Have We Learned Our Lesson ?

 First of all I would like to thank everyone for providing feedback on my new blog. The goal of this space is not to sermonize but rather to share ideas that are screaming in my head as I am waiting in line at the bank or jogging down Scott Mill Road. I very much would appreciate you sharing your thoughts as well.

So - we all have had the opportunity to have our  fair share of failures and setbacks. I think as individuals we can all relate to that. Have you ever felt like this ? The question is how do we learn from these experiences and transform yesterday's failures into tomorrow successes.

               

This thought occurs to me every time I read through this weeks parsha. There we were as a people going back  3,324 years ago on the cusp of entering the Land of Israel and entering into a new phase of nation building in peace and security. We were so deliciously close to completing the journey and having our first falafel as Jews in Israel. Then disaster struck after the spies that were sent by Moshe into Israel on a fact finding mission returned and did not focus on the positive qualities of the land but rather on the negative ones. Then the people went into hysteria and  refused to enter the land and even had the chutzpah to want to return to Egypt. The rest is history.

So here we are in 2013 and my question is: Have we learned our lesson from the spies who had an opportunity to enter the Holy Land and chose to speak ill of it ? How do we view the Land of Israel ? Is it just an anecdotal part of our lives or more prominent ? Does it bother you when people from other nationalities claim that the Jewish people have no connection to Temple Mount ? 

I am not advocating that everyone make aliya.  I am just questioning do we have a desire to have an emotional connection with the Land of Israel ?  For thousand of years, Jews have prayed and cried for the  opportunity to return to Zion and Jerusalem. Our generation is blessed that for about $1500 you can travel there in less than a day. We are blessed that we are able to visit the Kosel (Western Wall) whenever we want and pour our hearts out to our Father in Heaven in that sacred area . At this time the land of Israel currently has more Torah being studied and more minyanim being held than in the past 2 thousand years. Not to mention, all the amazing advances in medicine, science and hi tech emerging from this land. 

It is also important to remember there are many people in the world that are actively working on destroying the Jewish population from the Land of Israel.  3,324 years after the fiasco of the spies we are once again given the opportunity to embrace the Land of Israel. So my question to you dear friends is ---Have we learned our lesson?

Please share your thoughts.