How Good is the Promised Land?

 This coming Sabbath, the Jewish People read the Torah Portion of Sh'lach (Numbers 13:1–15:41). The opening topic, which continues well into the 14th chapter of Numbers, deals with the story of the 12 men, who Moses sent to tour the Land of Canaan. He asked them to see the land which was promised to our Forefathers: Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, and report back to him. When they came back, they were carrying a cluster of grapes that was so big, that they needed Two (at least) strong, grown men, to hold it on a staff.

The State of Israel chose this image to represent the Ministry of Tourism on a stamp from 1954, and it hasn't changed since!




The description in the SHOVAL (tab below the stamp) is one of two ways that the men praised the land. First, they said that it is "a land which flows with milk & honey" (Numbers 14:8; first mentioned in Exodus 3:8; and, there are 13! other times this phrase is found in the Torah). The group of 10 (of 12) men actually said this in Numbers 13:27 {omitting the word ERETZ (land), as it is mentioned earlier in the verse}, because the land was truly what G-d had promised. However, because they continued their report with a very negative description of the ability of (G-d and) the People of Israel to conquer the land – due to the giants, Joshua and Caleb had to re-emphasize how good the land is, so they said: "the land is very very (ME'OD ME'OD) good!" (Numbers 14:7). Then, repeating the promise mentioned above: "a land which flows with milk & honey"!

In addition to this stamp, Israel issued 27 stamps showing landscapes during the 70s, as so many other countries did at the time; The FDC (First Day Cover) of Series I was decorated in the bottom left corner with a verse from Jeremiah 3:19: "and I shall give you a pleasant/coveted land". Series II was decorated with a verse from the Book of Judges: "For we have seen the land, and indeed it is very good" (14:9).


On the top envelope are Caesarea & a rock in the Arava (mostly flat plains on the Eastern border of Israel); the lower envelope shows a newer design of Rosh Pinna, which is one of the first agricultural settlements in Modern Times in the Galilee. 

There is so much more to see in these stamps, but I wanted to give you a taste and a glimpse of what the first group of tourist to the Holy Land saw, and what their impressions were. I believe, probably like most people, that "if I were one of the 12 – I would have definitely sided with Caleb & Joshua"!!!




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