Transcript
Okay, good morning, בוקר טוב boker tov, welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. We have the privilege this week of reading and learning פרשת שלח Parashas Shlach, the great story, the terrible story, and great story of the Jewish people trying to investigate the land of Israel, ultimately our עלייה aliyah, our collective move there, and many other sections as well, מקושש עצים mekoshesh etzim, חלה challah, and much more. Our Parsha series is generously sponsored by Becky and Avi Katz and family in memory of David Grossman. Our learning is לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש l'ilui nishmas David ben Menachem Manash, and we are so grateful to the Grossmans for their generosity, for the Katzes for their generosity. Today's shiur is also sponsored in memory of משולם בן דוד Mishulam ben David, חנה בת דוד אברהם בן אברהם הכהן Chana bas David Avraham ben Avraham HaCohen. May their נשמות neshamos have an עלייה aliyah. Thank, thank you so much for the generosity and all that sponsorship. Page 798 in the ArtScroll Stone חומש Chumash. פרשת שלח Parashas Shlach. וידבר ה' אל משה לאמר שלח לך אנשים וירו את ארץ כנען אשר אני נתן לבני ישראל איש אחד איש אחד למטה אבתיו תשלחו כל נשיא בהם Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor shlach lecha anashim v'yasuru es Eretz Knaan asher ani nosein l'vnei Yisrael ish echad ish echad l'mateh avosav tishlachu kol nasi bahem. Hashem spoke to Moshe and he said, שלח לך shlach lecha, send, identify and find spies who will investigate the land, who will go see the land, one from each of the tribes, send one leader from among them. And in this pasuk itself already is revealed what went wrong, everything that happened that was wrong. What does the pasuk tell us? שלח לך Shlach lecha, what's the next word? אנשים Anashim. So the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, לכך פירש אנשים, לפי שאמרו חז\"ל האנשים היו שונאים את הארץ, ואמרו נתנה ראש ונשובה מצרימה, והנשים היו מחבבות את הארץ l'kach peirush anashim, l'fi she'amru Chazal ha'anashim hayu sonim es ha'aretz, v'amru nitna rosh v'nashuva Mitzraima, v'hanashim hayu m'chavevos es ha'aretz. The men were reluctant, the men were hesitant. The men did not want to enter the land. They had powerful positions in the מדבר midbar. They were living this incredibly supported כולל kollel lifestyle in the מדבר midbar. All they did is sit and learn. Everything was prepared and taken care of for them. The מן man fell from שמים shamayim, the water came from the באר be'er, and safety and security, the army, the police force was provided by the ענני הכבוד ananei ha'kavod. Everything was taken care of. All they had to do was sit and learn a very noble and ambitious, beautiful lifestyle. However, entering the land would require settling the land, would require farming the land, would require protecting the land, governing the land. They didn't want to go. And who are the ones who were מחבבות את הארץ m'chavevos es ha'aretz, who loved and who had an affection for the land of Israel? The נשים nashim, the women. So where did it all go wrong, says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar? שלח לך אנשים Shlach lecha anashim. Had women been sent, we never would have wandered 40 more years, we would have gone right in, בית המקדש Beis HaMikdash would have been built, the story would have a very happy ending right from the start. But because men were sent, they messed everything us. ואל כן אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא, לפי דעתי שאני רואה בעתיד יותר טוב לשלוח נשים המחבבות את הארץ, כי לא יספרו בגנותה, אבל לך, לדעתך, לך לדעתך שאתה סובר שכשירים הם ואתה סובר שהארץ חביבה עליהם, תשלח אנשים. וזהו שלח לך לדעתך V'al kein amar HaKadosh Baruch Hu, l'fi daati she'ani ro'eh ba'assid yoser tov lishloach nashim ha'm'chavevos es ha'aretz, ki lo yisapru bignusa, aval lecha, l'daatcha, l'cha l'daatcha she'ata sover she'ksheirim hem v'ata sover she'ha'aretz chaviva aleihem, tishlach anashim. V'zehu shlach lecha l'daatcha. You Moshe, you want men to go? You think that's the way to go? No problem. I know it's a recipe for disaster. I know we're much better off if women go. You want men? Go for it. אבל לדעתי יותר טוב לשלוח נשים Aval l'daati yoser tov lishloach nashim. So the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says that's where it all went wrong is by the third word, שלח לך אנשים shlach lecha anashim. Had it been women spies, we would have been a much better different, a much different conclusion, a much better circumstance. This is where it all, this is where it all all went wrong. The ספר שער החצר sefer Shar HaChatzer says the women that reason love ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, שארץ ישראל is called אשה יראת ה' isha yiras Hashem. ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, a nickname for ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael is אשה יראת ה' isha yiras Hashem. How many spies went? The pasuk itself says איש אחד למטה אבותיו תשלחו כל נשיא בהם ish echad l'mateh avosav tishlachu kol nasi bahem. One spy per tribe, the נשיא nasi, the prince, the leader, the head. That's what we all know, that's what we were all grew up with, that's how we were all raised. But אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pelaos HaTorah, our wonderful sefer we've been exploring this year, quotes the ירושלמי Yerushalmi. The ירושלמי Yerushalmi in מסכת סוטה Maseches Sotah says, איש אחד לשבט, עד דעתי דרבי עקיבא, דאמר לשונות ריבויים הן ish echad l'shevet, ad daitei d'Rabbi Akiva, d'amar l'shonos ribuyin hein. It says איש אחד איש אחד ish echad ish echad, איש אחד איש אחד ish echad ish echad means two. עשרים וארבעה היו Esrim v'arba hayu. Really, there were two men from each tribe, there were 24 spies. שישה עשר באשכול, שמונה בתאנים וברימונים, ובנושאי הכלים Shisha asar b'eshkol, shmona b'te'einim u'v'rimonim, u'v'nosei hakelim. And how they were divided in terms of carrying this enormously large, overgrown fruit, then you have to fit that in. So רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva is of the opinion that there were not 12 spies. There's a מדרש midrash that tells us, in fact, there were 24 spies, 12 from each tribe. אמר רבי ישמעאל חלק שמה לו וסובר שהיו רק י\"ב מרגלים כפשוטו של מקרא Omar Rabbi Yishmael, choleik shemah lo v'sover she'hayu rak yud beis meraglim k'pshuto shel mikra. Rabbi Yishmael is the source that we have for the fact that were 12. So it comes out that if in fact there were 24, that has a very important consequence or ramification. We know דברים שבקדושה d'varim she'b'kdusha, in order to recite holy texts, holy parts of our liturgy, our davening, you need a מנין minyan. דברים שבקדושה D'varim she'b'kdusha require עשרה asara, require a מנין minyan. How many is in a מנין minyan? Ten. How do you know it's ten? From our parsha, because the Torah says, הבדלו מתוך העדה הזאת h'badlu mi'toch ha'eida ha'zos, from this congregation, this עדה eida, there were 12 spies, minus two, כלב ויהושע Calev v'Yehoshua were good, that leaves how many? Ten. That's how we know a מנין minyan. But if it turns out that there weren't 12 spies, there were 24 spies, subtract two, maybe in order to say דברים שבקדושה d'varim she'b'kdusha, maybe a מנין minyan is not 10. Maybe a מנין minyan is how many? 22. Rabbi Shai Fig Berlin in his ספר יסד למשנה sefer Yeseid L'Mishna writes, אור נפלא or nifla. According to רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva that there were 24 spies, so כל דבר שבקדושה ויהי בפחות מעשרה kol davar she'b'kdusha v'yehei b'pachos mei'asara. We learn from תוך תוך נקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל, הבדלו מתוך העדה, עדה עדה, עד מתי לעדה הרעה הזאת toch toch nikdashti b'soch Bnei Yisrael, h'badlu mi'toch ha'eida, eida eida, ad matai la'eida ha'ra'ah ha'zos, ten. But according to רבי עקיבא Rabbi Akiva that are 24 minus two, you would have, you would need 22 in order to have a מנין minyan. We don't pasaken this way. We don't follow that. But it comes out very interesting that there is an opinion that maybe a מנין minyan is not ten, that maybe a מנין minyan is no less than 20, no less than 22. Okay, let's keep going. So, the spies are identified, they're targeted. It was a mistake that it was men chosen and not women. And this interpretation the כלי יקר Kli Yakar was not being apologetic and responding to feminists who were attacking him, it's because the Torah always puts women on a pedestal and admires women for their virtue and ability and often their higher spirituality. And that's why the כלי יקר Kli Yakar already mentioned a couple hundred years ago, בחר לנו אנשים bachar lanu anashim, where we went wrong from to begin with, from the very start, was choosing men, not women. פרק י\"ג פסוק ט\"ז Perek yud gimmel pasuk tes vov. פסוק ט\"ז Pasuk tes zayin. Pasuk says, אלה שמות האנשים אשר שלח משה לתור את הארץ Eileh shemos ha'anashim asher shalach Moshe lasur es ha'aretz, these are the name of the men that Moshe sent to investigate the land. ויקרא משה להושע בן נון יהושע Vayikra Moshe l'Hoshea bin Nun Yehoshua. And Moshe changes יהושע Hoshea's name to יהושע Yehoshua. Sounds like his name was הושע Hoshea and it became יהושע Yehoshua. Why did it become יהושע Yehoshua now? Why now? Rashi says, נתפלל עליו, י-ה יושיעך מעצת מרגלים nispalel alav, Ya yoshiacha mei'atzas meraglim. He added God to to יהושע Yehoshua's name with a prayer. May Hashem spare you, fortify you, give you the courage and the conviction to overcome the pressure