Category — Shlach

A high school teacher decided to demonstrate to his class the dangers of alcohol abuse. So he conducted an experiment. He took one glass of water and one glass of whiskey. He then took a little worm and dropped it in the glass of water. The worm had a nice swim and then the teacher removed the worm unharmed.
He then dropped the worm into the glass of whisky. In no time at all, the worm was dead. He then turned to the class and asked them what the experiment proved.
Whereupon one wise guy at the back piped up and said, “Sir, it proves conclusively that if you drink enough whiskey you will never suffer from worms!”

No, I wasn’t eavesdropping on a typical conversation between you and your mother…
In this week’s Torah portion, we read how Moses appointed twelve of the greatest sages of Israel to go check out the land of C’naan (Israel) that they were to conquer and to develop a plan of action.
40 days later they returned with their findings, “The people of the land are big and dangerous, and we see no way of conquering the land.” Upon hearing the report, the Jews broke out in bitter tears, asking, ‘Is this what we left Egypt for?’
When G-d saw the Jews crying, He flew into a rage, and at that moment He decided to destroy the two future Holy Temples, making that day, the nintort, the Jews broke out in bitter tears, asking, ‘Is this what we left Egypt for?’
When G-d saw the Jews crying, He flew into a ragh of Av, a day of tears and sorrow for generations to come. In addition, He punished 10 of the 12 spies personally,killing them by fire!
What was their big mistake? After all, they were sent on a mission to ‘check it out’, and they came back with an honest report and assessment of their findings?
Granted, it was not the answer G-d was hoping for. But G-d does give us the freedom of choice, and all they did was voice their honest opinions!
The answer my friends, is quite simple. The mission of the spies was to figure out How to conquer the land, and not to judge whether it was doable or not! – If. That was G-d’s task; theirs was to find a way.
By overstepping their boundaries,
they questioned G-d’s ability to pull through with His promise! That same G-d who took then out of Egypt,
split the see and gave them the Torah. Yes their facts were right ‘the people are strong and mighty’, but their conclusions were wrong ‘we can’t do it’. They crossed the red line.
It’s a lesson not only in Judaism but in life in general: Don’t say ‘If’, say ‘How’.

The Rabbi’s wife called a psychiatrist and said, “My husband thinks he’s the new Moses - almost like a reincarnation!”

The doctor assured her that these delusions of grandeur were only a passing fancy.

“Okay,” she responded. “But in the meantime, how do I keep him from parting the waters in the hot-tub?”

***

“In our eyes, we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes.” Who said those words? Who would say such a thing?

To answer that, we have to go back in history to the year 2448 since creation. There we meet the newly-freed Hebrews, traveling in the desert towards the Promised Land.

Nearing their final destination, many Jews began to question their seeming naiveté.

“How do we know what lies in store for us in the ‘promised land?’” some wondered aloud.

“It might not be as magical as we think,” others echoed their concerns.

So they implored on Moses to send spies who could validate G-d’s promise of a land flowing with milk and honey. Moses reluctantly agreed and sent twelve of Israel ’s finest on a forty day tour of the land.

Arriving in the land, the spies met some giants with frightening appearances. Upon their return to their impatient brethren, the spies described the scene, painting a picture of fear, danger and overwhelming obstacles.

“In our eyes, we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes.” That’s what they told the People of Israel.

This verse, its seemingly simple point addressed from two angles, begs for a deeper explanation. Perhaps in classic literary works or poetry, repetition is taken at face value. Not so in the Torah. So compared to the giants they were like grasshoppers – and obviously both saw it! Why the redundancy?

Yet the depth in this verse is striking. Clearly, the first half of the statement reveals the cause for the second. A bad public image stems from low self-image. If a person sees himself as small, then that is how he will be seen. An insecure person comes across as, well, insecure!

If you want respect, you have to respect yourself; if you want people to believe in you, first you had better believe in yourself.

To explain Israel’s P.R. problem, you don’t have to be Kissinger. Unfortunately, yet inevitably, a country which sees itself in a negative light, that is forever questioning its right to exist and is constantly apologetic for defending itself, can hardly expect respect in the global forum. Painful as this is, as Jews we must recognize our weakness. It is just costing us too much.

How can a country offer land for peace? Does America offer land to Al-Qaeda? Does Russia give in to Chechnya? No! If a nation is confident in its right to exist, there is no room for appeasement, especially not to terror.

But if you think of yourself as a grasshopper, don’t blame the world for spelling it out.

Do something about it:

Hold your head high: You are a Jew, a representative of G-d in this world!

Q: What did the waiter ask the group of Jewish mothers?
A: Is anything OK?

So the Jews have done it again, and this time they messed up big time. Check this out: Moshe sends spies to check out the land of Israel and the status of its people, and to plan the tactics of conquering the land. It’s an innocent little mission, nothing major.
And lo and behold, for some strange reason, the Spies mess it all up – they freak the Jews out, telling them about giants who live in Israel and are more powerful than G-d himself! A country that eats up its inhabitants! Of course, all the Jews burst out crying with their now-familiar complaint: “Why did you take us out of Egypt? We would rather die…!”
Hashem is furious, and He punishes the Jews with some of the greatest punishments in our history, such as the destruction of both Holy Temples and the death of all adults of that generation, to name but a few.
Why? Can’t the Jews ever stop complaining? Is it never OK? Can’t you leave G-d alone for once?
The explanation is very profound. The truth is that the spies, who, by the way, were some of the most righteous people of that generation, saw the life that awaited their brethren upon entering the land – physical work, toil, sweat, and back-breaking labor. They thought to themselves that it would be much better to simply stay in the dessert, living from G-d’s hand, experiencing holiness and spirituality all day long.
Yet Hashem didn’t appreciate their divine and lofty aspirations, because man’s mission in this world is to work with the land, and permeate this mundane world with holiness, not to live a “spiritual,” Indian-style existence; for that, Hashem has angels…
So let’s focus on the mission of our generation and not be turned off course by seemingly lofty reasons.
And the mission is: To do all we can, starting from a small but vital positive act, to bring Moshiach now!