On the Weekly Torah Portion of Shelach
Returning with the Fruit of Canaan
This week’s Torah portion, Shelach (Numbers 13 – 15), describes yet another dramatic, pivotal moment in the sojourn of the people of Israel from Egypt to Canaan.
Soon after the people of Israel leave Sinai on their way East, Moses is instructed to send scouts to tour the land of Canaan:
שְׁלַח לְךָ אֲנָשִׁים וְיָתֻרוּ אֶת אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אִישׁ אֶחָד אִישׁ אֶחָד לְמַטֵּה אֲבֹתָיו תִּשְׁלָחוּ כֹּל נָשִׂיא בָהֶם:Send men to scout the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelite people; send one man from each of their ancestral tribes, each one a chieftain among them.” (Numbers 13:2).
On the Weekly Torah Portion of Tazria
The grave of the Maharal of Prag
At the beginning of this week’s Torah portion, tazria, we are told this regarding a new baby boy:
וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי יִמּוֹל בְּשַׂר עָרְלָתוֹ:On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. (Leviticus 12:3)
Is there a significance to this number eight, to doing this on the eighth day? It turns out there is. According to the great 16th century rabbi Yehudah Livai of Prag (the Maharal of Prag), everything that pertains to the supernatural intervention of the divine in the world is associated with the number eight.