Parshas Shelach for Kids

פרשת שלח

Twelve meraglim go up to see the land. Ten come back afraid and one report changes everything - forty days of touring become forty years of travelling. Yehoshua and Kalev stand alone.

In a Torah Tale book, your own child is the hero of this story - drawn from their photo, on every page, in their own name. Written under rabbinical guidance with strict tznius, printed and shipped to your door in English, Hebrew or Yiddish.

Create this book · See pricing · All stories

What happens in Parshas Shelach

Moshe Rabbeinu sends twelve meraglim, one leader from each shevet, to see Eretz Yisrael. Before they go, Moshe davens for his student Hoshea and adds a letter to his name, calling him Yehoshua, so Hashem will protect him. Rashi tells us Kalev went to Chevron to daven at the kevarim of the Avos. After forty days the meraglim return carrying enormous fruit, but ten of them speak badly about the land and say the people there are too strong.

Bnei Yisrael cry all that night. Only Yehoshua and Kalev stand up and say: the land is very, very good, and if Hashem wants us, He will bring us there. Because of the forty days of the bad report, Bnei Yisrael stay in the midbar forty years. The parsha ends with the mitzvah of tzitzis, strings that help us remember all of Hashem's mitzvos.

Lessons and middos for children

  • Seeing the good

    The meraglim saw the same land as Yehoshua and Kalev but chose to see the bad. We can look for the good in places and in people.

  • Emunah and courage

    Yehoshua and Kalev trusted Hashem even when everyone else was afraid. With Hashem's help, we can be brave.

  • Standing up for what is right

    Kalev and Yehoshua spoke up even when it was hard. A child can say the right thing even if friends say otherwise.

Questions for the Shabbos table

  1. What did the meraglim bring back from Eretz Yisrael?
  2. Why do you think Yehoshua and Kalev were not afraid?
  3. Have you ever had to say something true when others did not agree?
  4. When you look at your tzitzis, or a friend's, what can it remind you of?

How your child steps into the story

Your child waits at the edge of the camp as the meraglim return with the giant cluster of grapes, and stands beside Yehoshua and Kalev as they speak with emunah. The story ends with Bnei Yisrael continuing on, and a hint of the trouble Korach will stir up in the next parsha.