The name of the Parshah, "Shelach," means "Send" and it is found in Numbers 13:2.
Moses sends twelve spies to the land of Canaan. Forty days later they return, carrying a huge cluster of grapes, a pomegranate and a fig, to report on a lush and bountiful land. But ten of the spies warn that the inhabitants of the land are giants and warriors “more powerful than we”; only Caleb and Joshua insist that the land can be conquered, as G‑d has commanded.
The people weep that they’d rather return to Egypt. G‑d decrees that Israel’s entry into the land shall be delayed forty years, during which time that entire generation will die out in the desert. A group of remorseful Jews storm the mountain on the border of the land, and are routed by the Amalekites and Canaanites.
The laws of the nesachim (meal, wine and oil offerings) are given, as well as the mitzvah to consecrate a portion of the dough (challah) to G‑d when making bread. A man violates the Shabbat by gathering sticks, and is put to death. G‑d instructs to place fringes (tzitzit) on the four corners of our garments, so that we should remember to fulfill the mitzvot (divine commandments).
Learn: Shelach in Depth
Browse: Shelach Parshah Columnists
Prep: Devar Torah Q&A for Shelach
Read: Haftarah in a Nutshell
Play: Shelach Parshah Quiz
Interesting that Moses seems to get God to “change His mind” in Numbers 14:11-20 by (1) telling God that He will “look bad” in people’s eyes if He kills all the people and also by (2) reminding God in Numbers 14:18 of promises He had made earlier (Exodus 34:6-7). Are there lessons here for us to use when we pray to God?
Maybe this —
We cannot pray to You, O God,
to banish war,
for You have filled the world
with paths to peace,
if only we would take them.
We cannot pray to You
to end starvation,
for there is food enough for all,
if only we would share it.
We cannot merely pray
for prejudice to cease,
for we might see
the good in all
that lies before our eyes,
if only we would use them.
We cannot merely pray
"Root out despair,"
for the spark of hope
already waits within the human heart,
for us to fan it into flame.
We must not ask of You, O God,
to take the task that You
have given us.
We cannot shirk,
we cannot flee away,
Avoiding obligation for ever.
Therefore we pray, O God,
for wisdom and will, for courage
to do and to become,
not only to look on
with helpless yearning
as though we had no strength.
For Your sake and ours
speedily and soon, let it be:
that our land may be safe,
that our lives may be blessed.
Even if ‘we’ do all that, and we do do, but ‘they’ still don’t, it will remain a dream. Perhaps focus on them more.