במדבר פרק יג, ב שְלַח -לְךָ אֲנָּשִּים וְיָּתֻׁרוּ אֶת-אֶרֶץ כְנַעַן
Rashi points out that the story of the spies follows immediately after the story of Miriam (at the end of Behaalosecha), since both sections involve lashon hara.
It is not clear to Rabbi Epstein why Rashi has to point this out. There are many sections of the Torah that we never ask about the reason for their juxtaposition, so why does Rashi need to say anything here?
Perhaps we can say that this juxtaposition requires particular explanation, based on the Gemara (Shabbos 116a) that it is not correct to put two bad topics next to each other. Here we have the tragedy of the spies immediately after the tragedy of Miriam, and thus, this requires explanation. Therefore, Rashi explains that both sections deal with the same topic of lashon hara.
