וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה, לָמָּה זֶּה אַתֶּם עֹבְרִים אֶת-פִּי יְהוָה; וְהִוא, לֹא תִצְלָח - And Moshe said: 'Why is it that you transgress the commandment of Hashem? It shall not succeed!
(במדבר י"ד:מ"א)
The verse above comes at the end of the story of the Meraglim, the "spies" who were sent to scout out the land of Israel prior to what was supposed to be Israel's entry. Unfortunately, the spies' report was highly critical and negative. Because the spies spoke badly about the land of Israel (or according to some explanations, because they saw bad in Israel,) the people of that generation were reprimanded and punished by being told that they wouldn't be given the merit to enter the land of Israel.
In an attempt to correct their earlier error, some of the Jews then declared that they would push forward into the land of Israel regardless. It is at this point that Moshe warns them, above. Immediately afterwards, we read of how this plan was doomed to fail with shocking consequences; those who went to enter the land were met by forces from the Amalek and Canaan armies, and were thoroughly annihilated.
I'd like to take a close look at the wording of the verse above. If we pay attention to Moshe's warning, he words his statement in an odd way; he doesn't say "you will not succeed," rather he phrases it as "it will not succeed." What is the it that he is referring to? The answer is actually fairly obvious, and the Ibn Ezra makes no time in explaining that "it" was the action of making aliyah, of going into Israel. "It" was the plan to do this, and this "it" would not succeed.
But we've only gone halfway to answering the question; now we know what the it was referring to, but we still don't know why Moshe referred to the plan as liable to fail rather than telling the people that they would fail. By changing the subject of his sentence, it seems unncessarily clunky. I'd like to tender an answer I thought of myself: Moshe refused to criticise the people. He saw that they had good intentions and wanted to correct their earlier error. He realised that there was no point in telling them off for their hearts were true, even if their actions were off. I am not yet a parent and am not really in a place to direct people how to raise their own children, but I've heard it said that one must never say "stupid boy" or "bad girl", but rather must explain to the child in question that their actions were bad or lacked being thought through. The child is almost always good, even if the action isn't. In a similar manner, Moshe make sure to tell the nation that their actions would not succeed.
I'd like to relate this to current affairs. Benjamin Netanyahu spoke earlier this week of the hypocrisy of the world's leaders. He was absolutely correct. He asked how they would have reacted when faced with terrorists and supporters of terrorists. The world leadership and media have been quick to condemn Israel and declare it an illegal, immoral and apartheid state. Not many have thought through their stance and declared that they would like to have seen things done differently, and then explained how a better plan should have been formed. Israel is surrounded by shocking hypocrisy. But it remains up to us to ignore such inane criticism and try to conduct ourselves to the highest moral standard possible.
This week's Dvar Torah is dedicated to the soldiers injured in the operation against the flotilla terrorists*. May they heal quickly and may they not be discouraged from their holy cause of protecting the people of Israel.
Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom!
*They were injured by gunshot wounds, stabbings and being beaten. I think I can safely call these people terrorists.
Showing posts with label Shelach Lecha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shelach Lecha. Show all posts
Friday, June 04, 2010
Friday, June 19, 2009
Parshat Shelach Lecha - פרשת שלח לך
This week's Parsha details the episode of the Meraglim - the spies who were sent on a reconnaissance mission into Canaan, the future land of Israel. There are two things I'd like to point out about this incident. One derives from a D'var Torah I read online by Rabbi Yosef Kalatsky, and one I heard from a friend who I believe would prefer to stay anonymous.
R' Yosef Kalatsky's D'var Torah refers to the Haftara which is taken from Sefer Yehoshua in Nevi'im. There a similar episode is related whereby Yehoshua sends out Meraglim, spies, of his own. In this case, he sends out Caleb and Pinchas to scout out Jericho. The text there says that they were sent out as, "מרגלים חרש." The commentators point out that word חרש can be interpreted as silent or alternatively may be understood to mean earthenware. We learn that the latter word hints at the cover that Pinchas and Calev took while they were scouting the land - they posed as earthenware salesmen. The question is, why is that significant?
The choice of earthenware as the trade which the spies used for cover is noteworthy because earthenware is typically used for pots, jugs and the like - it is used to hold things. Once an earthenware jug or ot is broken, the fragments that are made are completely useless - there is no intrinsic value in earthenware. Unlike metal which can be melted down and reused, earthenware is only valuable as long as it has a purpose - it's value is entirely dependent on it's purpose.
Now we can understand why Pinchas and Calev were descibed as earthenware salesmen because they were charged with a task, and they made themselves fit the roles described to them. The spies who were sent by Moshe to scout out the land of Canaan, but they had their own designs and ultimately did not fulfill the purpose of their mission.
The second thing I'd like to mention about the incident of the meraglim is brought to you by a good friend of mine. He and I were once talking as we meandering through the streets of the Old City. He posed me the following question: Why did the Meraglim report back with bad things to say about Eretz Yisrael? After all they had been through, why should they have worried about entering the land of Israel? Moreover, this was the generation that had just received the Torah at Har Sinai - surely they couldn't have tripped up so easily?
The question really caught me. All too often I have only learned about incidents that happened in the Torah from a child's perspective - often the person or people we read about acted improperly, but we all too easily dismiss the misguided actions of our forbears as foolish or thoughtless when the reality is very different.
My friend answered for me. In this case, the spies sent by Moshe were, as read in the Torah, all great leaders. These people, as I pointed out above, had all been present at the greatest moment in the world's history - the giving of the Torah at Har Sinai. Clearly they understood the gravity of the situation they were in, it would be foolish of us to doubt their understanding of the task they had been charged with. It was not because of some plot that these men failed in their mission - their mistake was an honest and well-intended one.
