Shalom Friends;
This week, our Parshat HaShavua, Shelach Lecha is being sponsored by Eli and Miri Behar of Ramat Beit Shemesh and dedicated L’ilui Nishmas for the Yahrtzeit of Yerachmiel Meir ben Nissim Avraham and Lilui Nishmas for Eli’s Mother, Miriam bat Chaim Eliezer, as well as dedicated for the safety of the Chayalim and for the good health and security of kol Am Yisrael. To the Behar family, many thanks for your sponsorship and for your continued kindnesses.
You can celebrate a Simcha — a birth, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a Chassuna or other Simcha event in your life, or commemorate a Yahrtzeit of a loved one, or for whatever other reason by sponsoring a Parshat HaShavua.
Please forward to your relatives and friends and encourage them to sponsor a Parshat HaShavua. And please be in contact with me with any questions, or for further details.
Best Regards,
Moshe Burt
olehchadash@yahoo.com
Subscribe to the Israel and the Sin of Expulsion blog, to ask questions or to sponsor a Parsha Vort at: olehchadash@yahoo.com
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Our Parshat Shelach is compiled against the backdrop of the comtinued War of Simchat Torah — the animalistic, cannibalistic massive invasion of Israel’s southern border towns, slaughter and hostage taking by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and many of the so-called “innocent Gazan civilians, as well as the ongoing joint Israeli – US war against the Ayatollah Mullahs and IRGC of Iran and, Israel’s battle to eradicate Hezbollah — the financial, rockets and weaponry proxies of the Islamic Caliphate Iranian Regime.
To this author, the affair of the Miraglim (the twelve highly respected leaders – one from each of the Sh’vatim [tribes] selected by Moshe), and their demoralizing report seems to relate to a mindset that certain factions of our modern-day Am Yisrael have yet to shake loose from, despite 7 October and the Israel – US joint actions against the Iranian Regime..
Our Parshat Shelach opens:
“Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying, ‘Send forth men, if you please, and let them spy out the Land of Cana’an that I give to B’nei Yisrael: one man each from his father’s tribe [Shevet] shall you send, every one a leader among them.” [Perek 13, posukim 1 – 2 as rendered to English in the in the Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash]
Rashi comments on the above posukim:
“Send forth for yourself” — by your discretion. I do not command you to do so: if you wish, send forth. “For yourself” implies that Hashem was not ordering Moshe to send forth the spies, but rather, was leaving the decision to him [Moshe]. [Rashi citing Devek Tov] Since Israel came and said — “Let us send men ahead of us,” as it says — “All of you approached me [and said, ‘Let us send men ahead of us’]. etc. and Moshe consulted the Shechinah. Hashem said, “I told them that [the Land] is good, as it says, — ‘I shall bring you up from the affliction of Egypt, etc.’ I swear by their lives that I give them room to err — through the words of the spies — so that they shall not take possession of it.” This explains why Hashem agreed to sending the spies although He did not order it. Hashem wished to give the B’nei Yisrael the option of sending the spies, and sinning through them, because they showed a lack of faith by suggesting that they be sent. [Rashi cites Tanhuma 5 and Sotah 34b and Devek Tov as rendered to English in “The Sapirstein Edition — The Torah with Rashi’s Commentary” on Sefer Bamidbar, page 148]
Torah relates the spies’ (miraglim) return from the Land, with ten of the miraglim ignoring proper protocol and going over the heads of their leaders — Moshe and Aaron, and reporting directly to the Am (in a loud public declaration. (cited from commentary in the the Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash, page 801) :
“They returned from spying out the Land at the end of forty days. They went and came to Moshe and Aaron and to the entire assembly of the B’nei Yisrael, to the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh, and brought back the report to them and the entire assembly, and they showed them the fruit of the Land.”
“They [the spies] reported… and said, ‘We arrived at the Land to which you sent us, and indeed it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. But — the people that dwells in the Land is powerful, the cities are very greatly fortified, and we saw the offspring of the giant. Amalek dwells in the area of the south; the Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Emorite dwell on the mountain; and the Canaanite dwells by the Sea and on the bank of the Jordan.'”
