Where Did the Spies Go Wrong?
Why did Caleb stop the spies before they got to their conclusion? How did one small change lead to forty years of wandering in the desert? • Moshiach Beparsha is a weekly drasha connecting the Rebbe’s teachings on Moshiach with the weekly Parsha, presented in an engaging way with stories and practical life lessons • Read More
BEGIN WITH A GRIN
A pair of spies arrived at a hotel for a vacation. Out of habit, they checked if there were any microphones in the room. Behind the curtain, behind the paintings, in the telephone, under the bed.
On the floor, under the carpet, they found a disc secured with four screws to the floor. They unscrewed it with a knife and threw the disc out the window.
In the morning, the clerk at the reception asked them, “ How has your stay been so far, how was the service?”
“Pretty fine, but why all these questions?”
“Because the guests below you complained that the chandelier fell on their heads…!”
MISSION NOT ACCOMPLISHED
The main topic of parshas Shelach is, without doubt, the story of the spies. Those princes of Israel who were sent by Moshe to scout the Land, and in the end… the bitter conclusion is known to all, forty years of wandering in the desert were decreed upon our people as a result of that ‘blunder.’
But when you look carefully at the text, it is very hard to find what exactly the spies did wrong. Moshe asked them to examine the land, and that is exactly what they did – so what was their sin and transgression?! Did Moshe want them to lie, G-d forbid?!
This question has been asked many times, and several answers have been given. The Rebbe also addressed this question on numerous occasions, each time from a different angle. This week we will focus on the earliest explanation in the Rebbe’s teachings (Likutei Sichos 4 hosafos p. 1313) – one that is perhaps less known to the public. And as always: what is the connection, the lesson, and the message from all of the above to bringing the Moshiach and the Geula?
When Moshe sent the spies to examine the Land, he asked them, broadly speaking, to check two things: A) “The people who dwell in it – are they strong or weak, few or many?” (Shelach 13:18). Then Moshe asked them also to check: B) “What is the land like – is it good or bad? Are there trees in it or not?” (ibid., 19–20).
Two things in total – the people and the land.
When the spies returned after forty days, they reported to Moshe exactly what he had asked. He requested a report on the people and the land, and they gave him a detailed report on… the people and the land!
Regarding the land, they said: “It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit” (ibid., 27). Regarding the people, they said: “However, the people who dwell in the land are powerful… and we also saw the descendants of the giants there” (ibid., 28). It sounds accurate, convincing, and truthful; they did exactly what was asked of them.
But then something very jarring and rather aggressive happens. “Calev hushed them” – Calev silences them and does not let them continue speaking. Why? What caused Calev to step out of line and quiet his fellow delegates?
It should be noted that the popular explanation for the sin of the spies is that they issued a definitive ruling: “We cannot go up… for they are stronger than us.” They added a verdict that nobody asked of them. But Calev silenced them even before that verdict – immediately after the report – so the question remains: why did Calev react so forcefully, and over what exactly?
The Rebbe teaches us that Calev had a “Chassidic sense of smell” – he detected falsehood and deception, ego and arrogance, hypocrisy and cunning, from miles away. Calev was a devoted Chassid who paid careful attention to every syllable and letter that came from his master Moshe. Calev had heard the mission given to him by Moshe, noted every detail of it, including the order in which it was stated.
Moshe had asked the spies first to examine the people, and only afterward to examine the land. Calev understood Moshe’s intention: Moshe cared first and foremost about the nature of the battle and the conquest – the work required of the Jewish people in order to enter the land – and only afterward did Moshe want to know what kind of land they would receive in return for that battle and conquest.
Calev understood that Moshe focused first on the avoda required, and only afterward, as a footnote, did Moshe inquire about the anticipated reward. Work first, reward second.
MISSION CRITICAL
Furthermore, Calev noticed something precise in Moshe’s words regarding the conquest: Moshe mentioned the possibility that the battle would be very difficult before the possibility that it would go easily. He said “are they strong or weak” – he first placed the option that the Canaanite people are very strong and that war with them will be hard, before the option of “weak,” that they are feeble and cowardly.
From this, Calev understood that for Moshe there was no escape and no way out; they must fight the Canaanites even if they are strong, mighty, and powerful. One must be prepared to go through fire and water, with self-sacrifice and personal dedication, and then even the strongest of the Canaanites will become weak and fainthearted.
