 Torah Thoughts
This week's Torah portion is "Shelach"
(Numbers 13-14:41). It contains 3 commandments- 2 positive mitzvot
("do's") and 1 negative mitzvah ("do nots") and 119
verses.
Our portion begins with the tragic episode of the failed
mission of the spies sent to reconnoiter the Land of Canaan.
The twelve spies represented the tribes that would inherit the Land. They
explored the Land for forty days and returned with evidence of its impressive
fertility. However, they viewed the Land’s resources not as a blessing, but
rather as a deterrent. The spies suggested that the size and abundance of the
fruit was an indicator of the might of the inhabitants of the Land and their
invincibility. Instead of having faith in G-d and being grateful for the
goodly Land He was presenting to them, they were fearful. They described the
inhabitants in epic terms. They described their own feelings of inadequacy: (13:33) “We were like grasshoppers
in our eyes, and so we were in their eyes.” According to the simple reading,
how would they know what the Canaanites thought of them?
Their assumption was another symptom of their lapse in
faith. The omission of G-d from their strategic assessment colored their
vision. They viewed the blessings of the Land as a bad omen. They
irrationally projected their own negative musings onto their adversaries.
The landscape of our lives is contoured with
ambiguous features. The circumstances we encounter could be interpreted
positively or otherwise. A person of faith approaches these situations
“holding G-d’s hand.” Every thing in our path is there to facilitate our
odyssey to G-dliness. Viewing it as such is half the journey.
Our Torah portion concludes with the mitzvah of Tzitzit.
This refers to the fringes that are placed on the corners of a four-cornered
garment. (These are the tassels on the corners of the Talit (prayer
shawl).)The Torah tells us that seeing these strings helps us remember all
the commandments. How so? According to Hebrew numerology, Gematria, each
Hebrew letter has a numerical value. The total “value” of the letters of “Tzitzit”
is 600. There are eight strings and five double knots in each corner. The
total is 613- the number of commandments in the Torah. The Tzitzit are
tied to clothing. The Hebrew word for clothing (beged) derives from
the root letters B-G-D. These same letters form the word “betrayal” (begida).
The concept of clothing came into being as a direct result of man’s betrayal
of G-d’s trust in the Garden of Eden. The failure to heed the only commandment
given to man at the time, led to the inculcation of the evil inclination and
human awareness of nakedness, both physical and spiritual. The giving of the
Torah was an act of Divine reconciliation. Through the mitzvot of the Torah,
the Jewish People and humanity were given the opportunity to rectify the
damage wrought by their universal ancestors, the first humans.
It is interesting to note that our Torah portion begins
(13:2) and concludes (15:39)
with the concept of spying or exploring (the Hebrew word “tour”.) The
spies went out to explore (“tour”) the Land, with disastrous consequences.
The Torah provides us with the mitzvah of Tzitzit to deter us from exploring
(“touring”) after our hearts and our eyes.
The Hebrew word for explore, “tour”, connotes
a removal of self from the norm- a shift in consciousness. When one permits
this flow of one’s consciousness over the rim of a defined course, one is
subject to being drained by the evil that lurks beyond. Adam and Eve allowed
their consciousness to spill over the boundary set by G-d. The spies allowed
their consciousness to flow beyond the parameters of their mission and their
trust in G-d.
The Tzitzit must serve as a barrier to redirect our
consciousness, as it is constantly drawn to what lurks beyond…
The HAFTARA (excerpt from the prophets) that is
read with the portion of Shelach comes from the Book of Joshua
(2:1-24).
Joshua, the new leader of the Jewish People, sends a
pair of spies to observe the first target in the conquest of the Land- Jericho.
Joshua, who was a member of the first team of spies sent
by Moses almost thirty-nine years earlier, was well aware of the risks of
such a mission. Unlike Moses, Joshua did not request his men to give a
detailed account of strategic data. Rather, he simply told them “Go and see
the Land and Jericho.”
According to the Oral Tradition, Joshua’s two spies were none other than
Caleb, his partner in the earlier mission, and Pinchas, about whom we will
learn more in the coming weeks.
These men managed to enter the city. They went to the
house of Rachav, the proprietress of an inn, or according to another
interpretation, a house of ill-repute. Her place was situated in the city’s
rampart. It was strategically situated where many travelers passed through.
The spies could thus gauge from their conversation with Rachav, that the mood
of the inhabitants of the Land was one of despair in the face of the
anticipated Israelite invasion. Rachav hid the men from the king of Jericho’s soldiers who
were hunting for them. In return for her kindness and her trust that G-d
would deliver victory to the Jews, the spies promised her that she and her
household would be spared.
The men returned to Joshua with the heartening message,
“…G-d has delivered the entire Land into our hand and also, the inhabitants
of the Land have melted before us.”
It is interesting to note that the spies first stated
that G-d has given over the Land and then they mentioned the fear of the
inhabitants; not that the imminent victory would be as a result of the
latter. This is in contrast to the first spies, who recognized the greatness
of the land, but saw this blessing as a source of power for its apparently
invincible inhabitants. Joshua’s spies were men who saw spiritual and
physical truth. They recognized that G-d would fulfill His promise, no matter
how powerful the people occupying the Land were. They also recognized that
G-d would make the fulfillment of that promise easy for the Children of Israel
by implanting fear in the hearts of their enemies.
We too must acknowledge that G-d is taking care of us
and supplying our needs. Once we do this, we will start becoming aware of
every detail in this process and we will be well on our way to “inheriting
the Land”- fulfilling our spiritual potential.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Baruch Price
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