Parashat Shelach: The Meraglim: Are the Questions Better than the Answers?

As an educator, I was always trained to encourage students to ask questions. Questions lead to better understanding and deeper knowledge. Although we seek answers, the reality is that some questions will remain better than the answer. There are many perplexities we encounter when studying the story of the Meraglim (spies) and although I would like to explore some of them here, I leave it to you to decide if the questions remain better than the answers.

וידבר ה׳ אל משה לאמר, שלך לך אנשים (יג:ב)

Hashem commands Moshe - send men (to explore the land of Israel)

The back story is that Hashem was prepared to bring the Jewish people into Israel, but there was this request to first get a taste for what was in store and so Hashem tells Moshe to send the world’s first explorers.

Let’s begin by listing our questions:

1. What is the purpose of the word לך, to you? Send to you?
2. Why did Hashem allow the spies to go? Didn’t he know the outcome would be catastrophic us to wander the desert for 40 years?
3. Even more strange is that the pasuk sounds like Hashem not only allowed the spies to go, but שלח לך, He is commanding them to go. Again, if he knew the outcome would be bad, why did He command us to go?
4. Furthermore, even if the spies sinned, did the punishment fit the crime? Wandering 40 years in the desert? It would be one thing if the spies went out on their own and made this mistake, but Hashem commanded them to go; even if they lost their way and spoke evil, should this warrant a 40 year punishment?
5. Were these spies righteous on the outset and then lose their way?
1. The pasuk says send אנשים - the medrash explains that this means the selected spies were righteous at that time. Then why did they end up sinning? Furthermore, this contradicts another passage in chazal that says based on the pasuk( וילכו ויבאו (יג:כו we see that there is a connection between when they went and when they returned; just as when they returned with bad advice, so too, when they embarked they went with evil intent. This suggests they were not righteous; so which is it?
2. Some suggest that even the name מרגלים - spies suggests they were evil at the outset. So doesn’t that contradict the other words of Chazal that suggest they began as righteous?
6. After listing all the names of the spies, the Torah repeats and says, ואלה שמות האנשים אשר שלח משה לתור את הארץ, ויקרא משה להושע בן נון יהושע

The Ohr Hachaim says that ויקרא משה להושע means that Moshe gave him the extra yud as a mechanism to fight of the evil inclination of the 10 evil spies.

Now let’s suggest some answers.

The sefer Otzrot Hatorah quotes the sefer Maor Hashemesh that when Yaakov’s 10 sons came down to Egypt (many years earlier) and Yosef who was viceroy of Egypt saw them, he called them Meraglim - מרגלים אתם. What did he mean by this? Was he a liar? They had not spied? The Ariz”l says that Yosef’s intent was a prophetic reference to the spies of our parasha who would spy and then speak incorrectly about the land of Israel. These spies were in some form a reincarnation of the sons of Yaakov.

This means that there are some very righteous individuals who have the ability to shed light on the land and to those who live in it, even if the inhabitants are very big and scary. But their evil inclination is big and they may worry that they cannot beat the giants in the land. To allow them to overcome this inclination, the souls of the righteous come down from the heavens and help them overcome their inclination. Yet the choice is still in the hands of the spies to choose good or evil.

Hashem knows everything; He knew the spies would mistakenly follow their inclinations.  That is why He commanded Moshe to give each spy the soul of the prince of each tribe to come to the aid of the spies.

When it says שלח לך אנשים - it means they were in fact righteous, that Moshe should send righteous souls along with the spies to scope out the land to prevent them from making a mistake.

The tribe of אפרים ומנשה had a righteous leader who would spy for them - יהושע. But Moshe was still worried even יהושע could go down the wrong path. And so he prayed for him to make the right choices. It was a quick act of changing the name as a tefila, but it could not fit the names of the other spies.

Now we understand there is no contradiction between הליכתם לביאתם the way they went out and the way they returned. The actual spies were evil on the way in and out, but when it says they were righteous on the way out, that refers to the brothers of Yosef who were in fact righteous and came to keep the spies from sinning.

The Sfas Emes had a tremendous insight on this matter. He points out on the commentary of the Zohar, as follows:

“The Zohar states that the spies thought: ‘Here, (in the desert,) we are the leaders (of Bnei Yisrael) in the Land (of Israel) we will not merit to be the leaders.’”. According to the Zohar, they were concerned about losing their spiritual influence by entering Eretz Yisrael, and therefore decided that for the sake of the Torah, it is better to dwell in the Galut.

