DIVREI MENACHEM
BY MENACHEM PERSOFF
Special Projects Consultant, OU Israel Center mpersoff@ou.org
Seeing is Not Believing
assembly of Bnei Yisrael!” What should have been a confidential and objective assessment of strengths and weaknesses turned into a public outrage.
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Having been empowered by the people, it appears that, excluding Yehoshua and Calev, the scouts were now playing to the people. The people had a right to know. And what the people heard at first seemed entirely objective: The Land flows with milk and honey; the people are powerful; the cities fortified; children of giants live there, as do the Amalekites, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, and Canaanites.
hen we read Parshat Shelach, we cannot but be bewildered at the behavior of the handpicked men of caliber sent on the mission to survey the Land. Rather than employing the term “Leragel,” which has given rise to the term “HaMeraglim” – ‘The Spies” – the narrative employs the term “Vayaturu,” which may better be translated, in our current terminology, as an imperative to scout the Land and collect data to be analyzed at some later time. The “Spies” went to Eretz Yisrael because the people had clamored to get a peek at the Land before the conquest, a seemingly reasonable request. Moshe, acceding to this demand (against his better judgment) required of the scouts to know about the Land’s military and economic strengths and the quality and number of its inhabitants. Notably, when the men returned with their findings, they did not report directly and with discretion to their “commanding officer,” Moshe. Instead, they met with Moshe and Aharon and the “entire 52
TORAH TIDBITS / SHELACH 5780
But the critical word “BUT” alarmed the people. And so did the mention of fortified cities and formidable enemies. In the ensuing arguments, the spies got to their point: The Land devours its inhabitants! Without delving into their possible motives, we note that these men of standing both added unnecessary information and omitted to tell the whole story. They invoked Amalek, who
