Dear Friends,

In this week’s Torah portion Shelach, the spies return from Canaan carrying not only giant fruit, but also giant fear. “We were like grasshoppers in our own eyes,” they confess (Bamidbar 13:33), revealing a spiritual collapse: they didn’t just fear the enemy, they lost faith in themselves and in Hashem.

This moment is not about strategy; it’s about trust. The tragedy of the spies lies in their failure to see with the eyes of faith to trust that Hashem’s promise was more real than the challenges before them.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe once addressed a Jew who felt overwhelmed by his personal struggles, saying:

“You are not a grasshopper. You are a shaliach of Hashem in this world. You are carrying divine power in everything you do.”

This perspective changes everything. When we see ourselves as shlichim, divine emissaries, even our small actions carry the weight of eternity.

Rav Nachman of Breslov taught: “The whole world is a narrow bridge, and the main thing is not to fear.” Fear shrinks our vision. Faith expands it.

Each of us has moments where the “giants” — doubts, struggles, failures — loom large. Parshat Shelach reminds us that the real battle is not “out there,” but within. When we choose to see ourselves through Hashem’s promise rather than our fears, we begin to walk as free people.

This Shabbat in the shadow of war with Iran, let us silence the inner voice of the spies, and step forward like Yehoshua and Calev, with strength, with clarity, and with faith.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Zushe Cunin