Quick Thoughts on the Parsha

In the third aliyah of Parshat Shelach, Yehoshua and Calev challenge the meraglim, the spies, by telling the people not only how good the land of Israel is, but also how the people of the land have no defense against them.  וְאַתֶּ֗ם אַל־תִּֽירְאוּ֙ אֶת־עַ֣ם הָאָ֔רֶץ כִּ֥י לַחְמֵ֖נוּ הֵ֑ם סָ֣ר צִלָּ֧ם מֵֽעֲלֵיהֶ֛ם וַֽה׳ אִתָּ֖נוּ אַל־תִּֽירָאֻֽם, “Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them” (Bamidbar 14:9). The Gemara and Midrash explain that this protection could refer to Iyov, for he was the last worthy person living in the land, and he had died. When the meraglim saw the people of the land mourning for Iyov, as well as for many others who were dying in the land, they assumed that the earth was eating everyone up, killing all of the inhabitants who lived in Canaan. And so they were scared and brought back an evil report. The truth however, was that God put everyone in the land into mourning whenever the meraglim passed through so that the inhabitants would be distracted and not notice their presence. The death, which to the meraglim seemed like a curse, was in God’s eyes a protection. This explanation is complex, moving, and deserves in-depth analysis. And yet within it is a simple pearl of wisdom: our perspective, namely whether we find the good or the bad in our given set of circumstances, defines our present and future. The meraglim focused on their fear instead of on looking for God’s hand in their lives. Perhaps this was at the core of the sin that tragically defined the rest of their lives.

--Rabbanit Alissa