6.12.15 Shabbat Shalom!

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B'shalach

Bamidbar/Numbers 13:1-15:41

"Doable?  Impossible?  It's a very fine line."

Moshe has sent twelve scouts (one man from each tribe) to check out the "Promised Land".  What's the fruit like?  Is it ripe and ready in season?  He asked them to look at the soil, "...is it fat or lean?" (Num. 13:20)  "Are the people strong or weak, few or many?" (13:18)  Do they live in camps or fortresses?  Essentially, Moshe wanted the scouts to offer their opinion on whether or not the Israelites could conquer this land.

After forty days (There's that number again. It's so popular!) the scouts returned.  The majority of the scouts returned offering a very bleak assessment.

Chapter 13:

27They told him and said, "We came to the land to which you sent us, and it is flowing with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.		כזוַיְסַפְּרוּ לוֹ וַיֹּאמְרוּ בָּאנוּ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר שְׁלַחְתָּנוּ וְגַם זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבַשׁ הִוא וְזֶה פִּרְיָהּ:
28However, the people who inhabit the land are mighty, and the cities are extremely huge and fortified, and there we saw even the offspring of the giant.		כחאֶפֶס כִּי עַז הָעָם הַיּשֵׁב בָּאָרֶץ וְהֶעָרִים בְּצֻרוֹת גְּדֹלֹת מְאֹד וְגַם יְלִדֵי הָעֲנָק רָאִינוּ שָׁם:

But Caleb, from the Tribe of Judah, had a very different take.

Chapter 13:

30Caleb silenced the people to [hear about] Moses, and he said, "We can surely go up and take possession of it, for we can indeed overcome it."

לוַיַּהַס כָּלֵב אֶת הָעָם אֶל משֶׁה וַיֹּאמֶר עָלֹה נַעֲלֶה וְיָרַשְׁנוּ אֹתָהּ כִּי יָכוֹל נוּכַל לָהּ:

How is it that 12 people who were in the exact same place, saw the exact same things, conveyed different assessments?  Why wouldn't they automatically have the same reactions?  What happens between the "seeing"/"experiencing" and the "processing"/"assessing"?  Why does one brain "see" a situation one way"  And another brain "see" it a different way?  Why doesn't the same situation evoke the same reaction?  What enables some people to believe, to trust that she can successfully overcome a difficult, challenging or impossible situation?  Why doesn't everyone have this trust and faith?  Is it something we can cultivate and learn?  Or are we born with that disposition?

"Caleb" translates into "like a heart".  Maybe that's part of it?  When we lead with our heart, with our love, does it eventually translate into strength that then enables us to face the impossible?  When we lead with our heart, our truth, are we more likely to take on a challenge, even if we don't end up achieving the desired outcome?  When we lead with our heart, with our best intentions, is that a tool for helping us in the face of adversity?  

Mekor Ha'Chayiim, Source of Life, as we move into Shabbat may we tap into our "lev", our heart and be mindful of leading and living with heart energy.  May this intentionality bring strength as we face adversity and challenge.

Shabbat shalom u'mevorach,

Laurie