אני קושית יפה/I’m a Cute Black Girl Pg 94

I hardly ever read the D’Var Torah Portion of our weekly Shul Newsletters. Think I may have read it twice before…but today for some divine reason I decided to spend some time and read it.

Think it was a message to me. Hashem speaking to me. Well, I like to believe Hashem is always speaking to me and it is just me that chooses not to always listen, I guess that can explain some of the hardships I face in life.

Do the people of Israel trust in God?
 
For the generation of the desert, it seems that divine manifestations were never enough, and for our generation?
The individuals who were slaves in Egypt, who were freed by divine grace, who witnessed the plagues, the opening of the Red Sea, the reception of the Torah at Sinai, the fall of manna, among other things, did not have confidence in God.
The strong divine signs were not enough for the generation of the desert.

The parashah of the next Shabbat could perfectly have been called Sh’lach, which in Hebrew means send, but to this word was added L’cha – which means for you, that is why we know this parasha by the name Shlach Lecha – Send for you.
The story takes us to the Sinai desert, the people were walking towards the Promised Land, but as they advanced, mistrust increased, there was a large number who wanted to return to Egypt, to the banks of the Nile River, the manna no longer satisfied them and they wanted to eat fish again, they had quickly forgotten their condition as slaves and who knows, they wanted to return to a polytheistic environment, which was the one they knew.
Many times, we prefer routine to great changes, even if these bring benefits to our lives.
Entering Canaan was not easy, the people who lived there did not wait for them with a red carpet, most were hostile. But that land was special, it was part of a Covenant that God assumed with the Patriarchs. Therefore it was not time to return or retreat, neither physically nor spiritually.
God asks Moshe to send a representative from each tribe to spy out the land. The 12 chosen ones spent 40 days in Canaan, saw its inhabitants and brought back the fruits they found there.
Upon returning, 10 said that the land was devouring its inhabitants and that there were giants. Two said that they could enter and that it was a land full of milk and honey. These were Caleb ben Jephunneh and Hosea bin Nun.
Creating lies and believing them is a sin within the Jewish tradition. Today we would be talking about fake news.
Anyone who lies is punished.
For each of the days that the spies were on their mission in Canaan, God punished them with a year in the desert.
The 40 years were a punishment for an entire generation. Those of age did not manage to enter Israel, only the new generation did, who did not have a contaminated mind.
Sh’lach L’cha is an invitation to fight against our distrust in relation to the Divine.
God knew what the promised land was like, He knew everything, men needed to see, but even seeing they lied and were punished.
Today we do not have a Moshe in our generation, the promised land exists, even with all the difficulties that we face, it is synonymous with the existence of the Covenant.
I believe that in our days we have to develop a more attentive look to understand and see the divine manifestations, which no longer occur as in the past, but which exist and happen at all times and places.
Let us strengthen our trust in God and in God’s signs.

Well besides finally understanding why the Israelites wondered the dessert for 40 years, I am finally listening to how sometimes you have to let go of routine and accept change no matter how difficult in order to eventually be able to reap the benefits from it.

Now, everyone that knows me will tell you that , is one of my #1 pet peeves, so having to make any kind of life altering change in my day-to-day routine will cause a serious mood change in me and until I am used to the change I will most likely be a .

But I have come to a point in my life, who am kidding, I have often come to this point but have failed to follow through, anyway…I have come to a point in my life when I need a change…a good change…but as mentioned in the D’var Torah portion, or at least what I took out of it, is that even though it may not be a comfortable change right away and it will be different and will interrupt my satisfaction place, the rewards I will reap in the end will be beneficial.

But what is this big change that I need to do? There are so many things in my life that I feel like I need to change…but what am I willing to change?