~ Thoughts on The Parsha ~
Parshas Shelach
Who Are You Going to Believe, Me
or Your Own Eyes?
וְשָׁם רָאִינוּ אֶת הַנְּפִילִים
בְּנֵי עֲנָק מִן הַנְּפִלִים וַנְּהִי בְעֵינֵינוּ כַּחֲגָבִים וְכֵן הָיִינוּ
בְּעֵינֵיהֶם
“...And there we saw
the giants, the sons of Anak, descendents of giants. 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 Rashi[2]
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.
Rashi[3]
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 passuk[4]
testifies that they were kulam anashim (all men). Rashi[5]
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 Medrash[6]
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 mitzvos[7].
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 Haftorah[8].
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 countries.[10]
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 34th
Street, perpendicular to us is 5th Avenue, and parallel to us is 33rd
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 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, remember the mitzvos of
Hashem,[14]
and perform them in the correct way. What would be the incorrect way of doing
the mitzvos? Rashi explains[15]
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?”
[1] Bamidbar 13:2
[2] Ibid.
[3] Bamidbar 13:26
[4] Bamidbar 13:3
[5] Ibid.
[6] Bamidbar Rabbah 16:1 and Tanchuma 6
[7] See Gemara (Mishna) Succah
25a
[8] Yehoshua 2:1-24
[9] Bamidbar 13:17-20
[10] This 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.
[11] To 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)
[12] See 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 effect on them and caused them
to scout Eretz Yisroel without the proper bitachon in Hashem.
[13] Bamidbar 15:39
[14] See 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.
[15] Bamidbar 15:39
[16] Bamidbar 15:40
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