Rabbinic Reflections
Rabbi Mendel Kaplan, Chabad @ Flamingo
And Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying; “Send, for yourself, men, and have them scout the land of Cana’an.” Twelve individuals noted for their piety, propriety and prominence were dispatched by Moshe Rabeinu.
Forty days later they returned. After delivering a glowing description of Eretz Yisrael they stated, “ mighty are those who inhabit the land and the cities are greatly fortified”. They then concluded, “We are unable to go up against the nation for they are more powerful than we.”
The reaction of the people is swift and unequivocal “would we have died in the land of Egypt .. why does Hashem bring us into this land to fall by the sword .. let us return to Egypt”.
Initially G‑d’s response is that the Jewish people are deserving of annihilation. Only with Moshe’s intercession does G‑d relent, vowing however, that this generation will not enter the Promised Land. For forty years they will bear their iniquity as they wander in the barren desert.
The entire episode seems enigmatic. Why does G‑d allow Moshe to send the spies? Having been sent, what is the parameter of their sin, their report is seemingly entirely truthful!
The celebrated Lubavitcher Rebbe of saintly memory (whose sixth yahrtziet will be marked this Thursday) once explained; G‑d created a world in which nature reigns supreme. G‑d doesn’t perform unnecessary miracles; we may not depend on the dismemberment of the nature’s law and order for success. Accordingly spies must be sent to ascertain the most effective route military conquest need take.
However depending entirely on our own efforts and within the framework of nature is equally unacceptable. To assume that the key to achievement rest solely is in our own hands is a serious error. Instead we must view our handiwork as a vehicle for the manifestation of Divine blessing. Simply stated, we must do our best and trust that G‑d will crown our efforts with success.
The wayward spies reported truthfully about the strength of the Canaanites and their powerfully fortified dwellings. However they committed a cardinal crime by drawing their own conclusions about the chances of a successful invasion. The question never was if, the question was how.
The modern message of this ancient story reverberates with great force today. A short half-century ago, prophets of doom predicted the demise of traditional Judaism by the end of the millennium. But that was never our question. Although North American soil didn’t seem that fertile for the replanting of Torah Judaism, visionaries like our beloved Rebbe only pondered how, not if Yiddishkiet would prosper.
When the Rebbe talked about reaching out and educating Jews immersed in the secular society, most people laughed saying it couldn’t be done. The bridge was too wide, the gap too vast. Instead of being fazed, he set in motion the most powerful wave of return our people have ever seen.
And today nobody is laughing, instead everyone has embraced his holistic and loving philosophy of caring and sharing. Because the question never was if Torah could survive in the new world, only how long it would take. So take heart, a messianic universe of peace and prosperity is on the way, the question is only when.