Am I OK? (Parshat Shelach 2025)

As we go back and forth to our basement shelter, one question keeps popping up from friends and family on email and social media: ‘Am I OK?’

The short answer is yes—the longer answer, an even more emphatic yes. The reason is a healthy combination of faith and proof.

Megan Moroney’s country music hit of the same name, “Am I OK?” asks a similar question, seeking answers. The context is whether to believe that this relationship, this time, is different. Could she believe in her Prince Charming? 

For once, she’s asking if this guy is “not looking for a heart to break.” Is this actually a guy who does the right thing for the right reasons? She’s asking if she can trust this guy, this time, to be different.

This song resonates with the themes of Parshat Shelach and our current situation, where we are constantly questioning our safety and well-being.

Multiple times in Jewish history, we’ve had the chance to ask this question to ourselves. In the face of something amazing (and challenging), will we do the right thing? One time, we failed famously.  

In Shelach, Gd lets Moses send the princes of the tribes to explore the land. He takes this action in response to requests by the leaders of the tribes, not because Moses had any interest in delaying the nations’ acquisition of the Land.

For generations, we’ve struggled to understand the motivation for this exploration. Were the princes acting as spies? Were they failed leaders trying to preserve power they thought might vanish once settled in the land? 

Regardless of their motivation, one thing remains. These princes had a chance to do the right thing, and they failed. Upon returning, they reported unfavorably to the people. What they shared was nothing short of fear-mongering and inflammatory, triggering widespread panic. 

There are a few key lines I’ve explored in previous years. Still, this year, they ring differently, especially as we confront an enemy 1500 kilometers away, hell-bent on our national destruction, who, on paper, exhibit some of the same characteristics described by the spies. And they also call the question again – are we ok?

Chapter 13, Verse 31 says that the Spies spoke to the people, saying, “We cannot go up against this people, for they are stronger than Him!”  

The Ktav HaKabbalah cites the Zohar to understand the spies’ motivation. He reiterates that the spies saw the residents of the land, perceived as giants, weren’t just more potent than the Jewish people, but stronger than Hashem. 

The spies continue in Verse 33 saying, “We seemed to ourselves as tiny as grasshoppers next to them, and so did we seem to them!”

Seeing ourselves as small in the face of challenge is a way of underestimating our abilities and diminishing our faith. In the face of these challenges, I remember that bravery means being scared, but doing something anyway.

The Rebbe teaches (from a collection of his speeches) that the spies didn’t understand the purpose of the Jewish people. Our job is to transform the physical world into a dwelling place for G‑dliness. We needed to enter into Eretz Yisrael to make it happen. 

Today, our national leaders, the world, and our spies have taken on the challenge of a perceived “giant” and are meeting the challenge to make the world safer for everyone.

A few summers ago, I was sitting with friends in California during a summer sojourn, lamenting that seven nations (and terror organizations) surround us whose intention was to destroy Israel. While I was confident in Israel’s ability to defend itself, I just struggled to understand how it was OK with the world, and Israel, that this was the case.  

Regardless of these more minor obstacles, a nation of “Giants” in Iran was financing the terror with unlimited funds and racing to develop nuclear weapons. Then, on October 7th, events unfolded that set in motion many days of doubt and fear.

However, in the story of the spies, there is one hero, Caleb. His unlimited faith and courage stand in stark contrast to the rest of the spies, a source of pride for us. He saw what the others saw in the Land, including the “giants,” but remained brave, a shining example of courage in the face of fear.

Verse 30 says, “Caleb silenced the people regarding Moses, saying, ‘We can go up and take possession of it, for we can indeed overcome it.”

Rashi adds that when Caleb said “We can go up,” he professed unlimited faith. Rashi thinks Caleb was saying that “Even to the sky, if He were to tell us to make ladders and climb there; we can achieve any task set by him, no matter how hard it may seem.”

In a world fearful of taking on challenges and paralyzed by a projection of Iranian power, we are proving ourselves to be a nation of Calebs. 

Early reports out of Iran show that Mossad agents, our modern-day spies, have been operating inside Iran successfully for a very long time. In the early days of the attacks, they showed swift and decisive actions that helped shape the conflict by wiping out Iran’s military leadership and key bomb-making and bomb-launching sites. 

While as a nation, we may have approached a conflict with Iran fearfully, we proceeded bravely and have demonstrated to the world our national might and Hashem’s power. At the same time, the world is slowly coming around to recognize that our enemies aren’t nearly as powerful as we may have thought.

In Moroney’s song, she is asking a question about where to put her faith. Can she trust this guy? The answer is a cautious yes. Caleb and the actions of our modern-day spies offer a more enthusiastic yes.

Early this morning, we sat inside the shelter for the third time in just a few hours.  As the booms rang close by and finally subsided, I kept thinking of Moroney’s words as she closed out the song. 

“Check my pulse, and my heart’s still beating. Exhale. I thank Gd I’m breathing.”

I want to believe this time is different. We are no longer scared, newly freed slaves.  Instead, we are a nation of Calebs, fiercely serving Hashem and protecting our nation. This belief brings a sense of comfort and peace, knowing that we are safe and secure under the watch of the IDF and Hashem. 

Moroney song here: https://youtu.be/P6BhKDR1RTo?si=25nXEKfmxh-poXSo