Two days before the conclusion of the thirty-day mourning period following the passing of Moses on Adar 7 (see Jewish History for the 7th of Nissan), Joshua dispatched two scouts--Caleb and Pinchas--across the Jordan River to Jericho, to gather intelligence in preparation of the Israelites' battle with the first city in their conquest of the Holy Land. In Jericho, they were assisted and hidden by Rahab, a woman who lived inside the city walls. (Rahab later married Joshua).
Link:
The Two Spies
R. Avraham Yehoshua Heshel was one of the leading Rebbes of his day, serving as rabbi and spiritual leader first in Apta (presently called Opatow), then in Iasi, and finally in Mezhibuzh. He was known for his great love of his fellow Jews, and is commonly known as “the Ohev Yisroel [lover of Jews] of Apta.”
Link: Special Powers
In today's "Nasi" reading (see "Nasi of the Day" in Nissan 1), we read of the gift bought by the nasi of the tribe of Shimon, Shlumiel ben Tzurishadai, for the inauguration of the Mishkan.
To whom does a Jew pray?
Can He be described? Does He have a name?
No, there is no description with which to imagine Him, no name with which to grasp Him.
Even the pronoun “Him” implies too much to be true—as though He could be a third party, absent or present. Even the title “Infinite Light” misses the mark, as though He were only light.
But He is not light. He is the source of light. At the source of all light, there is no absence or presence, no being or not being.
There is only “You.” Here, now, known to all beings. And yet beyond the grasp of any knowledge.
It is truly inconceivable, certainly outrageous, but we puny, mortal creatures turn to the heavens and beyond the heavens and say, “You.”
As Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch wrote:
You, that all know of You.
You, that all put their trust only in You.
You, that all plead only to You.
You, that no creation nor emanation knows who and what You are.
And so we pray to You alone, for You alone, the Unknowable, are known to all.
