the Yeḇusites and the Amorites dwell in the mountains. And the Kenaʽanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Yardĕn.”

Num 13:30  And Kalĕḇ silenced the people before Mosheh, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are certainly able to overcome it.”

Num 13:31  But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”

Num 13:32  And they gave the children of Yisra’ĕl an evil report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land eating up its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.

Num 13:33  “And we saw there the Nephilim, sons of Anaq, of the Nephilim. And we were like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and so we were in their eyes.”

1Co 10:11  And all these came upon them as examples, and they were written as a warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have come,

1Co 10:12  so that he who thinks he stands, let him take heed lest he fall.

For centuries the sages have pondered what would cause the Yisraelites to behave in such perilous ways. Have things really changed in our days? These tragic events happened on the ninth day of the fifth month.

“Thus it came to pass that on the Ninth of Av -- a day which was to bode many tragedies for the people of Israel YHVH informed Moshe that the generation that received the Torah at Sinai was not fit to enter the Land of Canaan. He decreed that they shall live out their lives as wanderers in the desert until a new generation would take up the challenge of conquering the land of Canaan and developing it as a "Set Apart land”

What Happened?

Virtually all the commentaries pose the question: What happened? Where did they go wrong?

The spies dispatched by Moshe were no ordinary individuals: "They were all men of distinction, leaders of the children of Yisrael" (Bemidbar/Numbers 13:3). Furthermore, in all of history, it would be difficult to find a generation whose lives were more saturated with miracles than theirs. Mitsrayim/ Egypt, the most powerful nation on earth at the time, was forced to free them from slavery when "the mighty hand" of YHVH inflicted ten supernatural plagues. When Pharaoh's armies pursued them, the sea split to let them pass and then drowned their pursuers. In the desert, miracles were the stuff of their daily lives: manna from heaven was their daily bread, "Miryam's well" (a miraculous stone which travelled along with the Yisraelite camp) provided them with water, and "clouds of esteem" sheltered them from the desert heat and cold, kept them clothed and shod, destroyed the snakes and scorpions in their path, and flattened the terrain before them to ease their way.

For these people to doubt YHVH's ability to conquer the "mighty inhabitants" of Canaan seems nothing less than ludicrous. Yet these were the people whose leaders said, "We cannot go up against these people, for they are mightier than we" and even He!

Parashat 36 Portion 108 B’Midbar/Numbers 12:1-16 Yesh 59:1-21 Yoh 1:1-18

Blessing of Torah.

Bar’chu et YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed! Baruch ata YHVH Eloheinu melech ha-olam asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim, v’na -tan lanu eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.” 

(Bless YHVH the blessed One; Blessed is YHVH, the blessed One for all eternity. Blessed

 are you, YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have selected us from among all the peoples, and have given us your Torah.)

We now come to the last Aliyah of parashat “B’ha’alotcha” Miryam, Moshehs' sister, spoke negatively of Moshehs' decision to take a Cushite wife. YHVH was highly displeased by this talk against His servant, and Miryam was stricken with tzara'at ("leprosy") for one week.

    Num 12:1  Now Miryam and Aharon spoke against Mosheh because of the Kushite woman whom he had taken, for he had taken a Kushite woman.

א  וַתְּדַבֵּר מִרְיָם וְאַהֲרֹן בְּמֹשֶׁה, עַל-אֹדוֹת הָאִשָּׁה הַכֻּשִׁית אֲשֶׁר לָקָח:  כִּי-אִשָּׁה כֻשִׁית, לָקָח.

1 And Miryam and Aharon spoke against the reasons(ahdot) which brought about  Moshe's taking a Cushite woman – because he (actually)  took a Cushite woman.

Note the feminine verb (tdaber) employed in the first of the passuk (verse) it implies that maybe Miryam instigated this rebellion against Mosheh and Aharon agreed to go along with it. The Hebrew word “ahdot” implies that they were discussing amongst themselves how Mosheh could have taken the liberty to actually have taken a Cushite woman as a companion and wife. Miryam and Aharon obviously reasoned amongst themselves that it was a gross error of judgment on Mosheh’s part because they also “heard” from YHVH, “Mosheh needed to consider the error of his ways.”

Num 12:2  And they said, “Has יהוה spoken only through Mosheh? Has He not also spoken through us?” And יהוה heard it.

This verse (2) lays the absolute foundation in this life and age as to whether or not we have heard from YHVH.

THE TEST IS THIS: IF WHAT WE HAVE HEARD DOES NOT AGREE WITH WHAT MOSHEH HAS HEARD AND SAID – IT DOES NOT COME FROM YHVH.