“Caleiv silenced the people toward Moshe and said, ‘We shall surely ascend and conquer it, for we can surely do it!'”
“But, the men who ascended with him said, ‘We cannot ascend to that people for it is too strong for us!… The Land through which we have passed… is a land that devours it’s inhabitants! All of the people we saw in it were huge! There we saw the Nephilim, the sons of the giant from among the Nephilim; we were like grasshoppers in our eyes, and so we were in their eyes!'” [Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 13, posukim 25 – 33 as rendered to English in the Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash]
The Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash provides a commentary on the declaration of the ten miraglim, the reponses of Caleiv and the resultant despair of Am Yisrael from commentary in the the Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash (pages 801 – 802) :
On the surface, they did nothing wrong in describing what they had seen. At this point in their report, one sees nothing that should have caused their brethren to despair — yet the result was such a vociferous outcry [by the Am] against Hashem and Moshe, that Caleiv had difficulty in having his defense of Moshe heard.
Ramban comments that the key word in their report that revealed the ten miraglim to be lacking in faith was the word “Efes — But.” [The Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash citing Perek 13, posuk 28] In a factual report, there was no need for such a qualifier: they should have continued to state the facts. By using a word that implied a contradiction to the optimism of their first two sentences, they were, in effect, telling the nation that no matter how rich and blessed that the Land was, it was beyond their reach.
The manner in which the spies return from their mission and give their ill-fated report before “the entire assembly of the B’nei Yisrael,” not just to Moshe and Aaron, seems to this author, to excuse the expression, unorthodox.
This author asks the following questions;
1/ Wouldn’t there be, or should there have been a military-like protocol which would have had the miraglim de-briefed after their mission, at least out of respect for Moshe and Aaron, before addressing the nation?
2/ Was it public knowledge that the mission of the Miraglim was to last forty days, thus, the people gathered near Moshe at the end of forty days?
3/ If the duration of the mission was not known to the public, did people see the Miraglim returning and spread the word of their return throughout the camp causing the Am to gather near Moshe and Aaron?
4/ If the public gathered around the Miraglim, attempting to encourage answers over the heads of Moshe and Aaron, wouldn’t the proper response of the Miraglim have been that protocol dictates that they must first give their intelligence to Moshe and Aaron?
Rabbi Dovid Feinstein provides commentary on events leading to the sending of spies and cites and renders to English Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 13, posuk 4 as an example for which he provides a perspective on the miraglim and what Moshe may have seen as special capabilities hinted at in their respective names in his sefer, “Kol Dodi” (pages 222 – 223) :
“And these are their names: for the tribe of Reuven, Shamua ben Zakur;”
At the end of Parshat Shemot [Rabbi Feinstein citing Sefer Shemot, Perek 6, posuk 1], Rashi says that Hashem had already decreed that Moshe could not enter the land, in punishment for his complaint, “Why did You do bad to this people?” [Rabbi Feinstein citing and rendering to English Sefer Shemot, Perek 5, posuk 22] Thus, as soon as the people were ready to enter the Land, Moshe would have to die. Had it not been for the bad report by the miraglim, Moshe would have died then, at the age of eighty-one. It was obviously to his benefit to remain alive for thirty-nine more years.
It might be objected that Moshe would have preferred not to send the spies, thereby protecting the Jews from their rebellion, so that they could have entered the Land immediately, even if this cost him years of his life. In the long run, however, this would only have made matters worse for the people. At that time, the Jews had not yet fully absorbed the lesson that Hashem demanded strict and uncompromising obedience to His commandments. Their will to rebel was still strong and, if they had entered Eretz Yisrael then, they would have rebelled there in some way. Since the Land does not forgive those who sin in it, their punishment would have been far greater than it was in the Wilderness.
At the beginning of Parshat Bamidbar, we said that names of the men [the representative of each of the tribes] revealed their special capabilities which prompted their selection bu Moshe to be spies.
