Parshat Devarim
by Rabbi Avi Billet
In his efforts to transmit lasting values and imprints to the generation on the cusp of entering the Promised Land, Moshe gives them brief historical anecdotes to remind them of some of the seminal events that defined their nationhood.
Among them was the episode of the Spies, the most unfortunate event which brought out the most tragic of consequences: forty years in the wilderness, and a generation slated to die in the wilderness, not to enter the Promised Land.
Our sages teach us that that decree was put in motion on the 9th of Av, a bad luck day for the Jewish people.
And yet, Moshe is strangely mysterious in his depiction of what happened at that time. Read Devarim 1:23-26, in which Moshe essentially declares that “the idea to send the 12 men (one from each tribe) was good in my eyes. They went up until the Eshkol valley/riverbed, and spied the space. They brought back samples of fruit and told us ‘the land God is giving us is good.’ But you did not agree to go up and you rebelled against the Lord your God.”
It is interesting to note that this is the first time the action of the Spies is referred as “raggelle” (רגל - as in “meraglim” מרגלים). In Parshat Shlach they are referred to as “Anashim” (אנשים - men) who go “Latur” (לתור - to scout) out the Land.
Even more interesting is that the element of reporting that Moshe relays here references either the opening, positive , comment of the Spies (Bamidbar 13:26-27), or the words of Kalev and Yehoshua (Bamidbar 14:6-9). The negative component of the Spies blistering report is not mentioned in Moshe’s recollection here. And yet, the consequence of the Spies incident is relayed.
In fact, one who is unaware of what actually happened in Bamidbar 13-14 might read this report as shared by Moshe and wonder “What is he talking about? How was this a bad incident?” Or, more to the point, “What went wrong – the spies said the land was good!”
The Seforno’s comment on this section is most instructive. Moshe’s comments here are not about the spies but about the reaction of the people, because the spies themselves are long dead and gone. For their negative reports they were punished in their time. But their positive report, that the land is flowing with milk and honey and has wonderful fruit, was ignored by the people whom Moshe is addressing.
And Seforno essentially explains Moshe’s words in this way: “You revealed your wickedness at that time. Your intent in the sending of spies was to see if you could conquer, which demonstrated that you did not believe in God and in His promise to give you the land. Once the spies indicated that the nation in the land was strong you did not want to go up. “
And Moshe digs in in his critique. “Your attitude was that the land being good was irrelevant. Because it was all a ruse. God’s real intent, you surmised, was to take you out of Egypt to have other nations wipe you out. Egypt had an economic interest in your survival, as you were their slaves, and your deaths would have destroyed their economy. A different nation, on the other hand, would lose nothing in destroying you.”
Moshe’s proof that the people did not trust in God was in their constantly pining for Egypt. Their feeling was that Egypt was a very good land and that if God really wanted to help them, He could have given them the land of Egypt! This, of course, is a complete revulsion and rejection of the goodness God offered them and did for them in taking them out of Egypt and in promising/giving them the land of Israel!
In other words, Moshe is suggesting that the only reason the good portion of the spies’ report was ignored was because the people did not trust in God’s promise. The people were at fault for accepting the negative report, and it is the actions of the people, in that time and even in this time, which is the source of any problems the Israelites might face.
In leaving out the negativity of the spies’ report, perhaps Moshe is teaching a few important lessons.
First, if the wicked (the spies) are dead and buried, we need not recall their negativity, as it is only destructive. We can focus on the good they shared (that the land is good) while leaving out the bad (…but we can’t conquer because the people are strong). This is particularly not worthy of recalling because the people have already seen under Moshe’s leadership that powerful leaders such as Sichon and Og can be vanquished.
Second, if there is a problem that hasn’t been properly addressed it needs to be addressed directly. Moshe’s point that the 40 years in the wilderness is because of the people’s reaction, more than the actual report of the spies, demonstrates that even now there’s an element of lack of faith plaguing the people even in Moshe’s time. Which is why Moshe focuses much more on the people’s reaction than on the spies’ report.
When we consider the first Tisha B’Av as having a negative outcome because of the undue crying of the people, we ought to consider that Tisha B’Av remains a day of sadness, not yet having turned into a holiday, due to the people still being unworthy in some form.
In those days the people didn’t adequately trust that God’s promises would be fulfilled, and they didn’t believe that the Land God had promised was good enough for them, partly because they were afraid of the people living there.
Would the Messiah come, would the exile end, would the Temple be built, if all the Jews in the world picked up and moved to Israel? Would such a move herald the Final Redemption? In either case, are we all ready to do that?
Tisha B’Av is upon us. We should merit for this to be the last non-holiday version.
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