“We Looked Like Grasshoppers”: A Close Reading of Parashat Shelach
When the story is too good to choose just one moment—this week, I followed the parsha’s arc from the spies to the fringes.
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My process for writing my Parsha essay is to read through the week’s entire text, find something that sparks my curiosity and wrestle with it. But this week, the story was too good to choose just one thing. The drama, the foreshadowing, the turns—I felt like you all deserved to see what happens.
So this week’s essay is a close reading of the parsha, tracing the arc just as the text lays it out. It’ll be like you’re in the driver’s seat with me—so notice what stands out. What makes you feel good? What feels uncomfortable? Why do you think these sections are placed side by side? Hopefully, this is the beginning of you “digging in” to the weekly Torah portion, and finding modern meaning and purpose within it for your life.
I. The Mission
This week’s parsha opens with a divine instruction: “Send for yourself men to scout the land of Canaan.” Twelve chieftains—one from each tribe—are hand-picked for some sacred spying. These aren’t anonymous foot soldiers; they are leaders, נָשִׂיא בָהֶם, the chieftains, the same men chosen a to lead just a few weeks ago. One man from each tribe is named —except Levi, for that tribe is responsible for the sacred items and work of the army.
The spies mission is straightforward: “See what the land is, and the people who dwell in it. Are they strong or weak? Are they few or many? Are the cities fortified? Is the land fertile or thin? Are there trees?” And bring something back: “Take from the fruit of the land.” It’s interesting to note the people have absolutely no idea where they are going, they must answer the most basic questions about the land.
Then the Torah does what might be foreshadowing, saying, before they head off: “It was the season of the first ripe grapes.” Then, the twelve spies move through the land—from Zin to Rehob, up through the Negev, and into Hebron, yes the same Hebron that exists today, the verse tells us: “was built seven years before Tzoan of Egypt.” It's a reminder that these places are not empty, not a blank canvas, they are visiting a land with deep, ancient roots.
At the wadi of Eshcol, “there they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes—it had to be placed on a carrying frame by two of them”. They cut down pomegranates and figs. They bring abundance.
II. The Report and the Collapse
This could have been the high point of the story. After weeks or years of traveling through wilderness, the people would finally see that the land is not barren but rich beyond imagination. It has human-sized grapes!
And at first, the report seems promising. After forty days of scouting, the twelve return and say: “We came to the land you sent us to. It flows with milk and honey. And this is its fruit.” They show the evidence.
But then they say—“אֶ֚פֶס כִּֽי־עַ֣ז הָעָ֔ם”—“But the people who inhabit the land are powerful. The cities are fortified and large. We saw the Anakites (a nation of giants) there.”
Fear spreads. Caleb steps forward to calm the people he says, “Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are surely able to overcome it.” But the other scouts undercut him. “We cannot go up. They are stronger than us.” The report spirals: “The land devours its inhabitants. All the people there are giants. We looked like grasshoppers in our eyes, and so we must have looked to them.”
That night, the entire community weeps.
III. Defiance, Punishment, and Regret
They cry. They rage. “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness!” They talk of turning back: “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” Joshua and Caleb, the good spies, tear their clothes and plead with the people: “The land is very, very good... do not be afraid... their protection is gone, and God is with us.”
But the crowd surges toward violence.
“And the entire community said to stone them with stones—” and before the verse finishes
“—and the Presence of God appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites.” (14:10)
The divine response is immediate, not even letting the verse finish before interrupting the people's plan to stone the two good spies. “How long will this people spurn Me? How long will they refuse to believe, despite all the signs I have shown them?” God asks. Moses pleads. “If You destroy them now, Egypt will say You were not strong enough to bring the people into the land You promised.”
God listens. “I forgive them, as you have said.” But the people are still punished. That generation will not enter the land, “your carcasses shall drop in this wilderness.” Their children—the ones they feared would die in the wilderness—will inherit it instead. Only the good spies, Caleb and Joshua will cross.
When the people hear this, they panic again. They say, “We’re ready. We’ll go up now.” Moses warns them: “Do not go. God will not be with you.” “Yet defiantly they marched toward the crest of the hill country”, beginning to march toward Amalek and Canaan, but they are defeated swiftly and decisively, “the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country came down and dealt them a shattering blow at Hormah.”
The parsha could end there. But it doesn’t.