The fact is that YHVH nor His Son Yahshua will ever contradict what Mosheh said, because what Mosheh said he received from YHVH and what Yahshua said he received from YHVH.

Joh 12:49  “Because I spoke not from Myself, but the Father who sent Me has given Me a command,¹ what I should say and what I should speak. Footnote: ¹See 7:16.

Joh 12:50  “And I know that His command is everlasting life.¹ Therefore, whatever I speak, as the Father has said to Me, so I speak.” Footnote: ¹See Mt. 19:17

Joh 5:45  “Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Mosheh, in whom you have set your expectation.

Joh 5:46  “For if you believed Mosheh, you would have believed Me, since he wrote about Me.

Joh 5:47  “But if you do not believe his writings,¹ how shall you believe My words?” Footnote: ¹Lk. 9:33, Lk. 16:31, Mal. 4:4-5.

2Co 3:15  But to this day, when Mosheh is being read, a veil lies on their heart.

2Co 3:16  And when one turns to the Master, the veil is taken away.

2Co 3:17  Now יהוה is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of יהוה is, there is freedom.

Jas 1:25  But he that looked into the perfect Torah, that of freedom,¹ and continues in it, not becoming a hearer that forgets, but a doer of work, this one shall be blessed in his doing of the Torah. Footnote: ¹See 2:12.

Num 12:3  And the man Mosheh was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.

The English word “humble” comes from the Hebrew word “anah” and can also mean “depressed and afflicted.”

This carries a Messianic tone of suffering and laying down one’s life for others.

There is also an interesting variation of the spelling of the Hebrew word “anav”(from anah) is used in this passuk. This word can also be spelled with a “yud” (anaiv). The word contains a “yud” we can speculate that there is a humility that comes from YHVH’s Hand. There is also a humility that comes from man’s hand.

Num 12:4  And suddenly יהוה said to Mosheh, and Aharon, and Miryam, “You three, come out to the Tent of Meeting!” So the three came out.

Num 12:5  And יהוה came down in the column of cloud and stood in the door of the Tent, and called Aharon and Miryam. And they both went forward.

Num 12:6  And He said, “Hear now My words: If your prophet is of יהוה, I make Myself known to him in a vision, and I speak to him in a dream.

Num 12:7  “Not so with My servant Mosheh, he is trustworthy in all My house.

Num 12:8  “I speak with him mouth to mouth, and plainly, and not in riddles. And he sees the form of יהוה. So why were you not afraid to speak against My servant Mosheh?”

Hebrew says “pe el pe” or mouth to mouth. This remains the evidence of whether or not we speak the truth. Are the words we speak from YHVH’s Mouth.

Mat 4:4  But He answering, said, “It has been written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of יהוה.’ ”¹ Footnote: ¹Dt. 8:3.

Num 12:9  And the displeasure of יהוה burned against them, and He left.

Num 12:10  And the cloud turned away from above the Tent, and look: Miryam was leprous, as white as snow! And Aharon turned toward Miryam, and look: a leper!  - “the sin of la shon ha ra”

Num 12:11  And Aharon said to Mosheh, “Oh, my master! Please do not hold against us the sin in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned.

Num 12:12  “Please do not let her be as one dead when coming out of its mother’s womb, with our flesh half consumed!”

Num 12:13  And Mosheh cried out to יהוה, saying, “O Ěl, please heal her, please!”

Num 12:14  And יהוה said to Mosheh, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and after that let her be readmitted.”


Ve’avee’ah yarok, yarak…spit he shall surely spit…

Num 12:15  And Miryam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not set out until Miryam was readmitted.

Will YHVH spit in the face of a rebellious bride and place her into seclusion for seven years….?

Num 12:16  And afterward the people departed from Ḥatsĕroth, and they camped in the

Wilderness of Paran. (Paran is a place of caves)

Isa 24:3  the earth is completely emptied and utterly plundered, for יהוה has spoken this word.

Isa 24:4  The earth shall mourn and wither, the world shall languish and wither, the haughty people of the earth shall languish.

Isa 24:5  For the earth has been defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the Torot¹, changed² the law, broken the everlasting covenant³. Footnotes: ¹Torot - plural of Torah, teaching. ²Jer. 23:36. ³This is the only reason, according to all Scriptures, why the earth shall be burned in the day of judgment – see also 13:9, 13:11, 26:21, 66:24, Mic. 5:15, Zeph. 1:2-18.

Isa 24:6  Therefore a curse shall consume the earth, and those who dwell in it be punished. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth shall be burned, and few men shall be left.

Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”

(Blessed are you YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the Torah – Ameyn)