The story of the spies in
parshas Shlach is a case study in cowardice. To get a fuller picture of what
happened it helps to read the review of the incident in Deuteronomy 1:20-46. When
the nation approaches the land of Canaan, Moshe Rabenu tells them, "You
have come to the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord, our God, is giving
us. Behold, the Lord, your God, has set the land before you; go up and possess
it, as the Lord, God of your fathers has spoken to you; you shall neither
fear nor be dismayed. And all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us
send men ahead of us so that they will search out the land for us and bring
us back word by which route we shall go up, and to which cities we shall
come,’" (ibid 20-22).
The Holy One, blessed be he
answers, “Send for yourself men to tour (ויתרו)
the land” (Numbers 13:2). The word tour refers to both military reconnaissance
as well as evaluating the merits of the land. The tone of the Chumash is that
neither was really necessary as Canaan was a known quantity because of the
tradition from the patriarchs as well as being a neighboring country of Egypt.
Moshe had a detailed knowledge of the land, as shown in his final discourses
(see parshas Ekev), and the nation had heard the prophesy from Hashem. The
report of an exploratory committee would seem to add very little.
Rashi comments that Moshe
consulted the Holy One blessed be He, who replied that He had promised them a
good land when He took them out of Egypt. Because of this He would cause the
spies to err. The Sifsei Chachamim brings the Gemara that one who wishes to
become impure an opportunity is given to him (Shabbos 104a).
The instructions to the spies
have both military and quality of life aspects. If the cities are fortified
tends to be military. Samples of the fruit of the land would be domestic.
Healthy people and fertile land can be either. The Chumash seems to be hinting
that an ambiguous request was made in order to conceal motives that were not
good.
In the end the spies reject
the Holy Land because they reckon the enemy as being too powerful. They
describe the Canaanites as titans and giants and see themselves as
grasshoppers. G-d’s promise of victory is of no relevance to them.
Calev and Yehoshua dissent saying,
“"We can surely go up and take possession of it, for we
are well able to prevail,". The other ten spies then retort, “We are
unable to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we,” (ibid
30-31). Rashi notes that the expression “than we” ממנו is the same as “than he” and comments that it was as if they
were referring to the lack of strength from Above. Caleb and Yehoshua reply
that they certainly should not rebel against Hashem and they should not fear
these people because their protection is gone and G-d is with us” (see Number
14:9-10).
In evaluating the chances of success in battle there are a number of
factors such as manpower, weaponry, and morale. In the final analysis, though,
it seems that victory comes to the side whose cause was just, because G-d was
on their side. This is what was seen by Moshe, Yehoshua, and Calev, and is what
should be seen by all Yisrael.
The spies on the other hand despised the power of religion and were
embarrassed by their attachment to it. As a result they were prone to make
errors. The story also seems to indicate that in addition to obfuscation, they
were also manipulative and wild.
G-d condemns the nation to forty years in the desert. In response the
people make a phony charade of trying to conquer Canaan. The idea is to make a
valiant but failing effort. It does fail and was also unwelcome.
The message of the parsha
seems to be that courage is not only important to capturing the land of Israel
but in learning Torah as well. At times the demands of wisdom and the demands
of observance are very formidable. In addition there are dangers and risks.
Typically, though, they are only in the realm of disappointment and
embarrassment. However there are also indications that G-d is with you and that
success will come. A coward will run away and come up with all sorts of stupid
tricks that only make his failure inevitable. A person who has the courage of
his convictions will push forward and in the end achieve a glorious victory.
לע"נ, הדוד ,לייב הערש בן אהרון ז"ל
נלב"ע י"ז תמוז תשל"ב
Acknowledgements
to websites: תורת אמת, וויקיטקסט, http://dictionary.reference.com/,
http://hebrewbooks.org/,
וגם בדואר אלקטרוני ניתן באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.co.il
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