DIN .... Message from the Parsha.....of Spies .... of the Meraglim

In Eretz Yisrael, the parsha that will be read this Shabbos is Parshas Shlach, the parsha that discusses the spies...
the meraglim....

When the meraglim return from spying on the Canaanites ..they say

"לא נוכל לעלות אל העם כי חזק הוא ממנו"

"We cannot go forward against those people, they are too strong for us"
and when it seemed apparent that the meraglim didn't want to go to Eretz Yisrael, 
Hashem tells Moshe:
" אכנו בדבר ואורישנו ואעשה אותך לגוי גדול ועצום ממנו"
"I will kill them with a plague and annihilate them. then I will make you into a greater, more powerful nation than they"

Moshe trying to advocate for the Jewish people replies to Hashem:

ושמעו מצרים כי העלית בכחך את העם הזה מקרבו.. והמתה את העם הזה כאיש אחד ואמרו הגוים  ..וגו' מבלתי יכולת ה' להביא את העם הזה אל הארץ אשר נשבע להם וישחטם במדבר 

"And what will happen when the Egyptians hear about it? 
They will say ...You have brought this nation out from among them with Your great power, ...to kill the entire nation like a single man... 
The nations of the world will say when they hear the news ..that G-d was not able to bring this nation to the land that he swore to them so he slaughtered them in the desert"

Question:

After hearing from Hashem that He wants to slaughter the Jewish people .... 
(keep in mind that the Jewish population stood 600,000, not counting women, children and anyone under 20 or over 60....which means that millions would have died in this plague...)

Moshe argues: ...... Forgive them... for 

 " the nations will say that G-d didn't have the power to bring them to Israel so He slaughtered them?

What about replying to Hashem.....

"How could You do something like this ...killing millions in one fell swoop with a plague?" 

Wouldn't that have been a solid argument? 

Isn't that what WE would argue....? 

Even a child understands how precious one single human being is ...and certainly our Creator Who created them ...

 especially since Jews are considered ... בנים למקום ..... Children of G-d...

 G-d Himself referred to the Jewish people not too long before this incident בני בכורי ישראל ..... "My firstborn are the Jewish people?"

So why did Moshe ignore this argument and instead argued

 "What would the nations say?

Once we are G-d forbid gone...Who cares what the nations will say?

If you want to maybe say that Moshe's argument was also a  pretty good one  .. 
then he could have added the argument "What would the nations say"  after stating the obvious stronger defense..

 "How can You annihilate millions of Jews?"

Moshe himself in a previous incident, the sin of the Golden Calf, the incident of the "Eigal Hazahav" did just that... 

In pleading on behalf of the Jewish people he asks:

למה  ה'' יחרה אפך בעמך אשר הוצאת מארץ מצרים בכח גדול וביד חזקה

"O G-d! Why unleash Your wrath against your people, whom You brought out of Egypt with great power and a show of force?"

Moshe first asks G-d why He would destroy so many lives?

but,  then adds:

למה יאמרו מצרים לאמר, ברעה הוציאם להרוג אתם בהרים ולכלתם מעל פני האדמה 

"Why should Egypt be able to say that You took them out with evil intentions to kill them in the hill country and wipe them from the face of the earth?"

So why didn't Moshe at  the sin of the meraglim come with the same approach as he did by the Eigal, which worked out pretty well for the Jewish people? Why take a chance on an approach that might not work.....?

What was it about the meraglim that Moshe felt that he couldn't bring up a plea from a humanitarian perspective?

Going back to our parsha, the parsha of the spies, you can ask an even a stronger question:

It seems that Hashem responds positively to Moshe's argument 

of "What would the nations say"....?

Because Hashem responds:

סלחתי כדברך

"I have forgiven because of your words"

Rashi explains:

'בשביל מה שאמרת, שיאמרו מבלתי יכולת ה' 

" (I forgive them ) because of your argument ... "that the nations will say that Hashem lacked the ability etc. ?"

What's going on here?

Moshe totally ignores the humanitarian response .. 
"How could you kill millions?"

 instead uses an argument of "What would the nations say" and to our shock ... 
Hashem actually likes this argument and responds favorably?