Another way of looking at the spies is to consider the reality they lived in. Their generation had been living a completely artificial existence in the desert. They had no bathroom needs, their clothes did not wear out, there was no cooking and no need to earn a living. They were completely protected from the elements. Theirs was a life totally dedicated to spirituality, to building up a deep trust in Hashem and to learning His Torah to perfection. This was both a marvelous and yet extremely intense existence. Any Jew of that generation woke up in the morning knowing exactly where he stood spiritually. If he had any negative thoughts or done the slightest thing wrong, he would find that his portion of the מן fell just that much further from his tent. He knew it, and the whole Jewish people knew as well. There was immediate and visible feedback for each and every act. Weaken for a moment, and you will instantly be attacked by Amalek. Put a foot wrong, and the holy Moshe was right there to rebuke. This was a pretty scary way to live.

Klal Yisrael found it hard to live this way, but they knew that this was just until they got to the land of Israel. Did not Hashem Himself want the Jews to live as an example to all nations, living on the land as all nations do? Things would be a little more normal there, or so they thought, until the spies came back with their report. The very request to send spies displayed the Jews’ desire to do things in a more ‘normal’ fashion (even though there was significant trepidation about the loss of their spiritual exaltedness as a result). It is perfectly legitimate to spy out the terrain before sending in one’s army, and even Moshe Rabbeinu saw the logic in this. But he did not recognize the hidden agenda of the Jewish people, who wanted to check whether this was a normal land that would ease their daily pressures of their current lifestyle.

Yet, even Moshe Rabbeinu should have seen that what was legitimate according to the rules of nature may not have been legitimate according to the rules of higher Hashgacha. Hence Hashem tells Moshe Rabbeinu שלח לך, “You send if you choose to operate according to the level desired by the nation, the laws of nature.”  

May we be zocheh to repair this sin, through ahavat ha'aretz, ahavat Yisrael and ahavat Hashem, and see the rebuilding of the Mikdash in our days.

Parashat Beha'alotecha: The Humblest of All Men

(והאיש משה ענו מאד מכל האדם אשר על פני האדמה (יב,ג
And Moshe was a humble man, more than any man on earth.

Moshe, the greatest prophet, the greatest Jew in history, he was also the most humble? How could that be? How could he not know how great he was?

Before we attempt to answer this question, let’s explore another question. How does the Torah’s description of Moshe being humble relate to the pesukim before it? The pesukim first describe Miriam’s sin of speaking lashon hara about Moshe for separating from his wife, and then the pasuk says Moshe was the most humble person of all. How are these two things connected? Furthermore, wouldn’t it have made more sense for the Torah to say that Moshe was the most righteous and not to be blamed for separating from his wife?

The commentators explain that ענוה, being humble does not not mean that you do not recognize your greatness. It does not mean that you think poorly of yourself or to have bad self esteem. On the contrary, someone who is humble knows his strengths; he knows how positively people feel about him. But he also knows that all of his strengths and accomplishments are gifts from Hashem. In fact, the most humble people are usually the most righteous because they do not attribute their greatness to their own actions. The Netziv adds that being humble means he conducts himself without any concern for his own honor.

The Gemorrah presents an insightful metaphor. When one shakes a tzedakah box with only a few coins, it rattles and makes a lot of noise. However, if you shake a full tzedakah box, it makes very little noise. So too it is with people. A person who is full of many good qualities and accomplishes much has no need to boast. He feels fulfilled. But a person who feels empty inside makes a lot of noise about his few accomplishments to try to fill his emptiness.

The Medrash explains that Miriam slandered Moshe in his presence. Although he was insulted, he did not react. Hashem had to intervene to defend Moshe’s honor. Thus, Moshe’s humility was very connected to this incident, since it was his modesty that enabled him to overlook Miriam’s criticism.

Master educator and lecturer, Shira Smiles quotes Rabbi Feuer who explains that a six foot man will always consider himself tall/high if he compares himself to a five foot person. But if he compares his height to that of the sun, he will realize he is quite low. Moshe did not compare himself to other human beings. He compared himself to Hashem and always recognized how small he was in that comparison. Therefore, he remained the humblest of all men and appreciated how successful he was in being an eved Hashem.

Parashat Nasso - The Power of the Cohen's Blessing

In Parashat Nasso, we find ברכת כהנים, the Blessings of the Cohen. There is something here that always bothered me; why do the cohanim get to bless the Jewish people? Are they more special than me? Aren’t we all created in the image of Hashem?  And even if I get passed my selfish self, wouldn’t it make sense to have great Rabbis and Torah scholars bless the people? Afterall the pasuk says, למען תזכרו ועשיתם את כל מצותי והייתם קדושים and whenever we say any bracha we say, אשר קדשנו במצותיו. So shouldn’t someone who is more holy be better equipped to bless the people? The reality is an elderly Gadol Hador cannot perform ברכת כהנים, yet a 13 year old Cohen, who knows little about blessings is capable. How do we understand this?

