Sunday, June 15, 2008

Shlach Lecha: The Etilology of Mistrust

Shelach lecha means “Send for you."

Comment: God did not ask the Israelites to dispatch spies. The people demanded it. God had already promised the Israelites both the land and that the land was “good.” The first time God promised the land of Israel to the Jewish people was with Abraham our Father so many years before. (Genesis 13) Reiterated time and again throughout the Torah, these descendents of Father Abraham had lost all faith in the Divine Word.

There was no reason for the spies to pass through the land on a mission except if they were already filled with doubts. Just think of the revealing statement by the returning spies who claimed that "We looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them." (Numbers 13:33) To imply that the Israelites looked like tiny insects to the inhabitants of the land is a depressing, and unreliable, thought.

Perhaps “Send for you” means send a message to yourself about the reality of the situation.

Comment: The word “you” is singular.

The Zohar says that the underlying reason for the spies, really princes, of each tribe, giving such a negative report was they feared for their positions. The delegates/princes/spies believed that the change from escaped slaves to freemen in Israel might mean they would lose their position as princes of their tribes. Afraid of demotion they chose to frighten the people into remaining in the wilderness. In that way the princes remained in power. Perhaps then the reason "you" is in singular form is to tell us that HaShem was specifically speaking to the spies, not the congregation of Israel. God knew their hearts were dark and was warning each of them to think clearly.

Comment: When God declared to Moses to send out the spies what He really meant was, ‘send them out for yourself, if you have so little faith in My word. Did I not already tell you that the Land would be yours?’

In other words, God was telling the doubters that He was surprised at their utter lack of faith. How could the people have so little trust in the Lord after the plagues in Egypt? After the walls of water that parted for them at the Sea? After Mt Sinai? After the manna?

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner invents, based on a midrash, a conversation between two Israelites, Reuven and Shimon. At the splitting of the sea they converse:

"What is this muck?"Shimon scowled, "There's mud all over the place!""This is just like the slime pits of Egypt!" replied Reuven."What's the difference?" complained Shimon. "Mud here, mud there; it's all the same."... For Reuven and Shimon the miracle never happened.

Could this be the problem with the spies? Is it a natural human response to life to have short-term memory lapses?

A Hasidic Master, grandson of the famed Baal Shem Tov, noted that Moses asked the spies to take note of whether the land had trees (yesh) or not (ayin). The word yesh is a positive attitude of life. It is the predisposition of the faithful to see the hand of God in everything. Ayin, on the other hand, is a note of negativism. It is the unwillingness to see hope. Life is nothing more than a battle to stop the steady downhill pull into the dank abyss.

Despite all the implicit warnings to the spies, they were oblivious to hope; their trust in God was minimal.

Noteworthy is the date when these terrible events occurred: the day the spies returned from their mission was the most awful day on the Jewish calendar, Tisha B’Av.

Perhaps this great tragedy is why the Torah reading takes a strange turn toward the end of the parasha. The reading ends with the commandment to wear tzitzit – fringes on the corners of our garments. Why the mitzvah for the tzitzit? “To look and remember all the commandments of the Lord, God, to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes.” (15:39)

Since our ego so strongly influences our yesh, God gives us a commandment which will act as a constant reminder that we must be aware of Providence. When doubts come to mind we are supposed to look at the fringes and be assured that we are not alone.



Haftarah insight:
Once again, spies are dispatched to view the land of Israel. This time, however, takes place some forty years after the debacle in Moses' time. The two spies were Pinchas and Caleb - who went the first time with Joshua.
Joshua carefully picked two individuals whose belief and trust is God is absolute. Their insight led to the home of Rahab. An unlikely hero, Rahab saves the spies. Who could have predicted that a whore would deliver Caleb and Pinchas? Yet, Rahab succeeds where the earlier leaders of ten tribes fail.
Faith is a more important criteria for the people than credentials or familial ties.


A Matter of Halakha:
Three things were gifted to the Jewish people but will only be delivered through trial, reveals the Talmud. They are Torah, Israel and Olam HaBa.
In the first instance, Torah is earned through effort. While a gift, its true essence can only be apprehended when a person applies energy to it.
Israel too, is an inheritance but like Torah, gleaning its true power means travelling there and for the truely devoted, living in Eretz Yisrael.
Olam HaBa, while waiting for each of us, requires us to live a righteous life.
All three gifts come with a price-tag: we must earn them.

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