Mishpetei HaRav Kook / Parashat Shelach Lecha

This week's Torah portion deals with the sin of the spies — the sin of the leaders. The men who were meant to lead the people from stage to stage and to raise it ever higher instead slandered the Land. Leadership requires immense purity, humility, and also self-belief. A leader must believe in his ability to lead processes and to change things from their foundation. It is not arrogance to understand that we are worthy; it is a life-obligation for the sake of advancing and repairing the world. If you are destined for leadership, it is your duty to prepare yourself in purity, in humility, in faith, and in deed.