Monday, June 11, 2012
Parshat Shelach
Bamidbar 13:1 – 15:41
16 Sivan 5772 / June 15 – 16, 2012
Bamidbar 13:1 – 15:41
16 Sivan 5772 / June 15 – 16, 2012
The Mistake of the Spies
by Joshua Avraham Einstein, MH (Greater) Hoboken (Area)
by Joshua Avraham Einstein, MH (Greater) Hoboken (Area)
Parshat Shelach is the story of how our people’s pro-longed
sojourn in the desert came to be. Moses is told by god to send spies from all
the tribes to Canaan to find out the strength and numbers of the
peoples, the size and fortifications of their cities, and the types of crops
grown there. Though the spies are sent to scout the land, it is tactical
information they are after - where and how to conquer not whether they can, for
God has guaranteed them victory. Yet, despite God’s statement that “I got
this”, when the spies returned, all but two (Joshua and Caleb), convince the
Israelites that Canaan is too strong to conquer. God is convinced by
Mosses not to kill the Israelites but does kill the spies (save for Joshua and
Caleb) and makes the Israelites wander in the desert until that generation dies
off (again except for Josh and Cal).
The lesson of the parsha seems to be one of blind faith. Believe
that god will give you the land - have faith - or else. Whether in the
professional world or our social circles we’ve all been in situations where we
have been asked to “tow the party line” or been asked to say something we
didn’t really agree with “for the team”. Sometimes we put our moral
reservations aside, chalking them up to over cautiousness and other times our
conscience prevents us. The spies paid with their lives but even if the stakes
are lower we know that in every case actions have consequences. Considering the
spies went through the Ten Plagues, splitting of the sea, and through the
infamous golden calf incident/receiving of the Torah, they were well aware that
their god was sometimes a vengeful one. While there is no doubt they died with
the courage of their convictions the question remains over whether they were
right in their actions.
The parsha says in two places that the spies gave a report. The
first report was given to Moses and the entire people, it included their
positive evaluation of the crops and the negative evaluation they had being
able to conquer the land. The second report wasn’t given as much as it was
“spread”. Moreover the report was more of an attempt to convince the people
that they should not go into Canaan:
"The land we passed through to explore is a land that
consumes its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of stature.”
Clearly the spies, after fulfilling their duties of reporting back
to the people were trying to influence their decision. God, understandably
annoyed, tells Moses he is thinking of killing all of the Israelites because
they do not trust him. But putting aside the fact that the spies should have
known God had no problems killing people (as he would do to them), were the
spies right to do try to persuade the people not to invade the land of Canaan?
The answer is a resounding no. The spies were commissioned as an
agent of the government, God and Moses, to ferret out and gather information.
They did that job and did so well, but by attempting to influence the people
they were trying to change government policy. This is analogous to the civilian
military relationship in our country. The military higher ups exist to give
advice to and follow the orders of the President, not to attempt to influence
political decisions. When they do so, we get rid of them so did God with the
spies. Shabbat Shalom!
0 Comments:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)