Parshas Shelach
11 maamarim of the tzaddikim on this week's reading, each in Hebrew and English with a takeaway.
Lehavas David
Rav Dovid Matisyohu Rabinowitz ›Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzThe Spies' True Mission: Sanctifying the LandEach of us comes into the world on a mission from Hashem, and the spies show how a holy mission can shrink into an ordinary errand when we look only at its physical side. The…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzSelf-Sacrifice for the Mission: Lessons from CanaanThe spies were righteous when they set out, but their mission was left to their own judgment, and because they did not give themselves over to it completely, their own interests…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzSend Away Your Own Judgment: Humility in Its PlaceThe spies were great men, and their fall began with what looked like humility: they measured Hashem's command against their own judgment and decided it was beyond them. When a…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzServing Hashem Through the Physical in the King's PalaceThe spies feared that ordinary life, eating, drinking and working the fields, could not be lived in holiness in the King's own palace, and that too much fear of Heaven is the…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzLeadership Without Self-Interest: Moshe's Prayer for YehoshuaMoshe raised Israel to heights beyond telling and wanted nothing of it for himself, and that is what made him a clean channel of blessing. The spies' despair before the impure…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzSending Away Your Own Opinion: The Spies' ErrorThe yetzer hara's most dangerous weapon is not the open invitation to sin but the reasonable-sounding counsel that dresses our own opinion as the right path. The spies set their…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzElevating the Physical Through Self-SacrificeThe spies feared that the Holy Land's great holiness would make every stumble with the physical beyond repair. Kalev's drawn sword taught the opposite: where Hashem Himself…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzKalev's Humble Spirit: Who May Lead in the King's PalaceIn Eretz Yisrael, the King's palace, no one can lead but one who is lowly before the King. The spies disqualified themselves the moment they worried about keeping their rank…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzThe Spies' Counsel: Humility in the Wrong PlaceThe spies' fall began with humility in the wrong place: awed by the land's holiness, they felt unworthy and feared that a stumble there could never be repaired. But Hashem accepts…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzSlow to Anger: Mercy Only for the ReturningHashem is slow to anger even with those who have not yet returned: He does not hasten to punish them. But the full flow of His mercy, even the kindness He shows a person before he…Lehavas David · Rav Dovid Matisyohu RabinowitzTzitzis for the Last Generation: Strict Duty, Great MeritTzitzis carries a weighty duty, because the keeping of the whole Torah depends on it, and a great merit, because it brings a person to remember all the mitzvos and guards him from…