(לג) וְשָׁ֣ם רָאִ֗ינוּ אֶת־הַנְּפִילִ֛ים בְּנֵ֥י עֲנָ֖ק מִן־הַנְּפִלִ֑ים וַנְּהִ֤י בְעֵינֵ֙ינוּ֙ כַּֽחֲגָבִ֔ים וְכֵ֥ן הָיִ֖ינוּ בְּעֵינֵיהֶֽם׃
(33) we saw the Nephilim there—the Anakites are part of the Nephilim—and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them.”
וכן היינו בעיניהם כחגבים או פחות מזה ובשביל זה לא קמו עלינו כי לא החשיבו אותנו ויבז בעיניהם להרע לנו:
וכן היינו בעיניהם, like grasshoppers, or even less significant. They did not bother to harm us as they did not think we represented a threat to them.
Maya Angelou — 'I've learned that people will forget what you said, … but people will never forget how you made them feel.'
(י) שתים רוח מרוח חקק וחצב בה עשרים ושתים אותיות יסוד שלש אמות ושבע כפולות ושתים עשרה פשוטות ורוח אחת מהן:
(10) Second, from the Spirit he made Air and formed for speech twenty-two letters, three are 'mothers', seven are 'double', and twelve are 'simple', but the spirit is first among these.
חקק means G!d carved, in Rabbi Jiill Hammer's translation. I asked Rav Jill "how can air or breath be carved" She replied that perhaps speech is the way G!d and we carve breath to create!
ולמה ה' מביא אותנו מה חטאנו לו שהשתדל על ידכם להביאנו לכך. כי חשבו שהיה כל אלה בתחבולה מאתו משנאתו אותם בשביל גלוליהם במצרים או לסבה אחרת כאשר העיד באמרו ותאמרו בשנאת ה' אותנו הוציאנו מארץ מצרים לתת אותנו ביד האמורי להשמידנו:
ולמה ה' מביא אותנו, what sin did we commit against Him that He made the effort to bring us to this crisis by using you two as His instruments? They thought that these present troubles were all retribution for the abominable things they had been doing while in Egypt, or on account of some other cause they were not aware of which had caused G’d to hate them. We know that they had concluded that G’d must hate them from their own words in Deuteronomy 1,27: “because G’d hates us He took us out of Egypt in order to deliver us into the hands of the Emorite.”
(י) וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ כׇּל־הָ֣עֵדָ֔ה לִרְגּ֥וֹם אֹתָ֖ם בָּאֲבָנִ֑ים וּכְב֣וֹד יְהֹוָ֗ה נִרְאָה֙ בְּאֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֔ד אֶֽל־כׇּל־בְּנֵ֖י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ {פ}
(10) As the whole community threatened to pelt them with stones, the Presence of the LORD appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites.
ועשו להם ציצת. עַל שֵׁם הַפְּתִילִים הַתְּלוּיִם בָּהּ, כְּמוֹ (יחזקאל ח'), "וַיִּקָּחֵנִי בְּצִיצִת רֹאשִׁי" (מנחות מ"ב). דָּ"אַ: ציצת עַל שֵׁם וּרְאִיתֶם אֹתוֹ, כְּמוֹ "מֵצִיץ מִן הַחֲרַכִּים" (שיר השירים ב'):
ועשו להם ציצת THAT THEY MAKE THEM A FRINGE — It is called צצית, because of the threads that hang down from it. Similar is, (Ezekiel 7:3) “and he caught me by the curls (ציצת) of my head’’. (The word denotes something twisted as threads or curls). — Another explanation is: it is called ציצת because of the command associated with it (v. 39) “and ye shall look at it”. Similar is, “looking (מציץ) from the lattice” (Song 2:9). (The word therefore denotes “something looked at”) (Sifrei Bamidbar 115).
ואמר ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם להזהיר ממנה שלא יטעו בה וזה הוא שדרשו רבותינו (ספרי שלח קטו) אחרי לבבכם זו המינות אשר אתם זונים זו ע"ז שלא יהרהרו מן התכלת במינות או בע"ז אבל יהיה לכם הכל לציצית וראיתם אותו וזכרתם ואמרו ואחרי עיניכם זו זנות כענין שכתוב ואנכי היודע ועד נאם ה' (ירמיהו כט כג) והמשכיל יבין ובמדרשו של רבי נחוניא בן הקנה בפסוק ויתרון ארץ בכל הוא (קהלת ה ח) ומאי ניהו ארץ דנחצבה ממנו שמים והוא כסאו של הקב"ה והיא אבן יקרה והיא ים החכמה וכנגדה תכלת בטלית ציצית דאמר רבי מאיר מה נשתנה תכלת וכו':
Scripture states, and that ye go not after your own heart, in order that one should take care concerning it and not err through it. It is for this reason that our Rabbis have interpreted: “After your own heart. This refers to scepticism. After which ye use to go astray. This refers to idolatry.” That is to say, through the t’cheileth he should not think [in his heart] of any scepticism or idolatry, but it shall all be unto you for ‘tzitzith’ — that ye may look upon it, and remember. The Rabbis have also said: “After your own eyes. This refers to immorality,” similar to that which is written, I am He that knoweth, and am witness, saith the Eternal. The student learned [in the mysteries of the Cabala] will understand.
In the Midrash of Rabbi Nechunya the son of Hakanah it is stated with reference to the verse, and the profit of ‘eretz’ (earth) is ‘bakol’ (in all): “And what is the eretz? It is that from which the heavens were hewn, and it is the Throne of the Holy One, blessed be He, and it is ‘the precious stone,’ and ‘the sea of wisdom,’ and corresponding to it is the blue thread in a garment of Fringes, for Rabbi Meir has said: ‘Why was blue chosen? etc.’” [as quoted above].
In the Midrash of Rabbi Nechunya the son of Hakanah it is stated with reference to the verse, and the profit of ‘eretz’ (earth) is ‘bakol’ (in all): “And what is the eretz? It is that from which the heavens were hewn, and it is the Throne of the Holy One, blessed be He, and it is ‘the precious stone,’ and ‘the sea of wisdom,’ and corresponding to it is the blue thread in a garment of Fringes, for Rabbi Meir has said: ‘Why was blue chosen? etc.’” [as quoted above].