Shelach Lecha: expectation

 

 

Shelach lecha repeats a pattern  that was set by Abraham.  In Lech Lecha, when the offer of the promised land is made, Abraham is told to go to Canaan. He moves from place to place in the land . He is forced by famine to go to Egypt and is then expelled for the lie that saved his life [“she is my sister”]. Abraham tours the land, and is told that the acquisition will have to wait for 400 years.  Abraham tries to evade the edict of delay by keeping the son he wants to inherit, Isaac, in the land for all of his life ( While sending his older brother, call him Ishmael, to wander in the desert.). But the prophecy of the long wait was fulfilled.

In this week’s parsha, scouts survey the land. They return with a report of the land’s beauty and plenty… and a warning about its military power.  A delay of 40 years is pronounced; a culture of exile is born that lasts through much of recorded history.

Was the edict of wandering generated by a lack of courage? The scouts themselves were quite brave. They knew that they would be killed if caught.  Moses instructed them to show courage by bringing back (cultivated, hence guarded) fruit from the land; and they carried out their mission. The actions of the spies cannot be criticized. But their words were their downfall. They said that Israel would lose in a battle with the inhabitants of the land. This idea of inferiority was coming from leaders who had just proven their bravery. The message was disheartening; it sucked out confidence; it increased the  likelihood of defeat.

In the haftorah, spies are sent to Jericho by Joshua. They visit with a woman, Rahav, who lives on the fringe of society. This is literally the case: she lives in the wall of the city. She recognizes them as aliens who intend to conquer her people (the Jerichoans who have marginalized her). After hiding them from the authorities [who would have killed them], she tells them that the people of Jericho are terrified of the Israelites and their powerful Gd. This message of an intimidated enemy is what Joshua’s spies bring back (not looking too carefully at its source and her motives). This is the contrasting successful mission.

 The failure of shelach is not a lack of courage, it is a deficiency of encouragement. The spies clearly believed they could survive their dangerous mission. They did not believe that their people could win a war against the enemy they evaded … even with the aid of the Gd who split the sea, etc.  Continuing to wander in the desert was also an impossible alternative… but for Divine intervention. The situation, not Gd, demanded courage.

 

We are about to start the month of Elul, the month of repentance. It is the month of selichoth, the prayers that recall the times when Gd forgave the trespasses of Israel.  The events of this parsha, Gd threatening to destroy the nation and the acceptance of Moshe’s prayer to save the Hebrews, is a prominent part of those prayers. Now I see that the fundamental sin involved a failure of courage,  a lack of faith that Gd’s intervention will save the day. This is also seen in the psalm 27 that we add on the arrival of Elul.

קַוֵּה אֶל יְ חֲזַק וְיַאֲמֵץ לִבֶּךָ וְקַוֵּה אֶל יְ

Hope to Gd., be strong and He will give you courage; and hope to Gd.

Is not an excess of such belief foolish and very dangerous? Where to draw the line? It depends upon the available alternatives… and what lies beyond human understanding.