Shlach: The Final Cut

This post is dedicated in memory of my father, Yaacov Zev Yisrael ben Shmuel.

I have some very good news. After getting treatments every 3-4 weeks for the last year, this morning (Thursday) I had my final monthly preventative cancer treatment at Sheba Medical Center. Here is a photo of the nurse, Shimrit, cutting off my medical tag.

Nurse Shimrit of Sheba Medical Center cuts off my patient tag for the last time.

As for this week’s Torah portion, Shlach, rather than give one dvar Torah for Shlach, I’ll share three short ones I shared a couple of years ago

A Few Good Women!

In this week’s Torah portion, Shlach, Moshe sends 12 ‘spies’ to scout out the promised land of Canaan. We all know of the disastrous results of the mission. Ten of the twelve scouts bring back an exceedingly negative report which causes the people to weep in fear about entering the land.

The appeals by the other two scouts, Joshua and Calev, that the conquest of the land is possible, fall on deaf ears. God punishes the ten scouts and those who cried by decreeing they shall wander the desert for 40 years and die there without entering the Promised Land. Only Joshua and Calev are spared from that terrible fate.

Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz (1550–1619), a most popular Torah commentator, who was known as the Kli Yakar wondered about the meaning of the words in the opening of this week’s Torah portion where God tells Moshe, “Send for yourself men and let them scout the land of Canaan.” Why did He not just say, “Send men?” What is the meaning of the words, “Send for yourself men?”

The Kli Yakar explains that the Torah is subtly conveying an argument between Moshe and God. Moshe “won” the argument, and the results were disastrous.

God suggested that Moshe should send women as spies to scout the land. Moshe felt the mission would be served better by men. That is why God said, “Send for yourself MEN.” If it was up to Me, I would send women, but it is your decision.

In an essay entitled “Ladies First” Rabbi Yoseph Y. Geisinsky, of Chabad of Great Neck, writes that  The Torah relates that there is a major difference between men and women concerning the land of Israel. When the spies returned and claimed that the land was filled with mighty empires, and entering it would spell destruction, the males fell into despair. However, the women loved and cherished the land, and were excited to enter it. Rashi famously wrote: If you look through the Book of Numbers, you will see that the men constantly rebelled against taking possession of the land. The minute anything went wrong, they panicked and said: “Come, let’s return to Egypt.” The men in the wilderness preferred to live as slaves in Egypt than enter the Promised Land, if it meant they would have to fight to acquire it. 

On the other hand, the women loved the land. We see this from Tzelofchad’s daughters telling Moshe, after their father’s death, “Give us a share of the land.” These women had never even seen the Promised Land, but they loved it so much, said the Kli Yakar, that they insisted Moshe give them a part of it. They did not want to just visit the land, they did not want to rent the land or live in the land—they wanted to hold it, to possess it. That is how much they loved the land.

Thus, the Kli Yakar concluded: “Therefore God said, ‘From my perspective, for I know the future, it would have been better to send women, who love the Land, and would not speak ill of it.’“

The Kli Yakar asked further: What if Moshe had sent women to scout the land instead of men? Can you imagine the different report they might have brought back? Whereas the men focused on how strong and well-armed the inhabitants were, and how difficult, if not impossible, it would be to conquer the land, the women might have focused on how beautiful and prosperous and fertile the land was. They might have spoken about how G-d promised this land to us and would help us conquer it. They might have soft-pedaled the details about the enemy. And if they had, and if they had been listened to, they might have saved our ancestors from committing a great sin and having to wander in the desert for 40 years as punishment.

No one can say for sure what would have happened if Moshe had chosen to send female spies instead of male, but surely it is one of the great “what if’s” of history

The “Tourist” Trap

But what was the real sin of those ten scouts. True, they spoke badly of the land, doubted God’s ability to conquer it, and caused widespread panic and fear among the people, but what else? Was it just their bad report, poor self image, and lack of faith that sealed their fate?

The Lubavitcher Rebbe makes an interesting observation. At no point in this story in the Book of Numbers are these scouts called ‘meraglim’ (spies). In fact, they are constantly referred to with the verb “latur“, which is the equivalent of the English word, ‘tourists’!? The Rebbe implies that they failed in their mission because instead of simply being ‘tourists’ they turned this trip into a ‘spy’ mission, which is not what God intended.

Think of a tourist group. They get on their tour bus, they see the sites, they snap dozens of pictures, they bring back souvenirs, and then they go home and tell everyone back home how great their trip was.

Ten of the twelve scouts lost site of what their mission was. They were not military men sent on a ‘mission impossible’ to plan an attack, they were tribal leaders, diplomats, heads of state, on what we might call a ‘fact-finding mission’, if you will. Instead of snapping photos and showing slides to all their friends back home, this biblical tour group used the souvenirs they brought back (giant fruit) to scare the people out of ever wanting to cross into the Promised Land. They failed miserably as tourists and goodwill ambassadors.

Even though it may be difficult sometimes, our challenge today is to continue to view the land of Israel through the eyes of a tourist. We, especially those of us who live in Israel all year round, must try to constantly feel the joy of being in the Promised Land, the land of Israel.

Not with your Heart, but with your Eyes

Maybe I can connect all the stories above together in some way.

The Kli Yakar talked about women having a different appreciation for the land of Israel because they viewed the land – and the world – differently. The Lubavitcher Rebbe talked about seeing the land like a tourist, not a spy.

It’s all about having a good eye. Both my parents (my mother and my late father) always stressed to us Sredni kids to have a “good eye” (ayin tova) to see the land of Israel and its people in a positive light. My parents- and especially my father, ALWAYS insisted on focusing on the positive in Israel and would scold us if we ever spoke badly of Israel or its people.

Instead of focusing on the scouts’ bad report, we must remember what Joshua and Caleb, the original ‘tourists’ said about the land of Israel. “Tova haaretz meod, meod“. “The land is very, very good!”

How do we do that? My sister Gina Junger often shares the beautiful quote that our father Yaacov told her when she first came to Israel for a summer program at a religious kibbutz at the age of sixteen:

“To see the land of Israel with just your eyes is what the spies did. To see it with your heart is what Calev and Yehoshua did!”

Shabbat Shalom.