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Shiurim & Adult Education
THOUGHTS ON SHELACH LECHA BY RABBI WILKINSON
This Shabbat is Shabbat Mevarachim Tammuz. Rosh Chodesh is on Monday and Tuesday. Tammuz marks the beginning of the three weeks leading up to Tisha B’Av when we mourn the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Yerushalayim and the beginning of our long exile. The Parshiot that we read during this period are particularly appropriate, enabling us to absorb some important lessons.
In Parshat Shelach, the Torah relates to us the Cheit Ha’Meraglim, the infamous Sin of the Spies, who were sent to scout out the land of Israel, ahead of the nation’s planned entry into the Land. Moshe sent the scouts to Canaan, along with instructions as to what they should look for. Is the land fertile or lean? Are the cities fortified or open? Are the people strong or weak, populous or few? Are there trees, and what about its fruit?
The spies ascend to the land and scout it out for forty days. Upon returning, the spies speak their infamous lashon harah. “We cannot ascend!” they cry. “Our enemies are on every border, including our arch-enemy, Amalek, who dwells in the south. The cities are very fortified, the people are very strong, we saw giants in the land, everyone was burying their dead, and the fruits are enormous. It would be better to return to Egypt than to enter this land!”
With these words, ten spies turn the hearts of the entire nation against the land, and against Hashem, as it were.
Possibly one of the most fateful pasukim in the entire Torah is found within this narrative:” And the entire assembly lifted up, and they gave forth their voice, and the nation cried on that night “(14:1). The Gemara in Taanit teaches us that the night they cried was Tisha b’Av, and Hashem declared: “You cried a purposeless cry, I will establish for you a crying for generations.”
“You rejected My Land?” Hashem declared. “As a punishment from turning away from my good Land, in the future, due to your sins (Yoma 9b), She will reject you in turn.”
On the date of this tragedy, the 9 Av, many calamitous events have befallen our nation including the destruction of both Batei Mikdash.
Only two of the scouts, Calev ben Yefuneh from the tribe of Yehuda, and Hoshea (Yehoshua) bin Nun, from the tribe of Ephraim, see the good, and speak positively.
In response to the initial negative reports given by the other spies, we are told “And Calev silenced the nation against Moshe, and he said: We can surely ascend and take possession of the land, for we are surely able to do so.” (Bamidbar 13:30).
After the complete slanderous report of the spies, both Calev and Yehoshua tear their garments and declare to the entire assembly of the Children of Israel: ”The land which we passed through, to scout it out, is a very, very good land. If Hashem desires us, He will bring us to this land and give it to us, (it is) a land that is flowing with milk and honey. But against Hashem do not rebel, and do not fear the nations of the land, for we shall consume them, their protection has left them, and Hashem is with us, do not fear,” (14:6-9).
As a reward for their faithfulness, out of the entire generation of men, only Calev and Yehoshua merited to enter the land.
In a sermon delivered on Shabbos day, June 22, 1940, in the Warsaw Ghetto, the Aish Kodesh, Rav Kalonymus Kalman Shapira zt’l HY”D, related the following words to his congregation. Quoting the pasuk: “And Calev silenced the people toward Moshe and said: We can go up and take possession of it, for we are able to overcome.” (13:30), the Aish Kodesh said, “Let us understand: The Spies advanced quite reasonable arguments [in their opposition to the conquest of the Promised Land]: “The people that dwell in the land are fierce and the cities are very fortified” (13:28) why did Calev not debate with them, refuting their arguments and rationales, instead of merely stating, “We should go up at once?”
“Such, however, must be the faith of the Jew: he must take courage and believe that Hashem will save him, not only at a time when he sees a logical and natural way open for his salvation. Rather, even at such times when, G-d forbid, he sees no logical and natural way open for his salvation, he should have faith that Hashem will save him, taking courage in his faith and trust. On the contrary, at such a time, it is better not to insist on finding some rationale, some approach to a natural way out of the predicament, for since he will not find any straightforward resolution, his faith may, G-d forbid, be weakened thereby, and a flaw in his faith may possibly delay his salvation. Rather one must say, “It is all true: The people that dwell in the land are fierce. It is correct that: The cities are well fortified.” Nevertheless, I believe that Hashem, who transcends all boundaries and limitations, will save us. “We should go up and possess it – without any rationale and without reason. Such a faith and trust in Hashem hastens our salvation”.
