Parasha Shelach (Chapter: Send)

In our weekly reading of the Bible, we Jews have arrived to the chapter where the People of Israel is encamped in the wilderness of Paran, a deep canyon with a good spring in the Syrian African Fault, and are preparing their ascent of the Judean mountains to conquer the Promised Land. Moses, their leader, appoints young leaders of the twelve tribes to reconnaitre the land and return with a campaign plan. Their report:

We came to the land to which you sent us, and it is flowing with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who inhabit the land are mighty, and the cities are extremely huge and fortified, and there we saw even the offspring of the giant. The Amalekites (bitter blood enemies of the Israelites) dwell in the south land, while the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountainous region. The Canaanites dwell on the coast and alongside the Jordan. Caleb said "We can surely go up and take possession of it, for we can indeed overcome it." But the men who went up with him said "We are unable to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we."

Their disunity convinced Moses that they were still unmature for the coming war, that the people grown up as slaves should not be allowed to fight only to be defeated. He led the people back to the desert, walked them till the old generation died off and he returned to the war with a generation raised to fight and win.