Rav Aharon Volkin in his sefer מצח אהרון suggests a great approach to answer our question. The Talmud in Sotah (38b) says, “And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: One may give a cup of blessing to recite the blessing of Grace after Meals only to someone with a good eye, i.e., a generous person, as it is stated: “One who has a good eye will be blessed [yevorakh], for he gives of his bread to the poor” (Proverbs 22:9). Do not read it: “Will be blessed.” Rather, read it: Will bless [yevarekh].” The Maharsha explains that the reason the cup of wine is only given to one with a good eye is because the impact of a bracha is determined by kavana of the one reciting the bracha. The bracha in ברכת הכהנים is לברך את עמו ישראל באהבה, with love or with a good eye.

Essentially, the key to understanding brachot is to see what the blesser has in his heart and mind. It is for this reason that Hashem chose the cohanim to be the lead blessers of our people. Not only because Aharon was known to be one who promoted love and peace, but because Hashem knew the cohanim were most well intentioned. They were not given any portion in the land of Israel; they are supported completely by the other tribes who are obligated to give the מתנות כהונה. So inevitably it is in their best intentions to wish everyone else to have success and be recipients of all the best blessings. With this in mind, they are best equipped to have the best kavana when blessing the rest of the Jewish people.

The message to all of us non-Cohanim is clear. We should emulate their innate ability to put their own needs aside and wish upon everyone else only the best blessings possible. Let us have the ability to move beyond ourselves and with everyone around us success in all of their material and spiritual endeavors.

Shavuot - The Importance of the Journey

As we approach Shabbat the Yom Tov of Shavuot, having just read Parashat Bamidbar, there are a few questions that need to be explored:

1) Why did we, the Jewish people, have to travel in the desert in tribes? Why twelve of them? Isn’t this creating unnecessary factions within the Jewish people?

2) Is there a hidden connection between Parashat Bamidbar and Shavuot? Is there some message to support our reading this Parasha the week before Shavuot?

My Rabbi, Rav Moshe Weinberger, explains that each of us is created with a unique mission that we must fulfill. Our life’s journey is to navigate challenges and celebrations to fulfill this mission.  In fact, the Medrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 16:1) says that “there is nothing as precious to Hashem as an agent who is sent to do a mitzvah and gives his soul in order to be successful in his mission.” Giving of one’s soul means that you invest all of your talents and energy into fulfilling the mission, regardless of the personal sacrifice required. In other words, to be successful, you need to be totally devoted and focused on the mission. Put another way, you need to make the most of the journey.

Just as every individual has his own unique mission, every Jewish community has its own mission as well. It is for this reason that each of the twelve tribes camped in separate groups around the Mishkan; each tribe had to express its unique inner essence. Just as when I fulfill my personal mission, it does not detract in any way from someone else’s, so too, when one community fulfills its mission, it does not detract from another community’s mission. On the contrary, it should motivate the other to be focused and succeed in its mission.

Today, while we no longer have camps per se, but we have different groups: Sephardim, Ashkinazim, Modern Orthodox, Chassidim,  Yeshivish, etc. Each group has no shortage of complaints about the others. They feel that the others do not value their tradition. Why is this? Why do we many begrudge others who are on a path of service to Hashem that is different that his own? Perhaps we have not truly dedicated ourselves to our own mission, or we feel insecure about ourselves and have to put down others’ paths to drown out our feelings of guilt for not being truly committed to our own.

Rabbi Weinberger suggests it is because we are “lost in the desert.”  Certainly Hashem could have flown us directly from Cairo to Tel Aviv! It must be that the journey “through the desert” is significant.

ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר - פירוש רש׳׳י -איש אחד בלב אחד

The Torah says that when the Jews sat around Har Sinai, they were united, like one. This was not magic. It was the result of a long and hard journey of growth.The journey is crucial. We needed forty years of being encamped with our own tribe to understand that there is life outside of the camp. There is value to the traditions in the other camps. We could not magically land at Har Sinai to receive the Torah. We needed a mission and a journey to grow together as a nation.

Now it is clear how Bamidbar and Shavuot are connected. If Shavuot is the marriage between Hashem and the Jewish people, then the Shabbat before Shavuot is the Afruf. So if we want to be successful in accepting the Torah on Shavuot, we need to focus on our own mission; know who we are and what our traditions are. Then we can come to love each Jew. Not to love him in some superficial manner, rather, we need to love each Jew from the depths of our heart, without any speck of negativity or blemish.

Let us all recommit ourselves to our own Torah learning, to our own personal growth. Then let us recognize the value of every Jew and come to love him.

Now isn't that a journey worth experiencing?