Rabbi's Message

In this week’s Torah portion, Shelah Lekha, twelve spies (meraglim) are sent ahead to scout out the land as the Israelites approach the land of Israel. When they return, ten of the twelve spies return with a discouraging report, and the people believe that it will be too difficult to possess the Promised Land. Only two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, offer a positive report pushing B’nai Yisrael to continue forward.

This story feels particularly powerful to me right now, as I have the privilege of being on our current TBS Mission to Israel this week.  There are 20 of us from TBS here in Israel, and in some ways, like the spies, we have come to “scout” the land and to report back to B’nai Yisrael (all of you) what we have seen.  It has been a profound, eye-opening, challenging, heartbreaking, yet also, inspiring trip.  There is so much to share and we are doing our best to do so through our daily messages from Israel and through the stories and observations that we will bring back with us to Cherry Hill.  But in this moment, allow me to offer some immediate observations like the meraglim did thousands of years ago.  As the majority of the biblical spies did, it would be easy to talk about the heightened fears and concerns that our group now has for Israel. On October 7 our brothers and sisters in Israel experienced a modern-day Holocaust and the healing from the wounds of the destruction, trauma, grief, and loss suggest a long road ahead.  The last 265 days, the hostages, and the war in Gaza have taken a tremendous toll on each and every person here in Israel.  This coupled with the growing threat from Hezbollah in the North creates an atmosphere of deep concern and uncertainty.  I have never felt more sympathy for the 10 spies that came back to the people after seeing the land with their own eyes and suggesting: “This is simply too much for us.”

And yet, while the fear, pain, and loss must not be overlooked, that is not the dominate narrative that we have found here or that we want to share with all of you.  Rather, the stories we have heard, the people we have met, and the organizations that we have partnered with offer stories of nearly unimaginable strength, determined courage, and deep hope. To a person, each Israeli we have met has been an exemplar of resilience, bravery, and perseverance. There are simply heroes everywhere in Israel, heroes that tell us, no assure us, that we the Jewish people will be okay because that is our story, that is who we are, and it is our only choice. We have seen it with our own eyes, felt it through the hugs, and internalized it in our hearts. Today, we take up the role of Joshua and Caleb and say with confidence that we must move forward, together.

Am Yisrael Hai and Shabbat Shalom!