Unraveling the Tale of Challah and the Spies

The Sforno explains that since the sin of speaking ill of the land caused a blemish and corruption, leading that generation to be punished and not enter the land, Hashem wanted to give them a mitzvah they could perform at home, so their homes would be blessed (according to Sforno, Numbers 15:20).

In other words, after the sin, the Israelites distanced themselves from Hashem, a situation opposed to Hashem’s blessing. Hashem wanted to correct this shortcoming—how? Through the mitzvah of separating challah, which brings blessing into the home.

A Reminder to Beware of the Yeast in the Dough

Another reason for the mitzvah of separating challah after the sin of the spies is to remind us to be wary of the evil inclination. As mentioned in the book ‘Tzror HaMor’, the spies’ sin was caused by the evil inclination, referred to as the yeast in the dough (the part that causes the dough to rise). Therefore, after the sin, Hashem commanded to separate challah from the dough as a reminder of what the evil inclination— the yeast in the dough—caused, so we wouldn’t fall into its trap again (Tzror HaMor, Parsha Shelach, Numbers 15:19).

An Allusion to Elevating the Physical to the Spiritual

Another reason for the mitzvah being close to the sin of the spies is to allude to elevating the physical to a spiritual level. To understand this, we need to delve a little into the depth of the sin of the spies.

The Depth of the Sin of the Spies

It is written that the spies sinned because they did not want to enter the land. They were righteous people of great stature—Generation of Knowledge! We can’t say they were afraid of giants or confused, and thus sinned. Rather, there was depth to this sin, which we will expand upon.

In the wilderness, Hashem was with the Israelites ‘hand in hand,’ so to speak: the pillar of fire accompanied them by night, the cloud pillar by day; their food was manna from heaven, and they were close to Hashem like never before.

Amid this spiritual closeness in the wilderness, the Israelites suddenly hear that they must enter the land. And in the land, they would need to till the soil, sow, reap, and deal with materiality. The land symbolizes the material world. The spies feared that the material would drag them down. They did not want to lose their divine intuition and closeness to Hashem, so they feared entering the land.

Only Caleb and Joshua were the ones connected to the forefathers and knew the secret of sanctifying the material. They were the ones who said, "The land is very, very good" (Numbers 14:7). They knew this was the secret why Hashem brought us here: to engage in all aspects of life and elevate them in service to Hashem. "For the land is very, very good"—there is great goodness from Hashem here, a possibility in this land to reveal holiness, to evoke prayer, and to emit faith—from amidst the material.

The full chapter can be found in the book "Paths of the Challah", by Rebbetzin Esther Toliedano.

Dept. of Home Gatherings and Challah Separations – To book a home gathering and challah separation: Tel. 073-2221290, Email aviva@htv.co.il