Parshas Shelach
The parsha begins with the preparations for the Jewish nation to enter Eretz Yisrael. “שלח לך אנשים” Send forth righteous men, to Israel and survey the land. What began as excitement ended in tragedy, as the decree to wander the desert for 40 years came as a direct result of the once righteous men who reported ill of the land and brought 40 years of exile upon the entire nation.
The Maggid, the malach chevrusa of Rav Yosef Karo, author the Beis Yosef and Shulchan Aruch, explains what happened as follows:
When the spies returned they were not content with slandering the land before Moshe, they sent representatives to every member of their tribe, tent by tent, saying over all that we know, they said Amalek is waiting to crush them, the Emori are huge and powerful, and we saw giants that towered the heavens and made us feel like grasshoppers.
So the slander was carried to each and every member of clal Yisrael. This is why they cried that night, the 9th of Av, and why it was enshrined as a day of weeping for our nation.
The Ramban discusses the pesukim surrounding the spies as proof that the mitzva to conquer and live in Israel is one of the 613 mitzvos. He uses the verse “ותמרו את פי הי” to prove it was a bitul mitzvas asei, or negation of a positive commandment to not ascend to Eretz Yisrael, no short of rebellion against the word of G-d.
The spies were considered the elite, the most righteous of each tribe, yet they were more inclined to exile than to conquering the land. The comfortable exile of mann, and Moshe Rabbeinu where our enemies fell before us and all wars were won, where shoes never wore out their soles and clothes never soiled, the water was miraculous and the clouds of glory surrounded them as a shield. Why rock the boat, in essence. It is more important to learn Torah from Moshe than to keep it in Israel without him…… This was their error.
The Gemara in Brochos tells over the story of Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi who encountered Eliyahu HaNavi and asked him where is Mashiach and when is he coming? Eliyahu said, he is at the gates of Rome, and go ask him yourself. So Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi went to Mashiach at the gates of Rome and asked him, when will you come? Mashiach answered “today”. Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi waited all day, and Mashiach did not come. He saw Eliyahu HaNavi the next day and said “Mashiach lied to me” . Eliyahu asked “What did he say to you” ? Rabbi Yehoshua answered “today”. Eliyahu answered, “today, if you listen to my voice”.
What this means is that when we do not listen to his voice…..the voice of G-d via his fulfilling his mitzvos, Mashiach is delayed. This means the spies, who violated the fulfilliment of Torah, delayed the redemption in Eretz Yisrael until the time of David HaMelech, a loss of hundreds of years. Why wasn’t learning Torah with Moshe in the exile enough? Why did it cause a decree of death to the entire generation above 20 and 40 years of exile?
The answer is learning Torah without the mitzva of living in Israel is pasul, a rebellion against G-d’s will, and results in death and exile for our people.
This is why today, when the mitzva of our generation, without doubt, is the mitzva of aliyah and kibutz galiyous, the spies are alive and well, and they will have simanim. They will be chashuvim, anshei shem, people of tremendous prestige and well respected in your neighborhood, and they will despise the land of Israel, saying “Better to stay in exile and learn Torah, than to risk not keeping it in Israel”. They will say Eretz Yisrael is a land that will destroy your children….. ארץ אוכלת ילדיה. They will have dozens or hundreds or thousands hang on their every word, and be great names known throughout the world. These are the spies of today, extending death and exile to the nation once again. They will teach you every dvar Torah on this weeks parsha, and not mention aliyah once, and it will sound beautiful and mirror truth to all those who hear it. It will not be the Torah we need to hear today. Let me say it clearly without hesitation for all to see.
The mitzva of living in Israel, mentioned in the Gemara Kesuvos is equal to all the other mitzvos combined. The desire to leave exile must become a voice inside, a distant voice at first, that becomes louder and louder, until it pierces the walls of inaction and becomes a passion that nothing can stop you from achieving. It is that passion that is the key to successful aliyah, the knowledge that you are truly keeping Torah, the moment you set your eyes and your heart towards Yerushalayim, and every step you take from here on in will be towards reuniting with our nation home in Israel. This is the lesson of Parshas Shelach we must hear, it is time to leave the exile and come home where we belong, it is time to come home.
Gut Shabbos
Peretz Teller