THE SIN OF THE SPIES

24 Sivan 5785
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Shelach - Mevarchim

From the Stone Edition Chumash Commentary...

The command to send meraglim/spies.  As the nation stood at the threshold of Eretz Yisrael and Moses told them that it was time for them to conquer it (Deuteronomy 1:21), a pivotal incident took place.  Twelve of the truly great leaders of the nation, one from each tribe, went to survey the Land - and came back with a report that demoralized the people and caused them to lose faith in their ability to occupy their Divinely ordained inheritance.  As a result, the entire generation was condemned to death in the Wilderness and Israel's entry into the Land was delayed for nearly thirty-nine years.

The spies' report.  When the spies came back after their extensive forty-day tour of the Land, they should have reported to Moses, who had sent them; instead they made their comments in a loud public declaration.  In view of the account in Deuteronomy that the entire people demanded raucously of Moses that he send a spying expedition, it is understandable why the report was made in such a public manner:  The people had demanded the mission and they felt entitled to hear the results.

On the surface, the spies did nothing wrong in describing what they had seen.  They had been sent to make their own observations and they could not be faulted for reporting the truth as they saw it.  Indeed, at this point in their report one sees nothing that should have caused their brethren to despair - yet the result was such a vociferous outcry against God and Moses, that Caleb had difficulty in having his defense of Moses accepted.

Ramban comments that the key word in their report that revealed them to be lacking in faith was the word אפס, but (v. 28).  In a purely factual report, there was no need for such a qualifier; they should have continued to state the facts.  By using a word that implied a contradiction to the optimism of their first two sentences, they were, in effect, telling the nation that no matter how rich and blessed the Land was, it was beyond their reach.  The inhabitants were too strong and their cities too impregnable.  Ordinary human beings could not do battle with giants.  Thus the spies were advising the nation not even to attempt an assault on Canaan.

Then, compounding the frightening effect of their comments, they mentioned the dreaded Amalekites and the equally powerful nations that would never surrender their land easily.  The very mention of Amalek was treacherous and was calculated to incite the people against Moses, because the land of Amalek was not even part of Eretz Yisrael, and the Amalekites would not have been a threat to a nation that was not crossing its borders.

National hysteria.  The meraglim/spies had done their work well.  The entire nation, even members of the Sanhedrin, the High Court, became convinced that the advance to Eretz Yisrael was doomed and that Moses had misled them by taking them out of Egypt.  So convinced were they that they would be doomed if they ventured into Eretz Yisrael, that they wanted to replace Moses with a leader (v. 4) who would guide them back to the land of their enslavement.  The Sages teach that this "leader" would have been an idol (Sanhedrin 107a), a telling indication that the sin of the spies involved a lack of faith in God.

The tragedy of their delusion had far-reaching consequences, for when the people wept that night, God declared, "They indulged in weeping without a cause; I will establish [this night] for them [as a time of] weeping throughout the generations."  That night was Tisha b'Av [the Ninth of Av], the date when both Temples were destroyed and many other tragedies took place throughout Jewish history (Rashi to Psalms 106:27).

We cannot ascend.  Now, the spies said explicitly what they had only suggested before.  Earlier, after the assembled people had gone back to their tents unsure whom to believe, the spies spread out among the people and spread malicious lies about the Land (v. 32), something they had not dared to do in the presence of Moses and Aaron, Caleb and Joshua.  They claimed that the nature of the Land and its produce is such that it can be tolerated only by unusually huge and robust people; but ordinary people like the Israelites would not survive there (Ramban).

Let's really hope and pray that we've finally gotten past this ridiculous and baseless timidity and fear.

"...the Land is very, very good!  If Hashem desires us, He will bring us to this Land and give it to us, a Land that flows with milk and honey.  But do not rebel against Hashem!  You should not fear the people of the Land, for they are our bread.  Their protection has departed from them; Hashem is with us.  Do not fear them!"  (Yehoshua and Calev)

~ SHABBAT SHALOM ~