Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
In this week's Torah portion, most of the spies who are sent to scout the Promised Land return in despair to the nation waiting in the desert. In their negative assessment, there is no justification for continuing on to the "land flowing with milk and honey" that God had promised them. While speaking about the people they encountered there, the spies make a sad confession: "In our eyes, we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes."
In other words, since we saw ourselves as small, weak, and lacking in self-confidence, so too were we seen by the people we met there.
Our sense of self-worth is what counts since that is what we broadcast to others. If we regard ourselves as valuable individuals living meaningful lives, those around us will see us in that way too. This is true in the relationships we have with our children, our colleagues at work, our friends, and with our fellow citizens.
We never want to consider ourselves as grasshoppers that don't measure up, since that is how others will see us too.