from your fellow spies. May you stand up for what's right. May you have the courage to speak the truth. So Moshe changes הושע Hoshea's name to יהושע Yehoshua. The question is, when did this happen? When was the name change? When was this successful name change? So the חזקוני Chizkuni, the חזקוני Chizkuni on our parsha tells us that in fact, it was not right now. Though the pasuk strongly implies הושע Hoshea's name change took place now, it took place earlier. When did it take place earlier? Writes the חזקוני Chizkuni, ויקרא משה להושע בן נון יהושע, לא שקראו עתה יהושע, אלא כך הפרוש, שקראו משה יהושע כבר משנעשה משרתו vayikra Moshe l'Hoshea ben Nun Yehoshua, lo she'karu ata Yehoshua, ela kach ha'peirush, she'karu Moshe Yehoshua kvar mi'she'nasa misharso. When יהושע Yehoshua became his assistant, when יהושע Yehoshua became his right-hand man, protégé is the word I was looking for. When יהושע Yehoshua became his protégé, that's when the name changed from הושע Hoshea to יהושע Yehoshua. ומתא חן בעיניו שכן הוא המנהג u'matza chein b'einav she'kein hu ha'minhag, because that is in fact the custom. When you get a position of distinction, you have a title change, maybe a name change. It was out of חיבה chiba, it was out of love, it was out of a prayer that Moshe had then, you're playing this significant role for me and for the people, you're no longer הושע Hoshea, you're now יהושע Yehoshua. שכן מצינו באברם שרה ויעקב She'kein matzinu b'Avram Sarah v'Yaakov, and we find this precedent, אברם was אברם Avram, he became אברהם Avraham. שרה was שרי Sarai, she became שרה Sarah. יעקב was יעקב Yaakov, he became ישראל Yisrael. אבל בפרש רבינו מיוחס, מה מפרש, ששינה משה את שמו בהר סיני Aval b'peirush Rabbeinu Miyuchas, ma mefareish, she'shina Moshe es shmo b'Har Sinai. It wasn't when he originally was recruited to become his protégé, nor was it when he was sent to be one of the spies. According to this third interpretation, when was it, the name change? הר סיני Har Sinai. said if you're going to be the scannerish kohel, then you can't be הושע Hoshea, you got to be יהושע Yehoshua. You're not Jared, you're Yitzchak. You're not Jake, you're Yaakov. If you're going to take over the yeshiva, if you're going to be my assistant, you got to go by a different name. You're not הושע Hoshea, you're now יהושע Yehoshua. So according to the חזקוני Chizkuni, Moshe already called him this, not right now when he's sent to be a spy. So לכו l'chora says the אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pla'os HaTorah, נראה לומר שכבר קראו כן ביציאת מצרים nir'eh lomar she'kvar kar'o kein b'yetzias Mitzrayim. When did Moshe, when did הושע Hoshea, now known as יהושע Yehoshua, first begin to be the assistant to Moshe? Where and when? Already in מצרים Mitzrayim, already when we were still in slavery. שמצינו שיהושע בן נון כבר עמד ליד משה רבינו בעודם במצרים She'matzinu she'Yehoshua bin Nun kvar amad l'yad Moshe Rabbeinu b'odam b'Mitzrayim, as the מדרש midrash tells us, at the קרבן פסח Karban Pesach, משה מל, אהרן פורע, ויהושע משקה, ויש אומרים יהושע מל, אהרן פורע, ומשה משקה Moshe mal, Aharon porea, v'Yehoshua mashkeh, v'yeish omrim Yehoshua mal, Aharon porea, v'Moshe mashkeh. So we already have יהושע Yehoshua serving as the assistant already in מצרים Mitzrayim, which would mean the name change not only didn't happen now, it happened already as far back as when they were living in מצרים Mitzrayim. We have a fourth opinion. And that is the חתם סופר Chatam Sofer says, אביו של יהושע קרא לו יהושע משנולד aviv shel Yehoshua karahu Yehoshua mi'she'nolad. The name he was given at his ברית bris was הושע Hoshea, but his father already gave him the nickname or called him this other name, יהושע Yehoshua, already going all the way back to his ברית bris, to his childhood. So four opinions. What's interesting is none of them are now. None of them are now, what we always were taught, what we thought we already knew, which was when he became the spy, in the effort to fortify, to give him the courage, to give him the conviction, he changed his name. כלב went to מערת המכפלה Maras HaMachpela, we'll talk about in a moment, and הושע Hoshea became יהושע Yehoshua. According to חתם סופר Chatam Sofer, it goes all the way back to his childhood. According to the חזקוני Chizkuni, it happened in מצרים Mitzrayim, when he became the number two to Moshe. According to another opinion it happened at הר סיני Har Sinai, and according to what seems to be our pasuk, seems to be Rashi, it happened now when he was sent out on this mission, that Moshe gave him this extra courage by changing his name from הושע Hoshea to יהושע Yehoshua. The beauty of the אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pla'os HaTorah, he digs up opinions, changes what we