In the month of Av, says Sefer Yetzira, the sense of listening is up for tikun. Our test is to not get hypnotized by voices that claim authority but do not embody Torat Emet.
The spies understood that crossing into the holy land would initiate a new era—now they were princes, but across the border, in the new world, they’d become obsolete.
Av is the month that includes the most fateful day in the Jewish calendar, Tisha B’Av, which is distinguished by its extremely fallen state and yet its extremely great potential.