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    Grasshoppers – Sh’lach L’cha

    When the delegation of spies came back from investigating the Holy Land they made a remarkable comment – remarkable in a bad, not a good way.

    They said, “We looked like grasshoppers in the eyes of the inhabitants, and that’s how we seemed to ourselves” (Num. 13:33).

    That’s the way persuasion works: people tell you bad things about yourself, and after a while you begin to believe the criticisms.

    The modern world with its tragic recrudescence of antisemitism has its own version of the grasshopper allegation. The antisemites tell us we are flawed and inferior and (God forbid) some Jews think it might be true.

    The opponents of Israel smear our State with words like “apartheid” and “racist” and (God forbid) we sometimes wonder if they might not have a point.

    True, we’re not perfect and neither is Israel, but we have to be fair to ourselves.

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