Courtesy of Chabad.org
A WEEKLY TORAH THOUGHT BY RABBI MORDY
This week’s portion, Shelach, tells of the Jewish people preparing to enter the Land of Israel; it centers on the spies who ask Moses if they can scout out the land. Moses concedes and upon return, ten spies report that the land is unconquerable and advise that they all remain in the desert. This is a huge judgment error that causes discord, resulting in both punishment and delay in entering Israel. Who are these spies? They are leaders from each tribe, holy men with “the right stuff” to carry out this special task. So what did they do that was so wrong? Chassidic philosophy has much to teach us about that. For one thing, the spies saw only physicality when searching out the land. The need to plow, plant, sow, were all foreign to them while they were living in the desert “surrounded by the clouds of glory.” When they saw the need to get their hands dirty (what, no Manna?), their judgment became clouded, so much so that they switched the “how to” inhabit to an “if to” inhabit. Despite G-d’s promise and assurance, all the spies but Caleb and Joshua have an erroneous report; the two “good” spies knew how hard objectivity could be and prayed for guidance at the tomb of their forefathers. This is a lesson for us as well; we all have unconscious biases when making decisions and need prayer and counsel to help us make the right one! Today, in a world more volatile than we have seen in our lifetimes, let us pray that our leaders are guided by the right instincts, ones that will hasten a true and lasting peace for Israel and the world. And, on a practical level, let us also remember that the Torah was given as a guidebook to live this physical world. This flawed, imperfect, and yet potentially G-dly world. What deterred the spies was that they hoped to see a Holy Land flowing with spirituality and goodness, not mundane physical tasks. Yet these tasks, when carried out with G-d in mind, are the very work He wants from us. So let us nurture and perhaps even dig to ensure that the goodness is brought to the surface. We all have our unique jobs to do, and G-d needs us to do them now! Good Shabbos!