Parshat Shelach
Rabbi Jablinowitz
This week's parsha begins with the Meraglim, the spies who were sent to check out Eretz Yisrael and it ends with the mitzvah of Tzitzis. The command to check out the land is given as (Chapter 13, Pasuk 2), V'Yasuru es Eretz Cana'an. Rashi comments in the parsha of Tzitzis on the words (Chapter 15, Pasuk 39) V'Lo Sasuru Acharei Levavchem V'Acharei Eineichem, that the two verbs in these two pasukim are essentially the same. However, instead of invoking the pasuk above, Rashi quotes the pasuk which states (Chapter 13, Pasuk 25), Vayashuvu M'Tur Ha'Aretz,and they returned from spying out the land. Why does Rashi comment Kemo M'Tur Ha'Aretz, a pasuk in the middle of the section on theMeraglim, and not comment by bringing the first pasuk, V'Yasuru es Eretz Cana'an?
Firstly, when Rashi comments on the pasuk V'Lo Sasuru that its meaning is like M'Tur Ha'Aretz, he continues and explains that the heart and the eyes are like spies for the body, Heim Meraglim L'Guf. Rashi calls the eyes and hearts Meraglim just as those who went to check out Eretz Yisrael are called Meraglim.
The word Lasur is mentioned multiple times in the story of the Meraglim. Yet when Rashi needed a comparison for the aveirah of being tempted after one's eyes and heart he used the pasuk which described the return of the spies from their task. When they returned they spoke negatively about Eretz Yisrael, but when they were originally sent it was with a positive intention. Rashi could not have made the comparison ofV'Lo Sasuru to the original command. The Sfas Emes learns that the word V'Yasuru in the pasuk V'Yasuru es Eretz Cana'an comes from the word Torah. They were meant to view Eretz Yisrael from a Torah perspective. Certainly from a natural perspective they would not have been able to conquer the land. But had they looked at the situation from a Divine perspective and had faith in Hashem they would have returned with a positive report.
In parshat Lech Lecha (Chapter 15, Pasuk 5), Rashi comments that Hashem told Avraham Avinu, Tzei M'Itztagninus Shelcha, go out from looking at the stars and constellations. Avraham felt since he was not having children, he could not be the father of a great nation. Hashem told him not to rely on the way things appear through the stars and constellations which is the natural world. He was told to go out from that and look at things from the perspective of what Hashem promised him. He would change his name to Avraham and change nature and give him a child. Immediately afterwards the Torah states, V'He'emin B'Hashem. The alternative to viewing matters from a perspective of nature is to have faith in Hashem.
The word Meraglim comes from the word Regel which means leg. Our legs are on the ground which is the physical, natural world. The spies were called Meraglim in a negative way just as the eyes and heart of a person are Meraglim to convince him to do aveiros. The spies did not infuse their mission of searching out the land with holiness. The word ragil means regular or routine and has the same source. We tend to look at the regular, mundane functioning of the physical world as the essence of our existence and not see Hashem's presence in our life. To counteract this we say every morning in Birchas Hashachar, V'Targileinu B'Sorasecha, our "regilus", our normal day to day functioning in the world should be with Torah, with belief in Hashem and looking at things from a Torah perspective. Life should be viewed with excitement, with new opportunities of getting closer to Hashem through mitzvos every single day.
The Gemara in Shabbos 23B teaches Haragil B'Ner Hevyan Lo Banim Talmidei Chachamim, the one who is regular in the mitzvah of Shabbos candles and Chanukah candles will have children who are Torah scholars. The Sfas Emes on Chanukah teaches that the meaning of Haragil B'Ner is the one who does his regular, mundane activities with a candle, meaning with a fire of excitement, then he has children who are Torah scholars. When one sees the Divine and profound in the mundane, only then he is viewing the world with the proper perspective. This was the sin of the spies and this is what transformed them from V'Yasuru es Eretz Cana'an, view the land from a Torah perspective to the status ofMeraglim. And it is precisely at that point of transition that Rashi makes the comparison to the warning against being swayed by the Meraglimmore commonly known to us as our hearts and eyes.
Good Shabbos
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