Parshas Shelach - Who Are You Going to Believe, Me or Your Own Eyes?

Thoughts on the parsha
Parshas Shelach

Who Are You Going to Believe, Me or Your Own Eyes?

By: Daniel Listhaus

“...We were like grasshoppers in our eyes, and so we were in their eyes!”

-Shelach 13:33

This week's parsha opens with Hashem's response to the B'nei Yisroel's request to send spies to scout Eretz Yisroel. Hashem said to Moshe, “...send forth for yourself men...”¹ As Rashi² comments, Hashem was not pleased with the idea of sending the meraglim (spies). After all, He promised us that Eretz Yisroel was good. What more of a guarantee could we possibly ask for? What better evidence could we possibly discover? Yet, Hashem allowed us to send in spies despite our inexcusable uncertainty and persistence.

Rashi³ writes that just as the meraglim came back and spoke badly about Eretz Yisroel, that was really their intention from the beginning.

The problem with this Rashi is that earlier in the parsha, when listing the names of the meraglim, the passuk⁴ testifies that they were kulam anashim (all men). Rashi⁵ on this passuk (verse) explains that whenever the Torah uses the word “anashim” it is an expression of importance. It therefore seems that indeed the meraglim had only the best intentions when chosen to be the ones to scout Eretz Yisroel. How could we understand this contradiction between these two Rashis?

Furthermore, there is another fundamental question which must be asked on the whole story of the meraglim. The Medrash⁶ tells us that there is nothing loved before Hashem as much as one who is a sh'luach mitzva (someone sent to do a mitzva) and who puts in tremendous efforts to carry out the mitzvah. This is why sh'luchei mitzvos are exempt from doing other mitzvos⁷. As an example, the medrash provides the story of the spies sent by Yehoshua to scout out the city of Yericho, which we read in this week's Haftorah⁸. In contrast, the medrash mentions that the story of the meraglim sent by Moshe in our parsha reflects a polar opposite case to the Haftorah, and is far from showing an example of sh'luchei mitzvah.

The question is, what did the meraglim that Moshe sent do wrong? Moshe himself, upon commanding the spies to go to Eretz Yisroel, said, “Ascend here in the south and ascend the mountain. See the land – what is it? And the people who dwell in it – are they strong or weak? Few or numerous? And how is the land in which they dwell – is it good or is it bad? And how are the cities – are they open or fortified? And how is the land – is it fertile or is it lean?...”⁹ The meraglim were sent to offer their opinion regarding the land. After all, is it not a spy's job to determine the strengths and weaknesses of enemy countries¹⁰. Did theses meraglim not do exactly that? They found the strengths and weaknesses of Eretz Yisroel. Is it because of them that the negative aspects that they discovered happened to outweigh the good news and cause the B'nei Yisroel to shout out against Moshe? What more could be expected of them? They were sent to determine the enemy's strategic position and they did just that. Why is it their fault that the giants living in Eretz Yisroel had prospered tremendously? They were just telling the truth – stating the facts!

There is another difficulty in the actual speech that the meraglim gave when they came back. After giving the first part of their report, and then being interrupted by Calev, the meraglim described to the B'nei Yisroel that the land was populated with giants. They said, “We were like grasshoppers in our eyes, and so we were in their eyes”. What did they mean that they were like grasshoppers in their own eyes? Granted they were received with a strong reception when it came to delivering the news back to the B'nei Yisroel, but that is no reason for them to think they sprouted antennas! Surely they knew that they were human, so why did they say that they seemed as grasshoppers in their own eyes?

Furthermore, we must ponder the validity of the meraglim's statement. How did they know how the giants perceived them, that they had the confidence to declare, “...and so we were in their eyes.”?¹¹

In order to better appreciate the story of the meraglim, let us think about the following. Imagine for a moment that you are walking down a street in Manhattan, when a Japanese tourist approaches you and, pointing at the Empire State Building, asks, “What is the name of that block?” You respond, “Well, this street we are on now is 34^th Street, perpendicular to us is 5^th Avenue, and parallel to us us 33^rd Street.” Confused, he repeats, “Okay, but what is the name of that block with the big building in it?” Thinking this man is crazy, you say, “I do not know what you are getting at. Blocks do not have names, only streets have names. ”Annoyed, you then walk away.

Now imagine you take a trip to Japan. You are walking along some street one night and realize that you are totally lost. As you continue to walk around aimlessly, you come across a unique six-story glass crystal building. Wanting to be able to check it out in the morning, you find a Japanese man who understands English and you ask him, “Excuse me sir, what building is this?” He responds, “That is the famous Prada Aoyama building.” You then say, “I would like to come see it tomorrow, could you please tell me what street we are on?” “Street?”, He asks, clearly very confused, “Well, it is on block number 2”. Now it is your turn to be confused, “I do not care what block it is on. What street is this?” The Japanese gentleman just shrugs his shoulders and says, “Look fella, the address is 5-2-6. Meaning, it is in District 5, Block 2, and Building number 6 on the block. Streets do not have names, only blocks have names here.”

