Shabbat Shelach Lecha

Do Not Despair

We know the story of the 12  scouts (it’s inaccurate to call them spies, a term that was only used by Yehoshuah (Joshuah) when sending men into Jericho forty years later). They were commanded by God and Moshe to go into the land of Canaan to look around and see what the country, that they had been promised and were about to invade, looked like. What the physical and human characteristics that would perhaps enable them to find the best route to take for the invasion. There was no question of whether they should or should not go in; in theory, that had already been predetermined.

They went together and saw the lie of the land . The armed, giant men, as well as the fertility and richness of the land. When they came back there were two very distinct reactions. The majority agreed that although it was a lovely land, one they’d be happy to settle in, they did not feel that they were able to overcome the strength of the indigenous people. They lost confidence. They feared they were not capable of overcoming the opposition and felt inferior in many ways. Hence, they described themselves as “grasshoppers in their eyes.”  As a result, they concluded that they simply couldn’t do it.

As soon as the report was given, the people went into a state of panic and mourning. Their initial optimism had been crushed. Now they were not only pessimistic about going in, but they feared for their own future and that of their children.

The report of Yehoshuah and Calev was very different. Not in the actual content of the report. They agreed that it was a fertile and inhabited land and that possibly the inhabitants were strong enough to repel them.  The fact that they were in walled cities, which could be a measure of their strength, could also be taken to indicate that they were frightened and therefore needed the walled cities for protection.

Yehoshua and Calev, on the other hand, looked at it differently. They thought the people were lacking in confidence and it was possible to win even if there was going to be a struggle, they would have to fight for their promised land.
The reports differed only over the issue of what we would call morale. Whether the people had the strength and determination to face the challenge. Or whether they were still suffering from the inferiority complex of slaves.

And we see it in Israel today.  It is so easy to look at the negative, to see where one’s weaknesses are rather than our strengths. We are fractious and divided. That’s why it’s always the minority who, in any area, fight to overcome any feeling of inadequacy, whether it’s in Jewish life or secular life . It’s the best of us who are prepared to take risks and face the possibility of casualties and loss on the way to victory.  Ultimately, it is spirit as well as equipment that enables one to challenge what looks like a formidable enemy that may nevertheless have its flaws and its weaknesses.

We know from what happened a generation later of men who were supposed then to have overcome their inferiority, yet even when they invaded the land of Canaan there were setbacks. Yet they persevered and eventually gained a foothold. But even the foothold that they gained was not a total conquest. It was only partial. And they went on struggling against the other peoples that lived in the area. Right up until the reign of King David. And even then, throughout the history of the northern Kingdom and of the southern Kingdom when it split , they always faced an existential threat whether it came from Egypt in the South or Assyria and then Babylon.

You might have thought that defeat to these major huge empires that easily outnumbered them, would have sounded the death knell of the emergent Israelite people. Yet somehow or other they took on heavy odds, suffered defeats and exile overcame and survived.

There were mistakes, miscalculations, and internal divisions. Jew against Jew as much as Jew against the enemies.  Look at the books of the prophets to see how disgusted they were with so much of Israelite life.  Yet they had the optimism that we would overcome and lay the foundations for us now living 3000 years later.

Once again, we face an existential threat. But one that has brought most of us together. Much of the world is not only against us but actively aiding those who seek to destroy us. In many respects we are stronger than we’ve ever been since the period of the Maccabees and have achieved a great deal. Yet missiles are still falling on the populace and our enemies reinforced and supplied by their allies. The situation we are in now is frightening and as yet unknown. How significant too that many Jews today feel they, we, cannot do it, let alone should not. Thank goodness for our Yehoshuas and Calevs.

This is not the moment to despair following the advice of the 10, but rather those animated by both spiritual and physical skills and above all the determination to succeed even against the odds and a love for Zion and our homeland. There are no easy solutions.

Numbers Chapters 13-15

Rabbi Jeremy Rosen lives in New York. He was born in Manchester. His writings are concerned with religion, culture, history and current affairs – anything he finds interesting or relevant. They are designed to entertain and to stimulate. Disagreement is always welcome.