Parashat Sh'lach
• The Jews have left Egypt, after being enslaved for 210 years, wandering the desert trying to find a place to live. These days, they would be called refugees. They are disgruntled at their current predicament, and bemoan to Moshe and Aharon: “.אֲלֵהֶם כָּל הָעֵדָה לוּ מַתְנוּ בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם אוֹ בַּמִּדְבָּר הַזֶּה לוּ מָתְנוּ” “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we might die in the wilderness.” (Bamidbar 14:2)
Ali, a 30 year old Hazari fled persecution in Afghanistan where the Taliban planned to wipe out his ‘inferior’ race. He sought asylum in Australia and was put in Curtin detention Centre in Perth for 16 months before he attempted suicide by throwing himself through a glass window. Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition said, “The length of time in detention, the uncertainty, and the number of rejections are taking a terrible toll on the asylum seekers. The sheer number of self harm attempts is itself adding to a downward spiral of despair and distress inside the detention centres.” Is this possibly what the Israelites felt like when they were stuck wandering in the desert?
• 12 spies were sent to examine the Land of Canaan. 10 of them reported: וְשָׁם רָאִינוּ אֶת הַנְּפִילִים בְּנֵי עֲנָק מִן הַנְּפִלִים וַנְּהִי בְעֵינֵינוּ כַּחֲגָבִים וְכֵן הָיִינוּ בְּעֵינֵיהֶם: “There we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, descended from the giants. In our eyes, we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes.” (Bamidbar 13:33) For this negative report they were punished by not being allowed to enter Eretz Yisrael. Refugees come to Australia from a variety of backgrounds and cultures that are foreign to Australia. Many of them fear being rejected in the Australian community, and perhaps ‘feel like grasshoppers’.
Here are some quotes from refugees from a British paper titled ‘Refugee Well Being and Mental Health’ by Dr Jenny Phillimore. “There are some fears. Some are being bullied. When the people are bullied, they think that they are not wanted in the community...When people are looking at you, you are thinking that you are not welcomed” (Afghani woman, 25) “Imagine when you go to a country where you are new and you don’t know anybody and you don’t have any relative and no friends. You don’t know anything about their culture and nothing from the language. Would that be easy to live or hard?” (Afghani male, 27) “It is very hard to adjust to the people, community and to everything else.... It was very hard to adjust I can’t do anything.” (Kenyan male, 41) Do you think the refugees might also feel like ‘grasshoppers?’
Ali, a 30 year old Hazari fled persecution in Afghanistan where the Taliban planned to wipe out his ‘inferior’ race. He sought asylum in Australia and was put in Curtin detention Centre in Perth for 16 months before he attempted suicide by throwing himself through a glass window. Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition said, “The length of time in detention, the uncertainty, and the number of rejections are taking a terrible toll on the asylum seekers. The sheer number of self harm attempts is itself adding to a downward spiral of despair and distress inside the detention centres.” Is this possibly what the Israelites felt like when they were stuck wandering in the desert?
• 12 spies were sent to examine the Land of Canaan. 10 of them reported: וְשָׁם רָאִינוּ אֶת הַנְּפִילִים בְּנֵי עֲנָק מִן הַנְּפִלִים וַנְּהִי בְעֵינֵינוּ כַּחֲגָבִים וְכֵן הָיִינוּ בְּעֵינֵיהֶם: “There we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, descended from the giants. In our eyes, we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes.” (Bamidbar 13:33) For this negative report they were punished by not being allowed to enter Eretz Yisrael. Refugees come to Australia from a variety of backgrounds and cultures that are foreign to Australia. Many of them fear being rejected in the Australian community, and perhaps ‘feel like grasshoppers’.
Here are some quotes from refugees from a British paper titled ‘Refugee Well Being and Mental Health’ by Dr Jenny Phillimore. “There are some fears. Some are being bullied. When the people are bullied, they think that they are not wanted in the community...When people are looking at you, you are thinking that you are not welcomed” (Afghani woman, 25) “Imagine when you go to a country where you are new and you don’t know anybody and you don’t have any relative and no friends. You don’t know anything about their culture and nothing from the language. Would that be easy to live or hard?” (Afghani male, 27) “It is very hard to adjust to the people, community and to everything else.... It was very hard to adjust I can’t do anything.” (Kenyan male, 41) Do you think the refugees might also feel like ‘grasshoppers?’
In 2011, Parashat shelach fell on refugee week. Here are a few questions from parashat shelach that relate to refugees.