As humans, we often find ourselves in the position of the Japanese tourist in America, or the American visiting Japan. Every person has his own premises, opinions, and perceptions which one assumes to apply universally. We enter situations which should be viewed objectively, and instead apply our own previous notions, personal thoughts, and subjective opinions.

Perhaps this was the main issue with the cheit ha'meraglim (sin of the spies). Hashem had already promised the Jews that they would enter Eretz Yisroel and that it contained nothing but pure goodness. The meraglim, though, did not go forth with their mission with the perspective of being messengers from Hashem. Rather, they went looking through their own glasses, which was the foundation of their mistake. Hashem gave them a choice, “Are you going to spy out the land coming from the perspective that on your side there is Hashem, before whom everything else is puny like insects before Him? Or, will you be the insects – grasshoppers, standing on your own, without fully appreciating Hashem's power, perceiving every molehill as a mountain.

Unfortunately, the meraglim did in fact fail to have the full bitachon (faith) in Hashem, thereby utilizing the middah (character trait) of anavah (humility) incorrectly. Once they made the choice to view themselves as grasshoppers, they caused themselves to be viewed in the eyes of the giants as little insects as well. Perhaps this is an alternative way to understand the aforementioned passuk, “...We were like grasshoppers in our eyes, and therefore we were in their eyes as well”. In other words, it was only because the meraglim felt insecure, due to their lack of belief in Hashem, that the giants realized that they had nothing to fear about these “human-looking creatures”, for they were nothing but puny grasshoppers.

Had the meraglim trusted in Hashem completely, instead of their own eyes, they would have seen the truth about Eretz Yisroel. They would have come back alongside Yehoshua and Calev, confirming how prosperous and beautiful the land is. The giants and their fortified cities would have seemed like nothing more than midgets behind sticks.

With this in mind, we could now understand the contradiction between the two Rashis. On the one hand, there is no doubt that the meraglim chosen were the cream of the crop – the most chashuv (prestigious) members of B'nei Yisroel. However, because they set off with the the intention of applying their own preconceived notions and opinions, instead of going with the mind-set of Hashem being on their side, it was as if they originally went with the intention to speak badly about Eretz Yisroel. They went in specifically looking for the streets, when they should have been noticing the blocks.¹²

At the end of the parsha, we find the last paragraph of kriyas shema which deals with the mitzva of tzitzis. After the Torah's actual commandment for one to attach tzitzis to a four-cornered garment he is wearing, the Torah provides the reason for the mitzva - “It shall constitute tzitzis for you, and you shall see it and you shall remember all of the commandments of Hashem and perform them; and you shall not spy after your heart and after your eyes after which you stray.”¹³ We are supposed to look at our tzitzis and remember the mitzvos of Hashem¹⁴ and perform them in the correct way. What would be the incorrect way of doing the mitzvos? Rashi explains¹⁵,that the heart and eyes are the “spies” of the body. We must make sure to avoid looking at this world through our own glasses and instead utilize the instruction manual, the Torah, which Hashem provided us. Only if we accept da'as Torah and seek ratson Hashem will we achieve the level of the next verse in kriyas shema, “...so that you...be Holy to your G-D”¹⁶.

So, “Who are you going to believe?”, Hashem asks us every day, “Me or your own eyes?”

1Bamidbar 13:2

2Ibid.

3Bamidbar 13:26

4Bamidbar 13:3

5Ibid.

6Bamidbar Rabbah 16:1 and Tanchuma 6

7See Gemara (Mishna) Succah 25a

8Yehoshua 2:1-24

9Bamidbar 13:17-20

10This idea is also seen in Mikeitz 42:12 when Yosef, under disguise as an Egyptian, accused his brothers of being spies and trying to discover the weaknesses of Egypt, he attributed that as the reason why each of the tribes entered through a different gate.

11To answer this question, Rashi (Bamidbar 13:33) explains that the meraglim said that they overheard the giants saying, “There are ants in the vineyard which look like men”. Many mefarshim (commentaries) are bothered by this Rashi. How How did hearing the giants say that they looked like ants mean to the meraglim that they really meant that they were like grasshoppers. After all, this was the claim of the meraglim, that they were also grasshoppers in the eyes of the giants. There are a few approaches to answer this question on Rashi. (See Mizrachi., Kli Yakar, and Maharal [Gur Aryeh] on Bamidbar 13:33)

12See also Maharsha to Gemara Sotah 35a, Maharal Gur Aryeh Bamidbar 13:26, and Mizrachi there, who seem to resolve the contradiction in between the Rashis as follows. At the time that the meraglim were chosen, they were indeed great men. However, upon being sent to spy out the land by the people who were not willing to trust completely in Hashem, it had a negative affect on them and caused them to scout Eretz Yisroel without the proper bitachon in Hashem.

13Bamidbar 15:39

14See Rashi (Bamidbar 15:38) who explains that the word tzitzis = 600 in gematriya (numerical value) + five knots + eight strings = 613. Also, when we look at the t'cheiles (blue-dyed string on tzitzis), which is made from the chilazon (a type of sea-snail), our memory gets triggered to think about the blue ocean which reflects the Heavens and reminds us of Hashem and his mitzvos.

15Bamidbar 15:39

16Bamidbar 15:40

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