thought we always knew. You're learning the parsha, maybe the 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th year in a row, and you always find something new. You always find a new interpretation, something we thought we know, we didn't know. So that's יהושע Yehoshua. What about כלב Calev? פרק י\"ג פסוק כ\"ב Perek yud gimmel pasuk chaf beis. Turn the page, page 800. ויעלו בנגב ויבא עד חברון Vayalu ba'negev vayavo ad Chevron, they came up, they ascended in the south, ויבאו עד חברון vayavo ad Chevron, they came to חברון Chevron, ושם אחימן ששי ותלמי ילידי הענק v'sham Achiman, Sheshai v'Salmai yelidei ha'anak. וחברון שבע שנים נבנתה לפני צען מצרים V'Chevron sheva shanim nivnesa lifnei Tzoan Mitzrayim. Chevron had these giants living there, it had been built seven years before צען Tzoan in Egypt. ויבאו עד נחל אשכול ויכרתו משם זמורה ואשכול ענבים אחד וישאוהו במות שנים ומן הרמונים ומן התאנים Vayavo ad Nachal Eshkol v'yichresu mi'sham z'mora v'eshkol anavim echad vayisauhu b'mot shnayim u'min ha'rimonim u'min ha'te'einim. They arrived in the valley of אשכול Eshkol and they cut from there a vine and a cluster of grapes and pomegranates and figs. Why were they coming up in the south? Why were they coming up in the south? So yet again, Rashi tells us, what are they doing from the south? Says Rashi, כלב לבדו הלך שם Calev levado halach sham, they didn't all go to this, come up from the south. Who made a pit stop, who detoured to חברון Chevron? Just כלב Calev. ונשתטח על קברי אבות V'nishtateiach al kivrei avos, he went to go daven. קברי אבות Kivrei avos, he went to go stop at the gravesite of his forefathers. שלא יניסוהו חבריו להיות בעצתם She'lo yeniseuhu chavairav lihiyos b'atzasam, he wouldn't be swayed, he wouldn't be persuaded, he wouldn't give into the peer pressure to conspire with the other spies to report negatively on the land of Israel. Now, there's a question we've mentioned this in the past. The אלשיך הקדוש Alshich HaKadosh wonders, if כלב Calev already anticipates that his peers, his colleagues are going to be up to no good, and he knows he does not want to join with them, what does he have to go to מערת המכפלה Maras HaMachpela for? You know where they're going to go bad, you know you don't want to join them, so don't join them. שיין Shein, good to go. What do you have to go on a detour? Why do you have to hijack the bus and go to חברון Chevron? Bulletproof bus nonetheless. Just, you know their plan, their nefarious plans, and have the courage not to give into them. So Rabbi Wolbe says, sometimes you can anticipate something's going to be difficult to do, and you can know the right thing to do, and you still need a little extra תפילה tefillah that you do the right thing in the end. Even when you know the right thing to do, and even you know there'll be influences trying to get you to not do the right thing, it's not enough to identify those negative influences, it's not enough to identify and know the right thing to do. Sometimes you need a little extra תפילה tefillah, a little extra help to do the right thing in that moment. Even when you know the right thing to do, that's the power of peer pressure. It's the power of the יצר הרע yetzer hara, even when you know it's wrong, to not give into what's wrong. That is what Rabbi Wolbe explains and answers. Back to the אוצר פלאות התורה Otzar Pla'os HaTorah. In all of the generations, people went to מערת המכפלה Maras HaMachpela to daven. It is a place that we go to daven. מן ראשונים המשתטחים שם היה נשיא שבט יהודה כלב בן יפונה Mei'rishonim ha'mishtatchim sham hayah nasi shevet Yehudah Calev ben Yefunah. And among the first to go was Calev, כמשה דרשו חז\"ל וחז\"ל תלמוד מסכת סוטה k'mo she'darshu Chazal v'Chazal talmid Maseches Sotah, ויעלו בנגב ויבאו עד חברון vayalu ba'negev vayavo ad Chevron, they came from the south and went to חברון Chevron. מלמד שכלב בן יפונה פירש מהמרגלים M'lamed she'Calev ben Yefunah peirish mei'ha'meraglim, he separated from the spies. והלך לחברון V'halach l'Chevron, and he went to daven. אבות בקשו עליו רחמים שיינצל מעצת מרגלים Avos bikshu alav rachamim she'yinatzel mei'atzas meraglim. And he said to his mothers and fathers, he said to the matriarchs and patriarchs, to the אבות ואמהות avos v'imahos, nu, daven for me, daven for me that I do the right thing. Who else do we know stopped at מערת המכפלה Maras HaMachpela? ירמיהו הנבי Yirmeyahu HaNavi, בזמן חורבן בית המקדש הראשון b'zman churban Beis HaMikdash HaRishon. חז\"ל Chazal tells us in the מדרש איכה Midrash Eicha, that in that hour that our enemies came into the היכל heichal and burned it, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu said to ירמיה Yirmeyah, לך וקרא לאברהם, ליצחק, וליעקב, משה מקבריהם שהם יודעים לבקש lech u'kra