Parshas Shlach ...The Story of the Meraglim Dvar Torah by DIN

by Ha'Admir Me'"DIN"

מאת הקטן "דאס איז נייעת" מק"ק בית שמש 

 לפנים אדמ''ר במנסי

In Chutz Le'aarets, all Shuls will be reading Parshas Shlach!
The Torah deliberately put the tragic story of the spies into the Torah so that we, in the here and now, could learn some lessons.

What really was the underlying sin of the meraglim?

There is absolutely no question that this sin was a grave one indeed, pun intended....

We know as the Torah tells us that as a result of this sin, the entire generation, save just a few, died in the desert and didn't have the merit to enter Eretz Yisrael.

And the punishment as a result of this sin didn't die with those who perished in the desert, it continues to haunt us to this very day...

If this were a sin of just a rare incident that would have occurred in the desert with just a very few minor people instigating this ...then the result would have ended right there with no repercussions to future generations and we would have absolutely no lessons to learn from that particular incident.

This tragic story of the spies had certain characteristics that are very similar to the life of every individual in particular and the nation as a whole on a daily basis and because of this fact, every generation has an obligation to review, learn and take notice ....

The spies according to Rashi were כשרים ......they were righteous...
according to the Zohar they were "Tzaddikim"
They were the leaders, the "gedoilim" of that generation ...
The Spies, wern't  regular "Joe Shmos'" ... the guy who is busy going to work and who is struggling to support his family and grabs some time to do the Daf......
Nope it was according to Chazal the "Gedoilim" of that generation...
it wasn't the little guy who runs to the first minyan and has "Amunah Peshutah" 
No it was the Talmeidei Chachumim.....the elite... the intellectuals..
they were the ones who brought down the entire Klall!

I'm not saying this to denigrate "Talmedei Chachamim" Chas Ve'Shalom ...I am just quoting Chazal ....
They are pointing this out ... so that the regular folk should see and recognize when they are being taken for a ride down the slippery slope..
What you need to do is see who the "askanim" surrounding the Gadol are and see what information they are feeding them......
The Gedoilim are not reading newspapers ...they are getting the info from those who surround them ...


I will point out one aspect of this transgression in particular.

ותשא כל העדה ויתנו את קולם ויבכו העם בלילה ההוא 

אמר רבה אמר ר' יוחנן (אותו היום) תשעה באב היה 

אמר להם הקב''ה

אתם בכיתם בכיה של חנם ואני קובע לכם בכיה לדורות 

(תענית כט א)

ומן אותה שעה נגזרה על בית המקדש שתתחרב

(במדב''ר טז כ)

The Torah states right after the nation heard the report of the spies:


That "the entire nation raised their voices and cried on that very night"

Said Rabbah in the name of R' Yochanan (Taanis 29) 
That, that night was Tisha Be'ov
"Hashem proclaimed:
"Since you cried for nothing, I will establish a day for your future generations to cry"

The Midrash states: "that night Hashem issued the edict that the future Bais Hamikdash will be destroyed"

The Meraglim, the spies stood in front of the Jewish people ...
... as Yehosha and Calev separated themselves from them, 

10 of them called out in unison, with weakness of spirit, ignoring the Divine command, not giving any thought and understanding of the magnitude of vision and time and proclaimed:
''לא נוכל לעלות אל העם כי חזק הוא ממנו''
"The nation (the Jews) will not be able to overpower (the Canaanites) since they are very strong"

On the opposite end of the spectrum, stood Yehoshua and Calev, with a strong spirit, following the Divine command, giving intense thought to their mission and understood the magnitude  of that vision and stated:
''עלה נעלה וירשנו אתה כי יכול נכל לה''
"YES!!! WE WILL GO UP AND CONQUER, AND WE WILL OVERPOWER THEM"
No ... they didn't hesitate, they wanted this cry of עלה נעלה to capture the moment, realizing that this statement ... would be a lesson for future generations .... 

The Jewish people as individuals and as a group were given the choice ..... 

Do you want to grumble and cry and give up on the vision and  hope and forego the magnitude of the moment?

Or

Are you going to be courages and realize the great lifetime opportunity that will benefit this generation and all future generations?

They instead cried and and decided not to jump at this great choice and opportunity and were instead doomed ...
and the day that could have been a day salvation and happiness, instead..... became a day of weeping for generations!

That choice stands in front of us today as well.....

Are we going to moan and groan and complain about the Zionists like the Meraglim that complained about Canaanites ....
Are we going to use the words of the Meraglim that "Eretz Yisrael is surrounded by enemies?"
Are we going to listen to those leaders that say it is prohibited to learn in Israel?
Are we going to look for aggadatas that discourage us from making Aliyah or are we going to look in the entire Shulchan Aruch and Rambam's Mishna Torah to see if anyone of the Rishonim pasken that way...

or

Are we going to be courages and make that step and say what Calev boldly and fearlessly said:

 עלה נעלה