Look Who it Was Random video

Shelach Lecha (Shabbat - Sat. 9th June; 26th Sivan) - Laibl's weekly Parsha Video

618 views · Published 4 June 2018 · 1:44 · Indexed 21 October 2026

Channel: Spiritgrow · 2018 · Education

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Shelach Lecha (Shabbat - Sat. 9th June; 26th Sivan)
Laibl's weekly Parsha Video
If You Can’t Stand the Heat, Get Out of the Kitchen!

SUMMARY: Withstanding peer-group pressure requires strength of conviction, integrity and altruism.  Joshua and Caleb demonstrated these qualities when they withstood the perjured and dishonest report of the other ten spies sent out by Moses to spy out the Land of Israel. Belief in the G-d of the Exodus nurtured their inner strength, and they stood up to the majority view that feared the military might of Canaan. They defied their peers and lived to see their view vindicated and were destined to lead the Jewish people into the Promised Land. 

Notes:
• The spies are sent by Moses to spy out the land that will become home to the Jewish people – the land of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the land of Israel. But the spies collude in preparing a prejudiced report to dissuade the people to take back its home land. Only two of the spies stand their ground and provide an honest report – Joshua and Caleb. 
• Peer group pressure is perhaps the most discriminating test of individuality and conviction. We have seen in history how easy it is for society to fall into pitfalls of hysterical ‘group-think’ leading to absolute disaster and tragedy – the holocaust of recent history being a horrific example of this, as the German nation falls into the depths of Nazism en-masse. But ‘group-think’ is also prevalent at many an Institute Committee or Company Board or Professional Association Meeting. It takes guts and strong belief to stand apart from a majority view that you feel is flawed or unwise.
• Joshua and Caleb stood up against the popularly accepted majority opinion of the other ten spies who sowed seeds of despair and fear in the hearts of the fledgling Jewish nation , especially upon hearing of the military might and stature of the inhabitants.
• So what are the components that demonstrate a person’s integrity? They include intangibles such as principle, clear thinking, and altruism.  But above all is a belief in the cause.  Belief derives from the deepest recesses of a person’s soul and is the primary driver of true leadership and inner strength of conviction. 
• It was such Emunah, belief and conviction in the G-d of the Exodus, that empowered these two tribal princes to withstand the peer group pressure and to ultimately experience the sweet taste of success, against all odds, when Joshua leads the Jewish people into the Promised Land.

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