Parshat Shelach 5784
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parsha after the Meraglim return with a negative report about Eretz Yisrael, Calev silences them. The pasuk reads (Chapter 13, Pasuk 30), ויהס כלב את העם אל משה; Calev quieted the people towards Moshe. This term, אל משה, is discussed by the commentators. What exactly did Calev say that was directed towards their leader, Moshe Rabbeinu?
Regardless of the explanation, the position and status of Moshe emerged as a major issue at this dramatic juncture. Rashi teaches that Calev was exploiting the fact that the people were feeling harshly towards Moshe as a result of the negative reports of the spies. Therefore, he began by saying, is this the only thing Moshe has done to us? Thinking he was going to disparage Moshe, they all quieted down to listen. And then Calev went on to list all the miracles Moshe had done for them. Surely, this will also end well.
The Meshech Chachmah teaches a very different interpretation than Rashi of אל משה. He refers us to the end of the previous parsha when Hashem tells Moshe to gather seventy elders who will share with him the burden of Clal Yisrael. The Torah describes how Hashem took from the holy spirit that was upon Moshe and placed it upon the seventy elders as well. And two people, Eldad and Meidad, upon whom the spirit rested, remained in the camp prophesying. And Rashi teaches (Chapter 11, Pasuk 28) that they prophesied that Moshe will die, and Yehoshua will bring the nation into Eretz Yisrael.
This is why Moshe Rabbeinu featured prominently at this point. After hearing the negative report, and remembering the prophesy of Eldad and Meidad, the people panicked. How will we manage such a difficult situation, including a possible war with Amalek, without Moshe Rabbeinu? According to the Meshech Chachmah, the message of Calev was that everything is not dependent on Moshe Rabbeinu. The greatness of Moshe was due to the greatness of Clal Yisrael and their status as the nation of Hashem. As their leader, he was dependent on them, not the other way around.
He explains ויהס כלב את העם אל משה, Calev silenced their attributing everything to Moshe. Hashem performed miracles for Bnei Yisrael; the elevated status of Moshe was because he was their leader. And when Moshe will die, Hashem will still lead Bnei Yisrael into Eretz Yisrael, albeit under a different leader. And this is why Calev continued עלה נעלה וירשנו אותה; we will enter Eretz Yisrael and inherit the land, even without Moshe.
The Sfas Emes teaches a different p’shat. The pasuk in Koheles states (Chapter 3, Pasuk 1), לכל זמן ועת לכל חפץ תחת השמים. There is a time for everything in this world; תחת השמים. In this world, under the heavens, there is a specific time for everything and nothing can occur before its time. And the Sfas Emes teaches, the Meraglim were correct in their assessment that the time was not yet ripe for them to enter Eretz Yisrael. And in fact, it was only forty years later that they entered. But this was all according to the natural world, תחת השמים.
But in fact, their life in the desert was on a higher level. They were connected to the heavens and didn’t live תחת השמים. And the conduit for this life was Moshe Rabbeinu. He brought them the Torah, מן השמים. He brought them their food, the mahn, מן השמים. Through the leadership of Moshe Rabbeinu, they could have entered Eretz Yisrael. And the sending of the Meraglim was also through Moshe Rabbeinu, as the pasuk says (Chapter 13, Pasuk 2),שלח לך אנשים ; the sending of the spies was through Moshe. And as such, Bnei Yisrael had the capability of reaching beyond the possibilities of this world, and they would have succeeded in entering Eretz Yisrael.
According to the Sfas Emes, this was the call of Calev towards Moshe. As opposed to the Meshech Chachmah, his p’shat works nicely with Rashi. He was reminding them of Moshe’s accomplishments, and what could be achieved through his leadership. He split the sea and brought us down the mahn. And he continued עלה נעלה וירשנו אותה; Rashi explains that he said even if Moshe told us to reach the heavens, we would make ladders and climb up to the heavens. And this is all because the leadership of Moshe is not תחת השמים; but rather enables us to reach even the heavens.
The Gemara in Ta’anis 29A teaches that because of the sin of the Meraglim on Tisha B’Av, there would be a בכיה לדורות, a crying for generations on Tisha B’Av, due to the future destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. Why was this to be? The entering into Eretz Yisrael was only put off forty years, until the whole generation died. How did that turn into a crying for many generations to come?
The Sfas Emes explains that had Bnei Yisrael entered under the leadership of Moshe Rabbeinu, and trusted in his ability to direct them on a higher plane, above nature and above the heavens, they would have never left. There would never have been a galus. And therefore, it was truly a בכיה לדורות, a crying for generations. And this is because entering Eretz Yisrael would have been eternal, just like the Torah, which Moshe brought us מן השמים. And the Torah states (Devarim, Chapter 31, Pasuk 21), כי לא תשכח מפי זרעו; Rashi teaches that this is a promise that the Torah will never be forgotten from Bnei Yisrael. Similarly, had Bnei Yisrael entered Eretz Yisrael through Moshe, למעלה מן הטבע ולמעלה מן השמים, Bnei Yisrael would never have had to leave Eretz Yisrael. This was the missed opportunity of Bnei Yisrael in the desert. And it is our fervent prayer that we manage to return to the level of Moshe and Bnei Yisrael and live not תחת השמים, but above nature. And this can be achieved by clinging to the source of the כח of Moshe Rabbeinu, הקדוש ברוך הוא.
Good Shabbos
Print this article