This week's parasha marks a milestone in the life of the children of Israel after having been freed from slavery in Egypt: the scouting out of the Promised Land. This section of the narrative is a very well-known story and, depending on how one looks at it, either famous or infamous. At the beginning of the parasha, God tells Moses to select one representative from each tribe, twelve men in all, to go out into the land and to take note of its important characteristics: the produce that grows there, the quality of the soil, is it wooded or barren, the types of cities (walled or unfortified), the numbers and strength of the inhabitants. The "spies" return from their expedition with some good news regarding the land and its produce; however, ten of twelve report that the Canaanites are a massive and strong people; the Israelites would not be able to defeat them. The only two voices of optimistic faith and calm were those of Y'hoshua bin Nun (Joshua) and Kalev ben Y'phuneh (Caleb). They declared that God would be with them in battle and that they would succeed in capturing the land. The dark report of the majority of the spies caused fear within the nation and the people again complained to Moses and God that they had been led through the wilderness for naught. It is this "sin" of faithlessness that brings the punishment of forty years of wandering in the wilderness upon this generation of Israelites. Only Joshua and Caleb would be permitted to enter the Promised Land when it was over.