l'Avraham, l'Yitzchak, v'l'Yaakov, Moshe mi'kivreihem she'hem yodim l'vakeish. Go call, go summon אברהם, יצחק ויעקב Avraham, Yitzchak v'Yaakov and Moshe, they know how to cry. And ירמיהו Yirmeyahu went immediately to מערת המכפלה Maras HaMachpela. He made his way. But the first to go, even before ירמיהו הנבי Yirmeyahu HaNavi, and even before כלב בן יפונה Calev ben Yefuneh, was אברהם אבינו Avraham Avinu. As the זוהר הקדוש Zohar HaKadosh tells us, not only did אברהם Avraham purchase מערת המכפלה Maras HaMachpela, our original tie to our homeland, but he went to daven there each and every day. ויהי יצא אל השדה אשר במערת המכפלה שהיה שם מלא ריחות עליונים V'hayo yotzei el ha'sadeh she'ba'Maaras HaMachpela she'hayah sham malei reichos elyonim. That field was filled with the highest smells, with the with the wonderful fragrance of גן עדן Gan Eden. וראה אור יוצא מתוך המערה V'ra'ah or yotzei mi'toch ha'ma'ara, and Avraham saw a light that emanated from that cave. והתפלל שם והתפלל שם V'hispalel sham, v'hispalel sham, and he davened there. ושם דיבר הקדוש ברוך הוא, ולכן היה חביב אצלו V'sham dibbur HaKadosh Baruch Hu, v'lachein hayah chaviv etzlo. Even before he purchased it, even before he designated it as the eternal resting place of שרה Sarah and ultimately his own, he was drawn there by the light and by the fragrance of גן עדן Gan Eden. And he was drawn to daven, to connect there spiritually, and that's what planted within him this yearning, this longing. He was pulled to purchase it as the resting place of שרה Sarah. ויתכן שגם יצחק ויעקב ובשבטי קה נהגו כן V'yitachen she'gam Yitzchak v'Yaakov u'b'shivtei Kah nahagu kein. And from the Zohar it sounds like it's plausible that not only Avraham but following in his footsteps, יצחק ויעקב Yitzchak v'Yaakov and the 12 tribes all davened. And that's where כלב Calev got that מסורה mesora. Where did כלב Calev get this מנהג minhag? Where did he get this idea that you go to קברי אבות kivrei avos? Where did he get this idea that you go and you stop and you daven at the graves of your forefathers? He got it, כלב Calev, because the heads of the 12 tribes, who got it from Yaakov, who got it from Yitzchak, who got it from Avraham, because Avraham perceived there was something special there, and that is a place that we go to connect. The Rambam writes in a letter, הגודל השגחנו עשה בהיותי משתקע במערת המכפלה Ha'godel hashgachanah af b'heyosi m'ishtakeiach b'Maras HaMachpela. The Rambam talks about the merit he had to go to מערת המכפלה Maras HaMachpela. יצאתי מירושלים לחברון לנשק קברי אבותי במערה Yatzati mi'Yerushalayim l'Chevron l'nasheik kivrei avosai b'ma'ara. I left ירושלים Yerushalayim to חברון Chevron in order to go kiss the graves of my forefathers in the cave. ובאותו יום עמדתי במערה והתפללתי, שבח לקל יתברך על הכל U'v'oso yom amadeti b'ma'ara v'hispalalti, shevach l'Keil Yisborach al ha'kol. And says the Rambam, that day I stood in the cave, והתפללתי v'hispalalti, and I davened. I praised and I thanked Hashem for all the good. ושני הימים האלו שהם שישי בתשרי במרחשון, נדרתי שיהיה לי כמו יום טוב ותפילה ושמחה בהשם ואכילה ושתיה U'shnei ha'yamim ha'eilu she'hem shishi b'Cheshvan, nadarti she'yiyeh li k'mo yom tov u'tfila v'simcha b'Hashem v'achila u'shtiya. And I took an oath, a vow, that these days that I merited to go to מערת המכפלה Maras HaMachpela would be designated as festive days, as holidays for me, writes the Rambam. The Ramban also writes in a letter that he sent to ירושלים Yerushalayim to his son, רב נחמן Rav Nachman, that he merited to go to חברון Chevron, עיר קברי אבותינו ir kivrei avoseinu, להשתטח כנגד במערת המכפלה l'hishtateiach k'neged b'Maras HaMachpela, וגם לחצוב שם קבר לעצמו v'gam lachtzov sham kever l'atzmo, that he too was able to go to מערת המכפלה Maras HaMachpela and tried to designate a grave there as well. And the Ramban writes in his peirush on the Torah as well, שלכן נכתב בתורת פרשת קניין מערת המכפלה she'lachein nichtav b'Torah parshas kinyan Maras HaMachpela, why does the Torah take up so much real estate to talk about this real estate, to talk about Avraham's purchase of Chevron? He overpaid, he overpaid, להודיענו מקום קבורת אבותינו k'dei l'hodieinu makom kvuras avoseinu, because the Torah wants to tell us exactly where the מערה ma'ara is, כי חייבים אנחנו לכבד מקום קבורת אבותינו הקדושים ki chayavim anu l'chabed makom kvuras avoseinu ha'k'doshim. We can't neglect the burial place of our forefathers. We don't move on, we don't ignore, we don't neglect, we maintain, we preserve, we protect, we know where it is, and we go back and we visit. Next week I have to go to New York for another simcha, for a wedding. I'm flying into Newark, and I left myself a little time. I'm going to go visit my grandparents. I'm going to go say hello to