So, twelve spies scout out the Promised Land. Ten of them return with a rather terrifying report of the land and its people. They describe grape clusters so big they need to be carried by multiple people, a land that devours the people, and people so large they made the spies look like grasshoppers in comparison. But two of the spies - Joshua and Caleb - talked about the wonders of the land, what it had to offer, and how with God's help, they would be able to conquer it.
Unfortunately, the people sided with the ten spies who came back with the terrifying report. God got angry and threatened to wipe out the people, only to be stopped by Moses who warned God about what the other nations would think of God if the Israelites were to all be wiped out.
Shelach-Lecha reminds us that what is popular is not always right and what is right is not always popular. In the end, Joshua and Caleb were right, even though they weren't popular. Of the entire generation of the exodus from Egypt, only Joshua and Caleb set foot in the Promised Land, because of their faith in God and their faith in the Israelite community.
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