IV. A Shift Toward the Future
Immediately following the failed invasion and crushing decree, God continues to speak. But the audience shifts. No longer is God addressing a rebellious people refusing to enter the land. Now God turns to the generation who will enter it. “When you enter the land that I am giving you to settle in…” (15:2). The focus moves forward—toward a future of stability, ritual, and belonging.
God begins with the laws of voluntary offerings: animals brought from flock or herd, given as burnt offerings or sacrifices, in fulfillment of a vow, or as freewill gifts. And they are not limited to Israelites. “As you do, so shall it be done by the rest of the congregation.” A stranger—ger—who lives among you and wishes to offer to God is bound by the same rituals. “Throughout the ages, a stranger who has taken up residence with you, or one who lives among you, would present an offering by fire of pleasing odor to God…There shall be one law for you and for the resident stranger; it shall be a law for all time throughout the ages. You and the stranger shall be alike before God. The same ritual and the same rule shall apply to you and to the stranger who resides among you.”” (15:14–16). Here, the Torah articulates a shared religious language. Anyone who lives in the community is able to bring an offering under one law, for one God.
Then the Torah introduces the mitzvah of challah, setting aside a piece of dough for God when you are making bread, that is still practiced today, “When you enter the land… and you eat of the bread of the land, you shall set some aside as a gift to the LORD” (15:19). Not the wheat itself, but the first loaf of your baking. Interestingly, this commandment seems directed to the Israelite people alone. The ger, so present in the sacrificial laws, is not mentioned here. Is this a personal commandment, done inside the home, and not relevant to a stranger? Is the stranger automatically included by the phrase, “the same rule shall apply” above?
V. Mistakes, Both Accidental and Defiant
From here, the text turns to mistakes—errors made accidentally. If the whole community errs without knowing, they are to bring a bull as a burnt offering and a goat as a sin offering (15:24). The priest shall “make expiation for the whole Israelite community and they shall be forgiven… the whole community and the stranger residing among them” (15:26). Again, the stranger is included.
If an individual (not the community) makes a mistake? They must bring a she-goat. The priest will offer it, and the person will be forgiven. “For the citizen among the Israelites and for the stranger who resides among them—you shall have one ritual for anyone who acts in error” (15:29).
The final type of sin is one of defiance. “The person, whether citizen or stranger, who acts defiantly reviles the LORD… that person shall be cut off” (15:30). The Torah makes its stance clear: the rules and punishment are for everyone – rebellion is not protected by family line. The covenant is wide enough to include, and strong enough to exclude.
VI. A Case Study in Consequence
Suddenly, the text offers an active case. “Once, when the Israelites were in the wilderness, they came upon a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day” (15:32). His crime is working when he should be resting—and doing that in public, normalizing this behavior. He is brought before Moses and Aaron. No punishment has yet been declared for this action. They wait. Then God speaks: “The party in question shall be put to death: the community leadership shall pelt him with stones outside the camp.” The people carry it out. The scene is stark. No one begs for forgiveness. “So the community leadership took him outside the camp and stoned him to death—as God had commanded Moses.”
Maybe the rules of stoning are given here as part of God’s response to the people's willingness earlier to stone the two good spies. As if God is saying, “Oh so you wanted to stone people, well here’s how that will work.”
VII. A New Guardrail: Tzitzit
In the wake of this harsh justice, a new commandment emerges—this time, not about offerings or punishments, but about memory. “Speak to the Israelite people and instruct them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments” (15:38). The tzitzit. A daily, visual reminder. “Look at it,” God says, “and recall all the commandments of the LORD and observe them, so that you do not follow your heart and eyes in your lustful urge” (15:39).
The mitzvah seems to be preventative. The man gathering wood failed, the spies failed, so the fringes are now given as a guardrail. And again, this law is for the Israelite people, no mention of the stranger.
The chapter closes with God speaking directly to the people, in the first person:
“ I am your God, that took you all out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the LORD, your God” (15:40-41).
Getting in the driver’s seat
What do you think about this week’s portion? Which parts stood out to you?
Did anything feel connected to global news? I thought the stranger being so frequently repeated was interesting - on the one hand, they are clearly strangers, separate and different, yet we are saying they must follow the same laws - but maybe only some of the same laws? This was something that made me want to dig in. Could this relate to the people that are not Jewish living today in the land of Israel?
Which parts brought a sense of calm, and which parts raised your pulse? Why?
Let me know which pieces you would have wanted me to dig into more –
And as always—if this resonated, please hit that heart button.
Wishing us a Shabbat of peace and unity,
Miriam