my grandparents who are buried near Newark, Elizabeth, New Jersey. We know where they're buried, and we go and we visit. There's a big effort, we're going to have them behind the bima, but in Europe, the Jewish cemeteries, some of which are being destroyed, neglected, intentionally with malice, and others without malice, but there's a big effort to try to restore and protect and preserve these tombstones and these cemeteries, and the places where our forefathers are, where they're buried. I remember my wife's grandfather, her Opa, Arnold Goldschmidt, alav hashalom. He would go back to Germany to visit. He would say it, קברי אבות kivrei avos. He had no interest in going back to Germany, despite his feelings of fondness for Fulda and his childhood, but he had no positive feeling of going back to Germany. He went back for one reason, קברי אבות kivrei avos, the value of קברי אבות kivrei avos. It is a Jewish concept. So the question is why and what? What are we doing there? Are we davening to them? Do we think that they're in a position of influence and power to change our destiny? Why do we go back? Why do we go back to these, to these places? And here again, the Torah is giving us this precedent, Rashi, that Calev went to Chevron davka to daven. Person has a trying circumstance, you go back to קברי אבות kivrei avos. You know, last time I went to my grandparents' grave, you know what I found there on top of the tombstone? A pile of invitations that my cousins had gone, because there's a minhag that you go and you invite those who are no longer here to your simchas. An invitation to a wedding, invitation to a bar mitzvah. Zohar HaKadosh tells us this is not a made-up rabbi talking point for under the chuppah. You know, talking point number 122, even those who are not here physically are still here under the chuppah. It's not just some rabbinic talking point they teach you in smicha, it's based on a Zohar HaKadosh. I can give you the makor if you want it, that our loved ones, even those who are no longer physically here, they come back down to attend the simchas of their children, of their progeny, of their grandchildren, to reap the reward, to enjoy the nachas, to see the return on the investments that they left. There is a tradition, a truth that we have that they come back. And therefore there's a very beautiful custom. It's a very comforting custom for those who will experience their simcha as bittersweet because a loved one will not be there, when you go and physically place an invitation, I don't know what you do today with the invite, the evite. What's the email address of those who are no longer here? At cemetery.com. I don't know, at ganeden.org. I don't know exactly how you address it, the evite. I don't know how you do that today. I guess you could always print it out and bring the printout of the evite and put it on top of the, it's still worth doing the evite, not printing. It's still worth going on an evite. But print it out and you put it, and it's very comforting that bittersweet simcha when you can feel, I am putting something physical on this tombstone because they will be there. Not in theory, not because we put a talis as the chuppah, not because you're wearing their kittel only, but because our tradition is that they come, that they come back. So we visit. Kivrei avos are important, we go back and we visit. And what are we doing there? Are we davening to people there? Of course not. The Maharil writes in minhagim hilchos taanis, because one of the times that we go to a cemetery specifically is on a fast day. So in hilchos taanis he writes, os yud ches, המשתטח על קברי הצדיקים ומתפלל, אל ישים מגמתו נגד המתים השוכבים שם Ha'mishtateiach al kivrei ha'tzaddikim u'mispalel, al yasim megamaso neged ha'meisim ha'shochvim sham. Don't put your hope and faith in those who are buried there. יבקש מאת ה' יתברך שיתן לו רחמים בזכות הצדיקים שוכני עפר Yevakeish mei'eis Hashem Yisborach she'yitein lo rachamim b'zchus ha'tzaddikim shochnei afar. You're talking not to the deceased, you're talking to Hashem. But the deceased now have more access to Hashem, a closer connection to Hashem. They are living more adjacent to Hashem. So you're asking them to represent, to advocate, to be ambassadors, to be a meilitz yosher. Say, I'm down here in the physical world, in the world of temptation, the world of desire, the world of mistakes, the world of failures. So I only have a limited way of asking Hashem. But you are living in the עולם האמת olam ha'emes, you're in the world of truth, you're in the ישיבה של מעלה yeshiva shel maalah, you are living in this place of God's countenance, undeniable. Your soul has reconnected and restored and returned to its source. So since you now are