Parshas Shelach – Optimism and Faith
Good Shabbos. This week, Professor Joshua Golding who is our beloved Torah Reader at Anshei Sfard, is going with his family on a Sabbatical to live for a year in Israel, just as we read of the spies who went to spy out the land of Israel in preparation of the Jewish nation entering it. The spies were instructed: “Ur-eesem Es Ha-aretz - And you shall see the land” and to report back “Mah Hee – what kind of a land is it”. This information would then be used by the Israelites to formulate a military plan to conquer the Promised Land from the nations living there.
Realistically, the spies had quite a hard job. The Canaanites were powerful giants who possessed great strength. The spies found no militarily sound way for the Israelites to overpower the 31 fortified Canaanite strongholds that they found there. So they returned and honestly declared: “We are unable to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” Yet this honest conclusion brought about disastrous repercussions. G‑d was angry at their words and the entire nation was punished. They would be forced to spend the next 40 years in the desert and all of the men of Israel would die there. Then, only their children would be allowed to enter the Promised Land.
The question is: Where did the spies go wrong? Is it fair to ask someone to report back what they see but then punish them because you don’t like the report? Isn’t this an example of shooting the messenger because you don’t like the message?
To answer these questions, we must remember that the mission of the spies was meant to prepare the Jewish nation to enter Israel as smoothly and easily as possible. However, the entire mission back-fired instead. Ten of the spies came back with an evil report. Only Kalev and Yehoshua, brought back a news of optimism and potential. The others were all pessimistic and negative.
All night the Jews cried over their misfortune in being promised so impossible a land. That night, the 9th day of the fifth month, became engraved in Jewish history as a night of communal weeping. What began as unwarranted crying in the desert turned into the saddest day on the Jewish calendar - the 9th of Av. From the saga of the spies to the destruction of two Temples and many other terrible calamities as well, the 9th of Av is the most frightful day of Jewish misfortune.
Yet, if we analyze the complaints of the spies, we find it was really just an issue of perspective. They said: “The Land through which we have passed, to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants! (Bamidbar 13:32). Rashi explains that the spies saw people burying their dead whenever they went. What they failed to understand was that G-d had caused all of these deaths and so that the Canaanites would be busy with burials and mourning and not pay any attention to the spies. So what was in truth a great blessing and something positive, they only saw as a negative.
The Talmud teaches: “Man is led in the path upon which he chooses to go!” If he expects to see bad things, that is what he will find. If he expects to be successful and find good things, that is what he will find instead. If a person is pessimistic and sees only worries and difficulties, chances are great that he will not succeed. It is the person who expects success, who most often is the one who finds it.
What led to the downfall of the spies may be that they misunderstood the exact nature of the mission upon which they were sent. The mission, as we noted before, was described by saying “Ur-eesem of Ha-aretz – to see the land”. However what they failed to realize is that although Ur-eesem can indeed be translated as “to see”, it can also mean much more.
You see, the same word “Ur-eesem” is also used in the very end of the portion. There we are commanded to place tzitzis on the corners of our garments and we are told: “Ur-eesem” - And you shall look upon them and you should remember all the commandments of G-d, and fulfill them.“
The same word, “Ur-eesem”, is used both times; yet there is a stark contrast between these two chapters. The first time it says Ur-eesem with the spies, it is negative. Their negative report caused the people to reject the Divine promise and brought death and punishment to them all. On the other hand, the second time it says Ur-eetem is a positive one. It refers to looking at the fringes as a way to remember our connection with G-d and our responsibility to maintain a G-dly life.
Both are “seeing” but there two totally different ways to see things. The spies looked at the physical – at the cities and the fortifications and they only the negatives. When we look at the Tzizis we are told to see the spiritual, to remember our connection to G-d and the commandments which bind us unto Him.
The spies overstepped their mission by assuming that they had to reach bring back a physical plan for military success. They had never been their task. G‑d had promised the Jews victory against the Canaanites. Period. No discussion. The question wasn’t if it could be done. The only question was how it could be done.
The same attitude may be applied to other questions that come up in life:
· Will there always be a Jewish Day School in Louisville? We are obligated to have faith and be optimistic. The answer is not IF there will be one - but how!
· Will there be a kosher restaurant in Louisville? We must have faith and work together to make it happen.
· Will there always be an orthodox shul in Louisville? Yes. Most definitely. The only question is what steps will make this Divine requirement most smooth and easy. Again it is not IF, but how.
· What will we do for the next year while Professor Golding will be in Israel? We will miss him, but we will make it work, because we have no other choice.
I have known the Goldings for almost 20 years and I feel sure they will see only the good of Israel. I look forward to a year from now when they come back and share all of the beauty and Torah and Yiddishkeit which they will feel and experience in the Eretz Yisroel.
May G-d bless the Golding Family with a safe and meaningful year in Israel and may He bless us all with the gifts of faith and optimism – so we can see and share with others the goodness and the holiness all around us, and let us say Amain.
