Weekly D'var

PARSHAT SHELACH
Reeven Nathan

Shabbat shalom esteemed congregants and guests, descendants of the 12 Spies…

PAUSE…

Oh yeah, and more importantly, relatives of the highly effective Mossad. Good thing our new-day spies not only defend Israel but serve as a bastion for defeating evil.

“We shall eat, and then shall daven.”

Not so fast now! I shall dvar <10 minutes, we shall conclude the services with Musaf, and thennnnnn we can indulge in a lovely Kiddush.

This week’s parsha is Shelach, or Shelach Lecha, translated as Send to You. This reminds me of my opener, in a similar vein, 

“We will spy and then shall cast doubt.” What happened?

This, in juxtaposition to Naaseh, V’Nishma: “we will do; then we will hear.”

Just over a year after Yitziyat Mitzrayim and around a year since Matan Torah, we had lost our way. Bnei Yisrael, lacking unconditional emunah in Hashem and Moshe Rabbeinu as his Prophet, demanded Meraglim, spies, be sent to scope out the land. Why? Safek, or Doubt. Why did we erect the Golden Calf? Because of the same doubt that entitled us to believe we had counted to 40 days correctly and that Hashem had miscounted. The absurdity in the matter should resonate.

Today, Hashem conceals himself: we do not experience OPEN miracles such as Kriyat Yam Suf, or the 10 Plagues, or the Manna, or the Ananei Hakavod: Hashem’s direct protection thru our times in the Midbar. Bnei Yisrael were immune to all external forces: Hashem was literally guidance us thru the desert.

Nonetheless, today, we do experience HIDDEN miracles: childbirth, marriage, beating cancer, saving a life, and other miraculous things that seems natural, but they are only possible because Hashem willed them to be so.

Back to the story of the Meraglim:

Just 12 months since we literally witnessed Hashem hold a mountain over our heads and received the Playbook for Life, we regressed with resounding doubt and worry.

When the Meraglim returned, their report spoke of a land flowing with milk and honey; however, they believed Bnei Yisrael couldn’t conquer the land amassed with Giants, even comparing us to Grasshoppers in their midst. As I like to say, the larger they are, the harder they fall. Sadly, only 2 spies of the 12, namely Yehoshua Bin Nun and Calev ben Yefuneh, would agree with me.

Rather than trusting Hashem’s guidance for conquering the Eretz Yisrael we had been dreaming of forever… we resound to trying to overthrow Moshe, and appointing a new leader, one who would guide us back to Mitzrayim. Yes… you heard that right!

As a harsh punishment for Bnei Yisrael’s dereliction of Emunah, and threats to stone Yehoshua and Calev, Hashem, again, threatens annihilating Bnei Yisrael. As expected, Moshe intervenes by invoking the 13 Midot / Attributes of Hashem and Hashem lessens the punishment and instead prohibits this generation from entering the Land of Canaan, save for a few adult males including Yehoshua and Calev. Ironically, the 10 doubtful spies would go on to die from a plague beginning in their tongues (midah k’neged midah: measure for measure), and Calev and Yehoshua would go on and lead the children of the fallen Meraglim into Eretz Yisrael.

The day the Meraglim gave an emunah-less report of how we could not conquer Israel just so happened to be on the 9th of Av: a day we wept and trembled when there was no reason to weep nor tremble. Hashem, Adon Olam, Master of the Universe, punished us in perpetuity from this cowardly report by giving us whack to remember by permitting both Batei Hamikdash to be destroyed on this same day, namely Tisha B’Av.

Hashem loves us and wants us to do what he knows is best for us. Sometimes we are blinded and of course, we are not infallible beings. That is why Hashem endowed us with free will because what’s the point of living if He created obedient monotonous robots? The point is for us to love Hashem as much as He loves us.

I’ll end with another hidden miracle proving Hashem is true to his word: Israel Exists Today, is more united than ever, and is able to defend herself from Iran and other opponents of Israel. That Israel exists today, in all Her glory, is a testament to Hashem endowing the Jewish people with Eretz Yisrael. The IDF is what it is today because it is literally Hashem’s Army. Good luck defeating that…

We are the People of the Book, Anshe haTorah, not the People of Doubt. So, lose the doubt and let’s trust Hashem.

And now, let’s (almost) eat! Shabbat Shalom and Am Yisrael Chai.