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Shiurim & Adult Education
THOUGHTS ON SHELACH LECHA BY RABBI WILKINSON
You would have to be totally cut off from the news to not realise that Israel is involved in a war on many fronts. My phone is set to notify me of rockets in the area where my mother-in-law lives and hardly a day (or night) goes by without the alarm sounding. Being so far away we can only observe, say tehillim and daven for the safety of the people of Israel and for there to be a meaningful permanent peace.
As I was leaving shul this morning, I was speaking to someone about the situation in Israel and he mentioned that many of his family had been visiting Israel and had been unable to get back to the UK. We both agreed that of all the places in the world to be ‘stranded’ Israel was, in our opinion, the best. That also has been evidenced with all the travellers who were unable to complete their journeys to Israel before the conflict started, many of whom are now trying to return to the country as quickly as possible, even with the constant rocket bombardments.
In the parasha this week we read about the meraglim, the spies, who reported on their scouting trip to the land of Israel: “It flows with milk and honey, but the people that dwell in the land is powerful and the cities are very greatly fortified” (Bamidbar 13:27, 28). This initial, factual report of the spies seems to be a proper fulfilment of their mission. What was their sin?
Perhaps the initial statement was not ‘sinful’. However, when Calev interjected, “We shall surely ascend and conquer it, for we can surely do it” (Bamidbar 13: 30), the other spies responded, “We cannot ascend to that people, for it is too strong for us” . This was their sin.
The Shelah explains that the initial statement was the very point of their mission. Hashem wanted Am Yisroel to know that it was impossible to conquer Eretz Yisroel without divine assistance.
Indeed, in his final message Moshe says, “Hear, Yisroel, you will cross the Jordan to drive out nations that are greater and mightier than you, cities that are great and fortified up to the heavens…you will know that Hashem, your G-d, He crosses before you, He will destroy them and He will subjugate them before you” (Devarim 9:13).
Thus, the purpose of the mission was to demonstrate that victory would be achieved only with Hashem’s help. Calev, who believed, was sure they would prevail. The other spies responded that the enemy is too strong for us. Their lack of faith led Chazal to translate their words to mean that the enemy is too strong for Him (Rashi 13:31).
As we look at the military might facing Israel at the moment, it is easy to despair. Israel is a tiny nation. The population of Tehran is the same as the whole of Israel. Yet we need to remember the message from Calev, with Hashem’s help we can succeed and indeed there has been evidence of so many miracles in the past few days.
I would like to conclude with a story that emphasises the importance of positivity when speaking about the Land of Israel, following the paths of Calev and Yehoshua rather than the other spies.
Apparently, a dispirited discussion took place at Beit HaRav, Rav Kook’s house in Jerusalem, not long after the end of World War II. The Chief Rabbi had passed away ten years earlier, and at the head of the table now sat his son, Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah Kook z”tl.
At the Shabbat table, one participant raised a disturbing topic: the phenomenon of visitors touring Eretz Yisrael and subsequently criticizing the country upon their return home. “These visitors complain about everything: the heat, the poverty, the backwardness, the political situation — and they discourage other Jews from considering moving here,” he lamented.
Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah responded by recounting the following parable, one that he had heard in the name of Rabbi Samuel Mohilever, the rabbi of Bialystok.
Once, there was a wealthy man who sought the hand of a particular young lady. She was the most beautiful girl in town and possessed many talents, as well as a truly refined character. Her family was not well-off, so they were enthusiastic about a potential match with the prosperous gentleman.
The young woman, however, had no interest in the match. Rich or not, the prospective suitor was known to be coarse and ill-mannered. She refused to meet with him.
The father requested that she meet the young man at their home, to avoid causing him embarrassment. “Remember,” he said, “just one meeting doesn’t mean you have to marry him.” To please her father, the young woman agreed.
The following Shabbat afternoon, the fellow arrived at the house as arranged and was warmly received by the father. Shortly afterward, his daughter made her entrance. However, her hair was uncombed, and she wore a faded, crumpled dress and shabby slippers. Appalled at her dishevelled appearance, it did not take long before the young man excused himself and made a hurried exit.
“What everyone says about this girl, it’s not true,” exclaimed the astonished young man to his friends. “She’s hideous!”
Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah stopped briefly, surveying the guests seated around the table. “Superficially, it would appear that the brash young fellow had rejected the young woman. But in fact, it was she who had rejected him.”
“The same is true regarding the Land of Israel,” the Rabbi explained. “Eretz Yisrael is a special land, ready to accept only those who are receptive to its unique spiritual qualities. The Land does not reveal its inner beauty to all who visit. Not everyone is worthy to perceive its special holiness.”
“It may appear as if the dissatisfied visitors are the ones who reject the Land of Israel,” he concluded. “But in fact, it is the Land that rejects them!”
A thoughtful silence pervaded the room. Those present were stunned by the parable and the Rabbi’s impassioned delivery. Then one of the guests observed, “Reb Tzvi Yehudah, your words are befitting for a son of your eminent father, may his memory be a blessing!”
Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah’s response was indeed appropriate for Rav Kook’s son. When visitors from outside the country would approach the Chief Rabbi for a blessing, Rav Kook would quote from the Book of Psalms, “May Hashem bless you from Zion” (128:5).
Then he would ask: What exactly is this “blessing from Zion”? In fact, the content of the blessing is described in the continuation of the verse: “May you see the goodness of Jerusalem.”
The Rabbi would explain: “The verse does not say that one should merit seeing Jerusalem; but that one should merit seeing “the goodness of Jerusalem.” Many people visit Jerusalem. But how many of them merit seeing the inner goodness hidden in the holy city?”
“And that,” he concluded, “is Hashem’s special blessing from Zion.”
Shabbat Shalom and chodesh tov
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