It is appropriate that we read this week, prior to Tisha B’av, we always read about Moshe’s opening speech about the 40 years in the desert. Moshe begins by reviewing how it was that they were condemned to wander for 40 years. It was because of the sin of the spies. The sin of the spies and their condemnation to wander all happened on Tisha b’av.

What was the sin of the spies? Tehilim 106: Vaymaasu b’erez chemda. They didn’t want the treasured land. And why is that so bad? Why do they have to like it? Because when someone gives you a gift out of love, you should learn to accept it. So what was it about the Jews that made them reject the gift of Israel? It was because they misread the relationship between them and G-d. You know how sometimes you get a gift from someone and depending on what you get, you start to read into it what your relationship is really like? Well, when the Jews considered why G-d would take them into Israel, they should have said it was because G-d loved them and wanted to give them a gift of love. Instead they said, in parashat shelach, b’sinat hashem otanu, it was because of G-d’s hatred for us. They didn’t believe in the love of Hashem for them. That is why the sin of the spies is such a big sin.

Exodus, the travel in the desert, it was all an act of love. If they failed to see that, they were simply not part of the love story of G-d and the Jewish people. But after all, they knew G-d was giving them a gift, why wouldn’t they think it was a good gift? So rashi in shelach explains; they thought it was like a bad son and a good son. The father gives the good field to the good son and the bad field to the bad son. So too the Jews thought G-d gave them, the bad son, the bad land of Israel and to Egypt, the good son, the good land.

The Sforno says that the hatred they suspected was more well founded. They thought G-d hated them because they indeed worshiped idols in Egupt. So in the end, their insecurity with G-d stemmed from a sense of guilt and shame about their deeds. They couldn’t picture that after all their idols and sins, G-d could still love them.

The message of the parasha then is that no matter what our sins, G-d still loves us and wants us have the gifts of his love. It is only our sins which makes us question his love for us. If we could do a better job keeping the torah and loving each other, we would be able to accept G-d’s gift of the Torah more readily. Our inability to feel G-d’s love and blessing is a reflection of our lack of faith in ourselves and our capacity to draw Divine love. We need to learn to believe that G-d does mean the best for us, and that we can be worthy of Divine bounty.