The Lubavitcher Rebbe in his Sefer "Lekutei Sichos" Volume 23 in Yiddish .... tackles these questions.... and has a whole different and much deeper approach....... if you are shtickel scholar you will love his perspective.

I have a much simpler answer that seems very obvious to anyone who looks carefully at the differences of why Moshe used a  humanitarian  approach at the sin of the Golden Calf ... 
and why Moshe abandoned the humanitarian approach to Hashem on behalf of the Jewish people at the story of the spies...

The sin of the Golden Calf was ... a grave sin ... of course..

It was a sin against G-d... worshipping a creation of G-d, an inanimate object ....rather than worshipping G-d himself .......

Moshe begged Hashem not to destroy the Jewish people ... for two reasons 

One on humanitarian grounds : Why unleash your wrath on the people that you saved?

and Two: What would the Egyptians say?

It seems that when it came to His own Honor ... Hashem relinquished and responded positively ...from a humanitarian perspective as well....

The sin of the meraglim was much worse... much worse...

It was led by  Gedoilei Yisrael..... the spies were hand chosen by Moshe ... he knew them on a personal basis ... ....they were not only spies ... they were leaders of the Jewish people........everyone looked up to them....everyone respected them.... "Daas Torah"
Moshe didn't send the shaven Shul president that was a businessman.... he sent the Rabbi! he sent the Kollel guy!

This sin was not a one time sin.... it was a continues one... 
since it came from the very top, the cream of the crop, it was they that instilled this hate against Eretz Yisrael into the very souls of their flock ...

and this unfortunately remains to this very day .....

See what Hashem says:

עד אנה ינאצוני העם הזה ועד אנה לא יאמינו בי בכל האותות 

אשר עשיתי בקרבו 

"How long shall this nation continue to provoke Me? How long will they continue to not believe in Me? despite all the miracles that I have done among them?

Notice Hashem's choice of  words ...

 עד אנה by the word "provoke" & again עד אנה 
by the word "belief".... 
this "provocation" is continuous .... this "not believing" "in my miracles" is continues ... even today there are gedoilim that say that the miracles that Hashem did for the Jewish people in Israel .. are not miracles...

Because this Loshon Hara from the meraglim unfortunately affected the soul of the Jews ...

and because it affected the soul, it affected their "belief" and it unfortunately continues to affect even leaders of the Jewish people!

Yes,,,,, even Gedoilei Yisrael, even Roshei Yeshiva, even Rebbes...

 that's why Moshe couldn't bring himself to argue a defense of this terrible sin on humanitarian grounds .....

it would not have worked  ... and it didn't, the 600,000 died!

The sin of the "eigal" was a one time sin... it wasn't embedded in the soul of the Jewish people, it wasn't continues ... Hashem didn't say:עד אנה  .... it may have damaged Am Yisroel to a certain degree but it wasn't permanent ... they could move on ... look forward to go to the promised land .....
they could be forgiven on humanitarian grounds...

But the grave sin of hating of Eretz Yisrael penetrated every Jewish soul in the worst possible way because they couldn't "unhear" the Loshon Hara because it came from the lips of those they respected,, those they revered... Gedoilei Yisrael .... 
Moshe believed that this was it ... how could they move on from this? Where would they go? 
they not only rejected the gift that Hashem granted them but came to hate it ...

....now... Moshe couldn't use this as a defense ....

the only defense Moshe could use was ... 
"What would the nations say?" 

Hashem liked that argument ... he liked the fact that Moshe saw 
that the humanitarian argument would open a whole new ball of wax ..... and would never be accepted..
Hashem appreciates a leader that knows when not to push the envelope...

Hashem did forgive the Jewish people but not that generation....that generation, the 600,000 had to die ...they could not be part of the destiny of the future of the Jewish people.......
there was no forgiveness for them .... 
just like there is no forgiveness for anyone that badmouths Eretz Yisrael.. 
Yes you can be a Roshei Yeshiva spreading Torah and the word of Hashem, you can be a Rebbe of thousands, Yes you can be an "askan" and do chesed all the time, yes you can start all kinds of Chesed organizations... 
and that's great, helping a fellow Jew  ...
but if you hate Israel and those who live there and badmouth them ..then you will have no part in its destiny..

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