Halakhah su Salmi 106:78

And again, the entire reason for our present exile is the sin of the spies (viz. Tehillim 6:25-27): "And they murmured in their tents [against the land]. They hearkened not to the word of the L–rd. And He lifted up His hand [in oath] against them… to scatter them in the lands," as Rashi explains there and as the Ramban wrote (on Bamidbar 14:1). And it is stated in Arachin (15a) that the sin of the spies was essentially lashon hara, their giving out an evil report of the land. And because they then (on the eve of the ninth of Av) cried a "vain" cry, it (the ninth of Av) was decreed for them as a "crying" for the generations [e.g., the destruction of both Temples, etc.]. And countless other evils befell us because of this grave sin. For all the sages of Israel who were killed by King Yannai in the days of Shimon ben Shetach, the brother-in-law of King Yannai, were also killed because of the sin of rechiluth (viz. Kiddushin 66a). And the murder of the tanna, R. Elazar Hamodai, (which also contributed to the destruction of Betar) was likewise caused by rechiluth which was spoken against him before Ben Koziva (viz. Eichah Rabbah 2:4).

Furthermore, is it not well known that exile had already been decreed upon us because of the act of the spies (viz. Tehillim 106:25-27): "And they murmured in their tents [against the land]. They hearkened not to the voice of the L–rd. And He lifted up His hand [in oath] against them… to scatter them in the lands," as Rashi and the Ramban explain there (Bamidbar 14). And the sin of the spies — was it not that of lashon hara! (viz. Arachin 15a). Therefore, it is imperative that we correct this sin before the redemption can take place.

Because Scripture mentioned “God called the light ‘yom’ (day)”, it needed to tell us how one should count a day of the Torah. For the word “yom” has two meanings (a period of daylight, 12 hours, and a 24-hour period). Therefore it says that these two beginnings, namely dusk and dawn, encompass the Torah’s day. For ‘erev (dusk) refers to the time when shapes merge and are not distinguishable to the eye, as in the verse “They intermingled (vayit’arvu) among the nations” (Psalms 106:35). Boker (dawn) is the time when the forms are distinguishable and are recognizable and examinable, as in the verses “the priest need not examine (yevaqqer)” (Leviticus 13:36), “As a shepherd (vaqqarat) tends his flock” (Ezekiel 34:12). The term yom (day) encompasses both these times, for a single motion includes both. Similarly we find “He created male and female…and called their name ‘Adam’” (Genesis 5:2), while it is also written “And [the Lord, God,] made for Adam and his wife garments of hide and He dressed them” (ibid. 3:21).²² We see that the name “Adam” has a double meaning, sometimes referring to the entire human species, both male and female, and sometimes only to the male (or a specific male). Again it is clear from the description of Creation that a day is from evening to evening.

To give the foreleg, the jaw and the maw to the priest: That Israel was commanded to give the foreleg, the jaw, and the maw from all pure, slaughtered animals to the priest. And about this was it stated (Deuteronomy 18:3), "This shall be the statute of the priests, etc." The Sages, of blessed memory, already said (Chullin 134b) about the reason for this commandment that it was in the merit of Pinchas, their father - who was zealous on behalf of his God with regard to the matter of Kozbi, and [was prepared to] surrender his life for the sanctification of [God's] name, to kill a prince from a tribe of Israel - that his children, the priests, merited this present from God forever: The foreleg - corresponding to, "and he took a spear" (Numbers 25:7); the jaw - in the merit that he prayed for the anguish of Israel, as it is written, "And Pinchas stood up and prayed" (Psalms 106:30); and the maw - corresponding to, "and the woman into her stomach" (Numbers 25:8). And we learn from this that one who openly sanctifies the name of Heaven - he and his descendants attain merit in this world, aside from his merit which is kept eternally for his soul in the World to Come.