But the spies changed something in the mission – they reversed the order! They spoke first about the land, and only afterward about the people. They focused first on the reward, and only afterward on the avoda. They first wanted to know what they would get out of it, and only afterward how much it would cost them. And for Calev, that was the end of the matter.
When Calev saw that for the spies the reward was the main thing and the avoda was secondary, he understood that their inner motivation was “what’s in it for me?” – or in the language of the Mishna, serving G-d “in order to receive a reward.” And so he silenced them.
Because when one starts calculating, and when divine service is performed in order to receive a reward, and one asks about everything “what do I get out of this?” – then very often a person may decide that easy work is worthwhile for the offered reward, while hard work is not – to the point where one might conclude: “We cannot go up… for they are stronger than us.”
Where do such mistaken conclusions come from? From an unstable foundation, from service of G-d built on logic and reason rather than on acceptance of the yoke, faith in G-d, self-sacrifice, and hiskashrus to the leader of the generation. All of this Calev “smelled” even before he heard the spies’ conclusion – and that is why he silenced them.
The coming Shabbos falls on the 28th of Sivan – the day the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin arrived in the United States – and in a few more days it will be Gimmel Tammuz.
The lesson to be learned from “Calev hushed them” according to the above explanation should be clear to all of us. We must not change even one minor and secondary detail of the shlichus placed upon us by the Rebbe. Our generation is the generation of Geula, and the task of bringing the Shechina down to earth has been placed upon us – these are clear things the Rebbe repeated many times over the years.
We must uphold the final shlichus of our generation exactly as we heard it from the Rebbe. Because any small change from the Rebbe’s words – even in the order of things – can cause devastating results, as we saw in the story of the spies. We must focus on the avoda placed upon us, and be willing to do it even when “they are strong” – even when it seems impossible and beyond reason. Because when a person is willing to sacrifice himself for the mission, it becomes easier, “the strong” becomes “weak,” and the impossible becomes clearly possible. Everything depends on the degree of hiskashrus, determination, sacrifice, and precise observance of the Rebbe’s instructions.
TO CONCLUDE WITH A STORY
We will end with a story of how careful adherence to the Rebbe’s instructions – even when they seem impossible – brings about a fundamental change in life.
Dr. Irving Wolinsky grew up in Brooklyn and as a young man left religious observance. In his adult life, he encountered a chain of troubles: his dental clinic was on the verge of collapse, his mother suffered from serious heart disease, his wife was struck by postpartum depression, and as if that weren’t enough – the U.S. Army was about to draft him and send him to the front lines in Korea.
Somehow he was persuaded to come for a meeting with the Rebbe, and here is what he recounts:
I laid out all my troubles before the Rebbe. After listening to me, the Rebbe asked about my religious background. I told him that as a child I had been deeply influenced by my maternal grandfather – I recalled how I would walk with him to synagogue and say the Shema with him before sleep.
“It would be worthwhile to do this every evening,” the Rebbe said, “so that you will have a quiet and peaceful night, and to say it again in the morning so that your day passes in peace.” He added that putting on tefillin might also help me.
Then he asked whether I worked on Shabbos, and I had to admit that I did. In response he said: “When you move [to a new location, as you had planned], it would be worthwhile to set your clinic hours so that you would not need to work on Shabbos.”
After I was released from the army, I opened a clinic in Bayside – a ‘bedroom community,’ a suburb whose residents mostly commuted to work in neighboring cities. People came home late from work, and so they generally put off their doctor’s visits to the weekend. It was absurd for a doctor to close his practice on Saturday.
But, I said to myself, “maybe it wouldn’t hurt to follow the Rebbe’s advice.” I decided to make the change and stop working on Saturdays.
To my great amazement, even though my clinic was closed on the busiest day for doctors, it only grew. The patient list kept getting longer. And I saw how the income increased week by week and month by month. As a mathematical type, I tried to understand the logic behind the phenomenon but I simply couldn’t.
I also began putting on tefillin every morning and saying the Shema, as the Rebbe had advised me.
I felt much greater satisfaction in my life, and was more calm and at ease. My mother, who had suffered for years and seemed to be nearing the end, lived another ten years. My wife recovered. And my mood shifted from gloom to happiness and fulfillment. I have been very successful financially since then, and I attribute all my success entirely to the Rebbe.
Good Shabbos!
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