Dvar Torah for Shelach 1st Aliyah: Actual text: https://tinyurl.com/ycxxkazh The story of the spies speaking negatively about the land of Israel (13:1–14:25) is relayed directly after Miriam is punished for speaking negatively about her brother Moshe (12:1–16). The Midrash tells us that the story of the spies is relayed right after Miriam’s because the spies should have learned from Miriam’s mistake. However, why did they need to learn from her mistake if lashon hara is already objectively wrong? Rav Shimon Schwab explains that due to Moshe’s humility, Miriam’s lashon hara wouldn’t affect Moshe as much as it would reflect on God because that’s who Moshe represents. The spies spoke badly about the land of Israel, which technically also has no feelings, but they should have understood that the land is a reflection of God and speaking badly about His gift to us was very wrong. The placement of the story of the spies underscores the awareness and sensitivity we need to have when making any negative statement and what we represent by association. Please consider forwarding this to others so they can join! https://chat.whatsapp.com/I7IHQNPpKLF0adHHXTUYda