Up until now, Am Yisrael had camped in the desert with Hashem's schinah surrounding them on all sides. They travelled with the Ananei HaKavod, the Clouds of Glory, accompanying them wherever they went, shielding them from the elements, ensuring that the conditons would be optimally comfortable. In this time, Am Yisrael would learn Torah from Moshe and they experienced very direct connection with Hashem. Their food was provided for in the form of the heaven-sent Man, their clothes miraculously grew with them, and within the clouds, even if it were scorchingly hot outside, the conditions remained permanently pleasantly Spring-like. As all the physical needs of Am Yisrael were taken care of, all that remained to be done was to learn Torah.
The Meraglim, seeing that settling the land of Israel would require hard labour and many hours of toiling, working the land, decided that it would be better to stay in the desert with Hashem looking after them so that B'nei Yisrael would be able to continue learning Torah without interruption. In this context, we can say that surely there's not a more noble mistake in the entire Torah!
Unfortunately for the Meraglim, their decison was indeed in error. They had missed the point; this world is all about work and engaging oneself with one's surroundings. There can be withdrawal to a desert island in order to meditate and ponder the meaning of life - life is to be lived, to be experienced. The Meraglim didn;t understand that tilling the land doesn't actually take away from learning Torah - doing such mundane tasks in Eretz Yisrael take on a higher physical dimension.
My friend finished by stating how he thinks that we would do well to learn the lesson being taught here - it is vitally important to live in Israel, even if it tougher, for in Eretz Yisrael, normal and everyday acts sanctified with holiness.
Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom!
I'd like to point out that I thought I'd take the opportunity to write rather Zionistic d'var torah as the next 7 days will be very special for me. This is my last week in London and I will finally officially make Aliyah on Thursday. Wish me luck :)
R' Yosef Kalatsky's D'var Torah refers to the Haftara which is taken from Sefer Yehoshua in Nevi'im. There a similar episode is related whereby Yehoshua sends out Meraglim, spies, of his own. In this case, he sends out Caleb and Pinchas to scout out Jericho. The text there says that they were sent out as, "מרגלים חרש." The commentators point out that word חרש can be interpreted as silent or alternatively may be understood to mean earthenware. We learn that the latter word hints at the cover that Pinchas and Calev took while they were scouting the land - they posed as earthenware salesmen. The question is, why is that significant?
The choice of earthenware as the trade which the spies used for cover is noteworthy because earthenware is typically used for pots, jugs and the like - it is used to hold things. Once an earthenware jug or ot is broken, the fragments that are made are completely useless - there is no intrinsic value in earthenware. Unlike metal which can be melted down and reused, earthenware is only valuable as long as it has a purpose - it's value is entirely dependent on it's purpose.
Now we can understand why Pinchas and Calev were descibed as earthenware salesmen because they were charged with a task, and they made themselves fit the roles described to them. The spies who were sent by Moshe to scout out the land of Canaan, but they had their own designs and ultimately did not fulfill the purpose of their mission.
The second thing I'd like to mention about the incident of the meraglim is brought to you by a good friend of mine. He and I were once talking as we meandering through the streets of the Old City. He posed me the following question: Why did the Meraglim report back with bad things to say about Eretz Yisrael? After all they had been through, why should they have worried about entering the land of Israel? Moreover, this was the generation that had just received the Torah at Har Sinai - surely they couldn't have tripped up so easily?
The question really caught me. All too often I have only learned about incidents that happened in the Torah from a child's perspective - often the person or people we read about acted improperly, but we all too easily dismiss the misguided actions of our forbears as foolish or thoughtless when the reality is very different.
My friend answered for me. In this case, the spies sent by Moshe were, as read in the Torah, all great leaders. These people, as I pointed out above, had all been present at the greatest moment in the world's history - the giving of the Torah at Har Sinai. Clearly they understood the gravity of the situation they were in, it would be foolish of us to doubt their understanding of the task they had been charged with. It was not because of some plot that these men failed in their mission - their mistake was an honest and well-intended one.
Up until now, Am Yisrael had camped in the desert with Hashem's schinah surrounding them on all sides. They travelled with the Ananei HaKavod, the Clouds of Glory, accompanying them wherever they went, shielding them from the elements, ensuring that the conditons would be optimally comfortable. In this time, Am Yisrael would learn Torah from Moshe and they experienced very direct connection with Hashem. Their food was provided for in the form of the heaven-sent Man, their clothes miraculously grew with them, and within the clouds, even if it were scorchingly hot outside, the conditions remained permanently pleasantly Spring-like. As all the physical needs of Am Yisrael were taken care of, all that remained to be done was to learn Torah.
The Meraglim, seeing that settling the land of Israel would require hard labour and many hours of toiling, working the land, decided that it would be better to stay in the desert with Hashem looking after them so that B'nei Yisrael would be able to continue learning Torah without interruption. In this context, we can say that surely there's not a more noble mistake in the entire Torah!
Unfortunately for the Meraglim, their decison was indeed in error. They had missed the point; this world is all about work and engaging oneself with one's surroundings. There can be withdrawal to a desert island in order to meditate and ponder the meaning of life - life is to be lived, to be experienced. The Meraglim didn;t understand that tilling the land doesn't actually take away from learning Torah - doing such mundane tasks in Eretz Yisrael take on a higher physical dimension.
My friend finished by stating how he thinks that we would do well to learn the lesson being taught here - it is vitally important to live in Israel, even if it tougher, for in Eretz Yisrael, normal and everyday acts sanctified with holiness.
Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom!
I'd like to point out that I thought I'd take the opportunity to write rather Zionistic d'var torah as the next 7 days will be very special for me. This is my last week in London and I will finally officially make Aliyah on Thursday. Wish me luck :)
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