Dena Weiss. This week’s parashah begins with a lot of forward momentum. Benei Yisrael are so close to reaching the culmination of the Exodus from Egypt and finally entering into the land that God had promised to them. Scouts are sent into the land to investigate it. But their return marks a shift in trajectory as they bring back a frightening report about gigantic fruit, the giants who eat it, and a land that consumes its own inhabitants. Benei Yisrael react to this report with panic and attempt to reverse course. Despite all of the horrors that they went through in Egypt, their fundamental reaction to the challenges of conquering the land of Israel is to give up completely. Instead of moving forward, they want to go back, even at the price of death.