in with the judge, I know that he's the judge, not you. We're not asking our אבות ואמהות avos v'imahos to determine our fate. That is Hashem and Hashem alone. And we need to know this Maharil. When you go to the ohel of the Rebbe, and when you go to Meron, and when you go to cemetery in Warsaw, and when you go to wherever you go and daven at kivrei avos, you're not davening to the people who are buried there. We don't believe in that. That's not our religion. חלילה Khalila. You're davening to Hashem, but we are appealing to the one who's buried there who's now in an olam ha'emes, who's now clean and pure of whatever mistakes, that because they're in a better position, please advocate, please be my ambassador. This is quoted by the Be'er Heitev as well, this Maharil. The Minchas Elazar wonders on the Maharil, we find that Calev ben Yefuna went, and what does he do? It says that he's davening to them. So maybe that's a question on the Maharil. So the Minchas Elazar, the Munkatcher explains the Maharil. שלא ישים מגמתו נגד המתים, שהמתים יושבים בכח. זהו ודאי עוון פלילי, אבל כשמבקש מהמתים שהם ימליצו טוב בעדו לה' יתברך, שתהיה תפילתו נשמעת. She'al yasim megamaso neged ha'meisim she'ha'meisim yoshvim b'koach. Zehu vadai avon plili, aval k'she'm'vakeish mei'ha'meisim she'hem yamlitzu tov ba'ado l'Hashem Yisbarach, she'tihiyeh tefillaso nishma'as. You're saying, please help my davening be on steroids. Help my davening go even higher. Help my davening be even louder, be even more readily and easily heard. So that's why we go. Lastly, who's buried at מערת המכפלה Maras HaMachpela? So the Gemara in Eruvin says, מאי מכפלה mai Machpela? What does מכפלה Machpela, כפלה kefeila, double suggest? שכפולה בזוגות She'kfuleh b'zugos, there's two pairs, doubles and pairs. So who's there? ממרא קרית ארבע Mamre Kiryas Arba. אמר רבי יצחק, קרית ארבע זוגות Amar Rabbi Yitzchak, Kiryas Arba zugos. It is the קריה kiryah, it is the area of the four pairs. Who are the four pairs? אדם וחווה Adam v'Chava, אברהם ושרה Avraham v'Sarah, יצחק ורבקה Yitzchak v'Rivka, יעקב ולאה Yaakov v'Leah. Is that it? Anyone else buried in מערת המכפלה Maras HaMachpela? So the Gemara in Sotah daf yud gimmel tells us that Eisav, עיניו של עשיו וראשו נפלו במערת המכפלה einav shel Eisav v'rosho naflu b'Maras HaMachpela, his eyes, his eyes were plucked out of his head and rolled into מערת המכפלה Maras HaMachpela. Yaakov Shimon he says, the ears of Eisav made it in. And the midrash sounds like his whole head, he was decapitated. So some gruesome part of Eisav is also in the מערה ma'ara. The Yalkut Shimoni says, ויאל עמו תביאנו v'yael amo tavienu. We say in the end of וזאת הברכה V'zos HaBracha, אל עמו תביאנו el amo tavienu, to his nation he should be brought. Who's this talking about? Yehuda. שנקבר יהודה עם אבותיו במערה She'nikbar Yehuda im avosav b'ma'ara. The Yalkut Shimoni says, Yehuda made his way in. Yehuda snuck in too. The Yalkut Reuveni, another medrash in Zos HaBracha says in the name of the Sefer HaTemunah, you know who else is buried there? Moshe and Tzipora. כי המלאכים נטלו את משה רבינו ממקום קבורתו בגיא בארץ מואב Ki ha'malachim natlu es Moshe Rabbeinu mi'makom kvuraso b'geia b'eretz Moav. We don't know where Moshe's buried because none of us were there. That was the day the Chevra had off because Hashem himself did the tahara and buried Moshe. That's why Zion is the Chevra Kadisha dinner, because the Chevra had off that day. None of us were present. So, but Moshe after he was first buried in Arvos Moav, then was reinterred in Maras HaMachpela, says the Medrash Yalkut Reuveni, Moshe and he was reunited with Tzipora. Others say, you know who was buried there? The Ramban. Because in this letter of the Ramban, he says, I visited Maras HaMachpela, and I got a grave right there. So there is a tradition that maybe even the Ramban is buried there in the ma'ara. Again, Otzar Pla'os HaTorah that upends and undoes everything we thought we knew about everything. But does it by bringing sources at least, so it makes it fun. So who's buried in מערת המכפלה Maras HaMachpela? Is it the four pairs that we all know? Or maybe some extras made their way in? Eisav, Moshe and Tzipora, Yehuda, maybe even the Ramban himself. פרק י\"ג פסוק כ\"ז Perek yud gimmel pasuk chaf zayin. Moving along. Spies come back. ויספרו לו ויאמרו באנו אל הארץ אשר שלחתנו Vayisapru lo vayomru banu el ha'aretz asher shlachtanu. They returned from investigating the land and they say, we come from the land that we were sent. וגם זבת חלב ודבש היא וזה פריה V'gam zavas chalav u'dvash hi v'zeh piryah. It indeed is a land flowing with milk and honey, and this, ah, this is its fruit, succulent, delicious. Check out this amazing, amazing fruit. By the way, this amazing fruit, we