Скачать или смотреть Episode 8. The art of seeing, an abridged version of The Dermatologist & The Rabbi.

Today we will explore Seeing – focusing on how it can be both a curse, a sin and a blessing. We will discuss the Parsha, the chapter that speaks of the spies sent to travel the entiere length and breadth of the promised land and see if past history can tells us about how we can underhand today’s current events in light of the Spies as it reflects on October 7th and last weeks Preemptive Strikes on Iran whose name was officially changed in 1935 from Persia to Iran (to mean people of Arian Race) and whose leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (not to be confused with khomeinie the founder (who family came from East Azerbaijan), daily plans and vows to annihilate israel and was months away from building the nuclear weapon we are grateful to God Hitler never acquired since we know how both would use it if they had it.
Parsha: Shelach
“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.”
This statement by Jonathan Swift emphasizes the idea that true vision or insight involves perceiving things that others cannot see, making the invisible visible through understanding or expression.
Why is God asking Moses to send spies to reconnoit the land of Canaan ?Does God not see? No God sees all too well and thus he feels that the gift that he has given to the children of Jacob (Israel) should be checked first by the spies to see if they would appreciate the gift, if they would want it, & if they’re ready to take & cherish it making it into a beacon of Gods light, where the laws of the Bible would be practiced unhindered from within and prove the model to the rest of the civilization. Where human sacrifice, the importance of Shabbat as a day of rest and peace, the social construct of a tribe whose sole work would be to live among the people and be their educators (levit tribe), of 10% tax to help the poor the orphan and the widow, the respect to the Ger (the foreigners) who lives among you in your land would sustain the nation of Israel forever in and through this ethereal covenant.
While today this ideas are obvious back then 2000 years before the common era, this ideas were radical, revolutionary and as Abraham and Jacob saw, align to the humanities mindset.
“And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days…” (Numbers 13:25)
This is not just a report. It’s the beginning of a national destiny when 40 days turn into 40 years and mindset proves the difference between ruin & redemption.
This week’s Torah portion, Shelach, tells the story of the spies—twelve men sent to assess the land of Israel.
But their mission devolved into panic, fear, and despair.
And today, we ask: how do we avoid the same mistake… in our lives, and as a nation?
Seeing as a sin:
The spies saw truth— all 12 saw the same truth and yet each returned with their own conclusions. Why the difference was a mindset of the slave a mindset that even the miracles could not uproot from their mind and yet two of the spies had faith that could not be subjugated even after a life time of slavery.
Ten of them returned and said: “We saw giants. We were like grasshoppers in our own eyes.”
Their fear spread like wildfire. The people cried. They wanted to return to Egypt.
And in that moment—they gave up on their future.
They lost their unity and cryed out and the mistake was that Moses cried with them instead of reprimanding them he allowed them to lead the narrative. Of course he handled it as we would in any democracy but the danger of this disunity reminds me of that rift that weekend Israel and made us fail to see the real enemy waiting to pounce on us - Hamas- leading to the October 7, 2023 massacre.
,murdering over 1,200 Israelis—
We believed our enemies were contained. We forgot what the spies taught us: seeing is not enough. You must believe in the future you’re meant to fight for.
From Paralysis to Preemption
Fast forward to this past week—June 2025.
Israel launches Operation Rising Lion—a coordinated, preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear and missile infrastructure.
Over 100 sites were hit. Tehran was caught off guard.
This time, Israel didn’t wait for disaster. It acted before the giants could rise, like during the 6th day war we learned to believe our enemies words who promised to annihilate us and we strike first at their military infrastructure sparing the civilans.
Like Caleb and Joshua, the state saw danger—but responded with courage, not fear.