Parshas Shelach
13:2a
Seeing what happened to Miriam and not taking the lesson to
the point where it would prevent them from falling into the
same trap is a failure to observe the events that surround you
and learn from them. One may not let it suffice to learn only
from books and lectures. Life and history (life of the past)
must also be one’s personal teacher. See Mishle chapter 24 verses
30-34
13:2b
Hashem will not save a person from the consequences of one’s
decisions. If we deliberately turn down the opportunity to grow
and improve, we will lose that very capacity to grow as a result.
we determine the extent of our own potential. The Land of Israel
posed a challenge to their spiritual status quo, and the People
refused the challenge and preferred the extremes of either total
spiritual or totally earthly existence and were not willing
to engage in the constant struggle to maintain a balance that
living in Israel as a holy nation demanded.
13:3
The spies were indeed ‘Kosher’ at the pivotal point before the
departed for the mission. They were still people of Mt. Sinai
Role models for that stage of national development. But once
they entered the next phase in becoming spies, and were resisting
that transition categorically, then they descended to much lower
levels. We need leadership that is sensitive to the watershed
moments of Jewish History and can react and respond decisively
to maintain our eternal values under new conditions and not
get stuck in tactics that were useful but are in need of
adjustment or even revision. It is crucial not to remain with
what is comfortable and familiar at the expense of being
effective in promoting our goals and overall vision of ideal
Jewish living.
Examples of such innovative visionaries abound throughout our
tumultuous exile.
13:16
Moshe looks awkward as he instructs the spies in their mission
and simultaneously prays on behalf of his prime disciple
Yehoshuah not to be pulled into the tragedy that lies ahead
at the conclusion of this very mission. Moshe must be tragically
torn knowing of the impending doom and helpless to not see that
it is fully implemented to the bitter end. Yet he has the
foresight to salvage what he can and prepare for the leadership
that will reconstruct the Jewish People after this episode will
end.
13:18
It is unclear is the sign of living without fortifications
is an indication of physical brute strength or courage and
bravery to face any enemy without need for additional
‘self-fortification’. Also unclear which asset is for vital
for overall victory. If the story of spies shows anything, it
is the debilitating effect of fear and nay saying that will
undermine any initiative even before in has begun.
13:20
Moshe, of all human beings, was intimately aware of the
overriding consideration behind any project, religious, or
mundane: Divine protection. Psalm 127 states clearly that all
the precautions and strategies in the world cannot negate a
Divine agenda of what the outcome must ultimately be. Moshe
may be hinting to the spies with his combination of conventional
and supernatural sightseeing itinerary that not all is how it
will appear to the purely military eye. Not to lose perspective
if you see the odds are not in favor from a tactical point of
view.
13:22
What did Calev gain from visiting the Machpelah cave -resting
place of his ancestors? Tenacity and perseverance in the face
of deterrence and discouragement? Patience and forbearance in
the face of opposition and adversity? In any event, If such
giants of spirit who illuminated the entire world with a search
for truth and purity of heart could yearn so strongly to bequeath
this land to their offspring, it had to have incomparable
spiritual value worth any personal hardship.
13:23
What was the message of the fruit of the Land? “See how strange
they are! Such abnormal habitat must produce abnormal
inhabitants!” We will never have the chance to settle the land
like a ‘normal’ nation. We will always be different, odd, and
peculiar.”
13:25
God’s faithfulness is commensurate. Even has he will seal the
fate of the people with a solemn oath, condemning their corpses
to fall in the desert, He takes care to hasten the mission of
the spies and mitigate the extent of their punishment. Hashem
is not vicious or vindictive, incapable of measuring the
outpouring of wrath to within a hairsbreadth. God’s commitment
to perfect justice with mercy (see Mesilas Yesharim Chapter 4)
precludes any sort of vengefulness that human beings fall prey
to.
13:27
Our world is permeated with falsehood and self-deception. How
does such a state overcome the most intelligent species? The
answer: Truth. All we need to dismantle the wise discernment
of the critical mind is a speck of shining glimmering truth.
That is the Trojan horse that allows all kinds of gross
misimpressions and outright fantasies that pander to our vested
interests to gain entry into our deepest convictions about
ourselves and the reality we think we live in.
13:29
The spies used every tactic available to them to sow panic in
the hearts of the people who were themselves already inclined
to accept any excuse to reject the whole enterprise of claiming
the new land. The reference to their old nemesis Amalek only
highlighted the disheartening notion that they would have to
maintain high spiritual focus while in the midst of intensely
unspiritual activities, like waging a war. See Tractate Rosh
Hashana chapter 3 Mishna 8 on the war with Amalek.
13:30a
Calev takes a different tack than the standard approach to
rebuke. Rather than confront the people with their sedition
and unleash a barrage of criticisms regarding their weakness,
Calev pretends to validate and verify their complaints in order
to gain a moment of receptiveness from a mob that is on the
verge of mutiny. Using diplomacy and communication skills is
a path not often taken when we are faced with a rapidly
deteriorating situation. We usually fight frenzy with frenzy,
assuming that you need to at least match if not surpass your
opponent’s level of intensity. The ‘Ruach Acheres’ that Hashem
notices in Calev may have been stemming form his counter-intuitive
insight into influencing wrong-headed people.
13:30b
Calev’s conjuring up the image of building ladders of wood to
ascend to Heaven is a precise metaphor for what we have been
explaining to be the entire hesitation of the Jews in the desert.
The people insist: “Either all miracle or all man-made! No
impossible combination of human and miracle as the land of Israel
will demand of us. No ‘Building ladders that must reach Heaven’”.
13:31
When one is overwhelmed by the irrational fears fueled by vivid
imagination, then there is no end to the absurdity that can
be taken as certainty. Even the Creator Himself is no match
for the fearsome Canaanites? What has become of this great
people? Reduced to such primitive conceptions of power and
control almost mirroring the pagan nations that they are destined
to usurp.
13:32
This whole episode is one case study in cognitive dissonance:
perceiving only what fits neatly and comfortably into one’s
preconceived worldview. And conversely blocking from one’s
consciousness any substantial indications that one needs to
reassess those cherished assumptions that one cannot afford to
part with. “The land is inhospitable—and don’t confuse me with
the facts!” Under such a bias, even Hashem’s kindnesses are
cast in a cynical skewed light. On the other hand we see again
how Hashem will not care to deter us from our concerted efforts
to throw off the yoke of responsibility and imperative to grow.
He will give signs that can have double meanings and multiple
interpretations enabling us to continue in our folly and tunnel
vision till the end.
