Parsha Schlach : It’s a Little Something Called Chutzpah, Babe! (Num.13:1 – 15:41)

Twelve spies, one representative from each Tribe, are sent into the Promised Land to size up the real estate and its inhabitants in hopes of ending the ancient Hebrew’s desert Diaspora. The spies return with tales of a land flowing with milk and honey; providing proof for this claim they reveal to the people grapes so large two men must carry them. All but two of the spies lament of giants inhabiting the land and how a Hebrew presence there is impossible. The dissenting two, Aaron and Caleb, come down with a big case of the Chutzpah.

What is Chutzpah and how do we know Aaron and Caleb had it in Schlach? The answer to that is in two parts. First, Chutzpah is Yiddish for audacity (sometimes good, sometimes bad), and second Aaron and Caleb had the audacity to say [Read more…]