Thus the name of Shamua suggests that he was a good listener and could be expected to listen to Hashem’s commandments. His father’s name, Zakur, indicates memory, that he would remember Hashem no matter what happened to him.
If so, why did he sin? Shlomo HaMelech said, “A fool believes everything.” [Rabbi Feinstein citing Mishlei 14:15] Unfortunately, Shamua listened too well to his evil inclination and not well enough to Hashem. Likewise, the miraglim evoked the wrong memories in the people, as we see from their complaints in Parshat Beha’aloscha: “We remember the fish which we ate in Egypt for free, and the squash and the melon and the leeks and the onions and the garlic.” [Rabbi Feinstein citing Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 11, posuk 5]
Moshe tried to screen the spies by selecting men with desirable qualities, as revealed by their names. Unfortunately, the men he chose diverted their good qualities to bad purposes.
Rabbi Hershel Reichman provides what is, in some ways, an alternative commentary from that of Rabbi Dovid Feinstein, on the report of the returned miraglim to the nation and its impact on Am Yisrael at length (pages 546 – 549) :
When the spies returned with their frightening report, Moshe argued with the people, noting that they were benefiting from revealed, supernatural miracles. Why didn’t the people accept Moshe’s claims?
In Parshat Beha’alotcha, we read about Eldad and Meidad, the two… nevi’im [not part of the Sanhedrin\ who uttered a terrible prophecy: “Moshe will die, and Yehoshua would bring the people into the Land.” As punishment for B’nei Yisrael complaining about the mann, Hashem decided that Moshe would not be the one to bring B’nei Yisrael into Eretz Yisrael.
Eldad and Meidad pronounced this prophecy in the camp. This decree occurred before the sin of the miraglim, but no one ever told Moshe because they were afraid. Moshe remained unaware of this prophecy.
The people therefore knew that Yehoshua would be the one to bring them into Eretz Yisrael. As great as Yehoshua was, he was not Moshe. They thought that Yehoshua would not be able to merit the same miracles as Moshe did. With Moshe gone, Hashem would not deal with them with the name “Havarah” [pure kindness, as in overriding the laws of nature], but rather will “Keil Shakai,” as the powerful G’d Who works within nature, only making hidden miracles.
In this case [of “Keil Shakai”], [the people would feel that] there would be a din in Heaven about whether they are deserving or not. If they were to go with Moshe, Hashem would save them. But if they would go in without Moshe, they [felt that there would be a din which] would revert to the limitations of nature. They would have a judgement in Shemayim about whether they are deserving of these hidden miracles or not.
The people felt that they were undeserving. They knew their weaknesses. Recently, they worshiped the golden calf. They had complained about the mann and were carried away with hysteria about the lack of meat. They worried, “We questioned Hashem and Moshe for taking us into the desert. We don’t have the level of faith necessary to deserve hidden miracles. Hashem will expect too much from us, and Chas V’Challila we will be destroyed.”
This is the reason the people were not impressed with Moshe’s arguments about the miracles of Mitzrayim and the desert. Moshe wanted these miracles to give the people more faith that Hashem would be able to take them into Eretz Yisrael just like He had cared for them in the desert. They felt that only Moshe was worthy of such miracles. At the lower level, they perceived themselves to be on, the level of din, they were afraid that they would fail.
Sometimes, we feel unworthy or incapable of performing a certain mission. However, when Hashem gives us a commandment, even if we feel that we are incapable or unworthy of this Mitzvah, we must know that we can succeed. Even if we feel that the Mitzvah is too difficult…, we have to do our best. This is our commitment at Har Sinai when we said “na’aseh v’nishma,” we will do it and try to understand. Even if our current understanding tells us that it is impossible to do this Mitzvah now, we try to do it anyway.
We live in a time when many people think that various Mitzvot are impossible. “We are not on that level, we can’t do it.” [This] is mistaken. Just do it, try, and… have success. Have simple faith in Hashem’s commandments.
