Dovid Margolin:
In the Torah portion that we read this week, Shelach, the Torah describes how Moshe sent spies to scout out the land of Canaan [Israel]. Moshe instructed them to inspect the land's inhabitants; to check whether they were strong or weak, and Moshe told them to survey the land itself; whether it was good and rich land. The spies famously came back and spoke evil of Canaan, and the Jewish People were not allowed to enter their Promised Land and wandered through the desert for forty years. The Spies themselves, with the exclusion of the two spies who did not bad-mouth Israel, Calev and Yehoshua, suffered a punishment, and Calev and Yehoshua were rewarded by being allowed to eventually enter the land of Israel.
Moshe gave the Spies orders to gauge the strength of the nations that inhabited Canaan, and to report on the physical attributes of Canaan as well. The Spies came back and they told the nation how “the land is flowing with milk and honey, and this its fruit.” They then continued “But the people that dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified, and very great.” When they had finished this declaration, Calev, one of the two untainted Spies, called out to the people that no, they will be able to conquer the land. After this the Spies started to spread an evil report about what they had seen. The Lubavitcher Rebbe asks, the Spies initial response was just an answer to the question that Moshe had posed in the first place, why did Calev react so harshly right after their report?
The Rebbe answers that the original sin of the Spies was that they switched the order of Moshe's questions around. They first answered about the land, and then answered about the people. Moshe's question had been the exact opposite, he had first asked about the mission at hand, the strength of the people that they would fight, and then he asked about the land, the reward that would belong to the Jews after they had done their mission. Moshe's wording had been specific, he told the Spies to see whether they were “strong or weak” because the war would be fought the same way whether they were strong or weak.
The Spies answer focused on the reward first, and the mission second. Calev recognized this fact right away, and started to yell and voice his opposition. He saw that the reward was the most important thing in the eye's of those Spies, that they saw the mission as a means towards an end, and he knew that that was wrong. Calev understood that once the service, the mission, was being done towards a reward the mission itself would take a back seat. People would be able to make calculations about whether the reward was worth the hardships of the mission, ultimately it would lead to the point where, as the Spies proceeded to do, they would say that the mission is impossible and there is no hope.
Calev also understood that Moshe had laid out his words carefully, and that the instructions of a Jewish leader are to be followed to the letter. There is a Moshe in each generation who guides the Jewish people, and gives specific instructions. Undoubtedly the Lubavitcher Rebbe is the Moshe, the leader, of our generation, just as his father-in-law, the Previous Rebbe, was before him. We should try our hardest and be careful to follow the teachings of our Rebbe, because it is always possible to make grave mistakes, as the spies did, when we start to deviate from the words of a leader. May we merit to do all of this with true joy, and may we finally make the last push to bring Moshiach, now.
Moshe gave the Spies orders to gauge the strength of the nations that inhabited Canaan, and to report on the physical attributes of Canaan as well. The Spies came back and they told the nation how “the land is flowing with milk and honey, and this its fruit.” They then continued “But the people that dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified, and very great.” When they had finished this declaration, Calev, one of the two untainted Spies, called out to the people that no, they will be able to conquer the land. After this the Spies started to spread an evil report about what they had seen. The Lubavitcher Rebbe asks, the Spies initial response was just an answer to the question that Moshe had posed in the first place, why did Calev react so harshly right after their report?
The Rebbe answers that the original sin of the Spies was that they switched the order of Moshe's questions around. They first answered about the land, and then answered about the people. Moshe's question had been the exact opposite, he had first asked about the mission at hand, the strength of the people that they would fight, and then he asked about the land, the reward that would belong to the Jews after they had done their mission. Moshe's wording had been specific, he told the Spies to see whether they were “strong or weak” because the war would be fought the same way whether they were strong or weak.
The Spies answer focused on the reward first, and the mission second. Calev recognized this fact right away, and started to yell and voice his opposition. He saw that the reward was the most important thing in the eye's of those Spies, that they saw the mission as a means towards an end, and he knew that that was wrong. Calev understood that once the service, the mission, was being done towards a reward the mission itself would take a back seat. People would be able to make calculations about whether the reward was worth the hardships of the mission, ultimately it would lead to the point where, as the Spies proceeded to do, they would say that the mission is impossible and there is no hope.
Calev also understood that Moshe had laid out his words carefully, and that the instructions of a Jewish leader are to be followed to the letter. There is a Moshe in each generation who guides the Jewish people, and gives specific instructions. Undoubtedly the Lubavitcher Rebbe is the Moshe, the leader, of our generation, just as his father-in-law, the Previous Rebbe, was before him. We should try our hardest and be careful to follow the teachings of our Rebbe, because it is always possible to make grave mistakes, as the spies did, when we start to deviate from the words of a leader. May we merit to do all of this with true joy, and may we finally make the last push to bring Moshiach, now.
posted by: jrtelegraph
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