Dvar Torah Devarim – Viewing the Whole Picture:

Devarim – Viewing the Whole Picture:
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You approached me, all of you, and said, “Let us send men ahead of us and let them spy out the land” (Devarim 1:22).
The mandate expressed in Pirkei Avos of: “Do not look at the flask but what is in it,” (4:27) is a valuable one indeed. The danger of a quick and cursory view can rear its ugly head in every action we witness. And yet it is difficult to fault a person for misreading an event, not fully grasping what he has seen or heard. I may know the “what,” but without knowing the “why,” as well, I may misinterpret what has transpired.
One method of deciphering a person’s motive is by seeing if his behavior is consistent. We find such an instance in Parashas Devarim. In the beginning of the parashah, Moshe recalled various events where the Bnei Yisrael had acted wrongly or inappropriately. In the pasuk quoted above, Rashi explains that Moshe alluded to the fact that when the Jews asked that spies be sent into Eretz Yisrael, there was a lack of respect and decorum. The old and young clamored together, and neither group gave deference or respect to the leaders of the people.
Moshe contrasted this inappropriate conduct with the respectful deference that both the young and old gave the leaders at the time the Torah was given. Then, the leaders alone approached Moshe, with the young apparently deferring to the old and the old deferring to the leaders.
While the criticism Moshe gave may have been veiled, it seems like he was complimenting them at the same time. Why, while mentioning their poor conduct, did he contrast it with the proper conduct at Har Sinai?
The Kli Yakar and the Chiddushei HaRim explain that Moshe intended no compliment. In fact, he was letting them know that in hindsight, their actions at Har Sinai were incorrect.
According to the Kli Yakar, when only the leaders approached to discuss the details of Matan Torah, Moshe initially viewed this as respectful deference. The youth had respect for the old, who, in turn, had respect for the leaders. The confused clamoring regarding sending the spies was, therefore, troubling to Moshe. If matters of importance such as Matan Torah were left to the leaders to attend to, why, when they were about to enter Eretz Yisrael, were the young pushing aside the old, and the old pushing aside the leaders? What happened to their derech eretz?
Moshe then realized that he had misjudged them, that he had been deceived by first appearances.
On the verge of receiving their physical and material inheritance, Eretz Yisrael, they became curious and involved. Regarding the spiritual bounty of the Torah and her mitzvos, everyone except for the leaders stayed well below radar level; they were neither seen nor heard. Moshe realized that what he had taken before as respectful deference to the leaders was actually apathy and disinterest: “Let the leaders, who are already retired and less interested in worldly matters, engage in the study of Torah.”
Moshe only realized this when, motivated by the desire to enter Eretz Yisrael, a place blessed with all kinds of physical and material delights, they stampeded, pushing the elders and leaders aside and running before them.
The Chiddushei HaRim (brought down in Iturei Torah on Devarim) adds that pushing and stampeding were indeed called for, but only at the earlier setting. The approach to Har Sinai should have been with great enthusiasm, with holy trembling, and with extreme excitement.
Moshe was accentuating and providing proof of their misbehavior: If you demonstrate disregard to the leaders when it comes to getting the material goodies, then what seemed like respect earlier was no doubt just that: seeming respect. In actuality, it was a product of your spiritual apathy and disinterest. When you should not have, you pushed, and when you should have, you didn’t!
It may be difficult to judge a person by his cover (or even his contents) , yet a good reading of a person’s second act can, at times, shed light on an otherwise unknown motive.