Although the situation in Israel and for Jews around the world is difficult, Baruch Hashem our situation today, as a nation, is worlds apart from the Jews of 1940 in the Warsaw Ghetto. I think these words of the Aish Kodesh are as relevant today as they were then.
The past few years have seen terrible attacks on Israel and the Jewish people, but we need to look at the entire picture: The salvation of Hashem comes in the blink of an eye. We have been able to witness miracles of Biblical proportions. When Hashem desires that our enemies be struck down, we do not need to worry about rationale or reason. We do not need to find a natural approach to overtake the enemies who wish to destroy us. We do not need a straightforward resolution to our troubles.
Like Calev, we must only trust in Hashem, knowing that “we can surely ascend, we will conquer the enemy, for with Hashem on our side, we will surely succeed.”
The parasha concludes with Hashem telling Moshe to command to the people that they make tzitzit for the corners of their garments and include a thread of turquoise blue wool among the fringe strings. When we see the thread, we are to remember Hashem’s mitzvot, perform them, and not stray from His mitzvot by following any other influences. The mitzvah of tzitzit is the third paragraph of the Shema, words that we recite in our services twice a day to continue to refresh our memory of Hashem’s commandment. Our tradition is that the mitzvah of tzitzit is equal to all the other mitzvot of the Torah, because when we look at them, we are to recall all of Hashem’s mitzvot.
Last year I purchased Rabbi Ephraim Oshry’s Responsa from the Holocaust. Rabbi Oshry was a young man when he was caught up in the ghetto of Kovno, Lithuania after the Nazis invaded the country in 1941. The Jews of Kovno came to Rabbi Oshry frequently with Halachic questions that arose when the Jews were confined to the ghetto and concentration camp and did not have access to Kosher food, ritual items, and other support that we take for granted. As the only halachic authority in the ghetto and concentration camp, Rabbi Oshry had to respond to questions according to Halachic precedent in situations that the Rishonim probably never anticipated. Thanks to the mercy of Hashem, Rabbi Oshry was one of the few European Rabbis to survive the Nazi horrors. During the war, he wrote his questions and responses on scraps of paper. After the war, he transcribed the material and published the questions and responsa in Hebrew. He later translated, condensed, and published selected items in English in Responsa from the Holocaust.
In the Kovno ghetto, the residents had no way to obtain readymade tzitzit or fibres to make new ones. One man, Meir Abelow, worked in a workshop where Jewish slave workers used wool. Abelow planned to steal some strands of wool, hide them, and bring them into the ghetto where Jews could spin them for tzitzit. He asked Rabbi Oshry whether the Jews could use the stolen wool to make tzitzit and whether he (Abelow) would be sinning by stealing wool for this purpose. Rabbi Oshry ruled that taking wool from the Germans did not constitute theft and that the yeshiva boys could use the wool to make tzitzit. He also ruled that since there was no other way to obtain four corner garments, they could cut a large tallit in two, to turn it into two small garments. This plan brought great joy to the yeshiva boys, because they now had an opportunity to fulfil the great mitzva of tzitzit.
The lessons from the Aish HaKodesh and from Rabbi Oshry remind us that when we look around at the world, we should focus on Hashem’s love of our people and continued protection despite the hatred of our enemies throughout the world. Yes, our enemies seek to kill us and destroy our land and families.
However, no other nation or people has survived for 3500 years. It is a miracle that such a small nation has survived for so long. Other, much larger and more powerful nations and religions have disappeared into other nations and religions. Meanwhile, we Jews, despite the efforts of many generations of enemies, continue to thrive and carry on our relationship with our Creator.
Shabbat Shalom and chodesh tov.
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