Today, we find that the mindsets of many of Israel’s military leaders — high command echelons, as well as factions in Israel’s governance and politics are victimized by that unspoken, sub-conscious “Efes — But.” regarding Eretz Yisrael when they freely use expressions like “West Bank” or “territories” and the like, rather than Yehuda, the Shomron, the Jordan Valley and the Golan. The affair of the miraglim and their lack of Emunah and the mindset described above in this paragraph brings to mind what Jonathan Pollard spoke out several times.
Similarly, the are Religious Jews in Chutz L’Aretz who express doubts, concerns and rationalizations such as finances, about the factions within Israel, the sirens of war, etc. regarding not making Aliyah.
After finally being free to come home to Eretz Yisrael with his wife Esther Yocheved bat Yechiel Avraham z”l, before her passing. They were touring up North, by the border with Syria when Esther unhesitatingly asked Jonathan, “Where do you want to live” — thereby expressing their/our possession of Eretz Yisrael.
May it be that our leadership, both governing and IDF high command echelons, as well as kol Am Yisrael come to achieve a faithfulness and consistency in our avodah — both V’Ahavtah L’Arecha Kamocha, as One, and Service of Hashem, B’Ezrat Hashem!
May our government and military bring about the total and complete, Final and Decisive victory over Hamas, their 7 October so-called “civilians(sic)” collaborators, Iran and the entire terror cabal, B’Yad Hashem, and become Totally self-sufficient as to manufacture of military equipment and aircraft, weaponry, munitions — heavy munitions, as well as showing independence of actions responding to any threat, regardless of so-called “super powers.”
May we see, from here on, that border guard personnel at all points of possible danger are listened to and treated with respect and dignity. May we see, with Operation Roaring Lions — the joint action by our Chayalim and the United States against the Mullahs of what has been the Islamic Caliphate dictatorship controlling Iran, that Islam and its barbarous terrorist tentacles of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, as well as Qatar, Turkey, the Houthies of Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq, Afganistan, possibly Egypt, and all who seek war against the Jews be totally eradicated, both in Israel’s neighborhood, as well as internationally, B’Ezrat Hashem. May we see a government of Israel secure in it’s foremost service of, and emunah in HaKadosh Borchu, B’Ezrat Hashem! And may we see the restoration of true unity within Am Yisrael. May these words come to fruition B’Ezrat Hashem.
May we, the B’nei Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently re-settled in Gush Katif, once the IDF, by the Yad Hashem, destructs and eradicates the wild beasts of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, all other terror entities, and if necessary Iran, and that our brethren be made totally whole — be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them, that the thrice expelled families of Amona be restored to their rebuilt homes and the oft-destroyed Yeshiva buildings in Homesh be rebuilt, as well as the buildings of Yishuv Elchanan, all at total government expense. May our Chayalim return from battle unharmed — physically, mentally and spiritually and may all of the remaining hostages brutally taken by the wild beasts of Hamas be liberated and brought home to their families. Baruch Hashem that our dear brother Jonathan Pollard is now in his sixth year at home in Eretz Yisrael and continues in a new chapter in his life. May Esther Yocheved bat Yechiel Avraham have an aliyah in Shemayim and may her spirit and memory continue to lift Jonathan to at least 120 years. May the MIAs be liberated alive and returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem — as with the return in April, 2019, via Russia, of the remains of Zachariah Baumel, the recent recovery of the remains of Tzvi Feldman as well as the recoveries of the remains of Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin from the Gaza War of ten years ago. May we have the courage and strength to stand up and physically prevent the possibility of Chas V’Challila any future eviction of Jews from their homes and prevent Chas V’Challila the handing of Jewish land over to anyone, let alone to enemies sworn to Israel’s and Judaism’s destruction and eradication. May we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nei Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; “Ki Karov Yom Hashem Al’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bimhayrah b’yamainu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!
Good Shabbos!
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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
Moshe is available for editing of English language documents, articles, manuscripts and more. Please be in contact with him at olehchadash@yahoo.com for your English language needs.
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