Parasha Thoughts
By Rabbi Yosef Khakshoor
In this week’s Parasha, Parashat Shlach, Moshe sends a group of men from among B’nai Yisrael to spy out the land. The men return from their mission and report back to Moshe and the rest of the Jews saying, “All the people that we saw in it were huge… we were like grasshoppers in OUR eyes, and so we were in their eyes!†(Perek 13: 33-34) The pasuk clearly states that the Jews looked at the Canaanim as giants and thought of themselves as grasshoppers.
Rashi writes that the Canaanim looked at the Jews as ants, creatures that were even smaller than grasshoppers.  This teaches us that since the Jews did not think highly of themselves- instead they thought of themselves as small grasshoppers- then the Canaanim thought even less of the Jews than that. They looked at the Jews as ants. Therefore, it is crucial for us as a nation and as individuals to recognize our strengths and talents and use them to serve Hashem. If we think highly of ourselves as a nation, other nations will also think highly of Hashem’s chosen nation.
The purpose of recognizing our strengths and worth is not to make us arrogant and haughty. It is to make us feel PROUD and RESPONSIBLE as Hashem’s chosen nation to carry the torch of the Torah and be a light onto the nations.