saw it identified which fruit was included. Which fruit was included, we saw identified. ענבים Anavim, רמונים rimonim, תאנים te'einim. Grapes, pomegranates and and figs. So, Rav Menachem Zemba, the great Rav Menachem Zemba, the Warsaw Ghetto, he writes in the sefer חידושי הגאון רב מנחם זמבה Chidushei HaGaon Rav Menachem Zemba, this is also quoted by the Otzar Pla'os HaTorah, עשה בשמריה, מצות בכורים היא תיקון חטא מרגלים Issur b'shemri'a, mitzvas bikurim hi tikkun chet ha'meraglim. The mitzvah of bikurim, when we come into the land, we take our first fruit, you bring it to Yerushalayim, you make a declaration in front of the kohen. First fruit, the mitzvah of the first fruit was the antidote, the repair for the mistake of the חטא המרגלים chet ha'meraglim. Because the מרגלים הוציאו דיבה על הארץ meraglim hotziu dibba al ha'aretz, the מרגלים meraglim spoke negatively about the land. ומצות בכורים ניתנה משום חיבת הארץ U'mitzvas bikurim nitna mi'shum chibas ha'aretz, and the mitzvah of bikurim was given as the antidote because of the love and affection for the land. And how do you know this? Says Rav Menachem Zemba, listen to this. There's a רמז remes, there's a hint. The Mishna in Bikurim perek gimmel mishna alef, the Mishna gives an example, יורד אדם לתוך שדהו yored adam l'soch sadeihu. How do you fulfill the mitzvah of bikurim? A person goes down into their field. ורואה תאנה שביכרה V'roeh te'enah she'bikra, and you see a fig that ripened, אשכול שביכר eshkol she'biker, you see a cluster of grapes that ripened, and רימון שביכר rimon she'biker, a pomegranate that ripened. כושרו בגמי ואומר אלו ביכורים Koshro b'gemi v'omer eilu bikurim. You tie a rubber band around it and you designate it, these are bikurim. Why'd the Mishna give these three examples? There are seven fruits of the land of Israel that bikurim applies to. Why'd the Mishna give these three examples דוקא davka? You see a grape, you see a fig, you see a pomegranate. הינו משקרן כאן שלושה מינים המוזכרים גם אצל מרגלים Heinu m'shekaran kan shlosha minim hamuzkarim gam etzel meraglim, הרמז לקשר ביניהם haremez lakesher beineihem. Because there is an allusion within the Mishna itself. חז\"ל Chazal, when it gave three examples of first fruit, specifically chose from among more they could have, three examples of first fruit that are exactly were the fruit that the מרגלים meraglim brought back. Why? Because ביכורים bikurim is the antidote. ביכורים Bikurim is the תיקון tikun of the חטא המרגלים chet ha'meraglim. Good.So these מרגלים meraglim come back and they say, it's a land flowing with milk and honey, it's beautiful. וזה פריו v'zeh piryo. And this is its delicious fruit. Listen to רבי נחמן Rebbi Nachman. This is not רבי נחמן Rebbi Nachman directly. It's another beautiful ספר sefer we've been learning from called שולחן השבת עם רבי נחמן Shulchan HaShabbat im Rebbi Nachman. It takes the teachings of רבי נחמן Rebbi Nachman and applies it to the פרשה parsha. כאשר חזרו מרגלים ששלח משה לסור את ארץ ישראל Ka'asher chazru meraglim she'shalach Moshe lasur et Eretz Yisrael. When the מרגלים meraglim returned from investigating the land, from investigating the land. בתחילה הם דיברו בשבחה של הארץ B'tchila hem dibru b'shivcha shel ha'aretz. At first they came back and they praised the land. We just read these words. They said, can imagine the assembly, the שול shul was packed. Everybody was there. The מרגלים meraglim take the stage, נו nu? What'd you see, what'd you find, what's gonna be, how's it gonna go? They grabbed the mic, checking one two. The first thing they say is, the land, wah. It's flowing with milk and honey. Check out these fruit. Who hasn't had a breakfast in Israel, ירושלים Yerushalayim, it's the best part of staying at a hotel. That breakfast, the fruit, the vegetables in Israel, so fresh, so delicious. At first they began with praise. שהיא ארץ זבת חלב ומגדלת פירות גדולים ומשובחים She'hi eretz zavat chalav u'megadeles peiros gedolim u'meshubachim. Look at the size of these fruit. Look how succulent, look how delicious, look how ripe. למרושה מטרתם הייתה להרתיע את העם מלהיכנס לארץ L'marosheh matratam hayta l'hartia et ha'am m'lehikanes la'aretz. Their ultimate game, their ultimate goal, their ultimate plan was to make the people fear entering the land. אבל הם לא הכחישו שמדובר בארץ מיוחדת ביושר Aval hem lo hichishu she'medubar b'eretz meyuchadass b'yoser. But they couldn't hide, they couldn't resist the fact that we're talking about a very special, a very singular land. רבי נתן Rebbi Noson writes, ליקוטי הלכות ברכות ברכת הריח ח' ז' Likkutei Halachos, Brachos, Birchas HaReiach, ches, zayin. רבי נתן Rebbi Noson, the תלמיד talmid of רב נחמן Rav Nachman, relying his Rebbe's teachings writes, עיקר מקום הרצון הוא, דארץ ישראל Ikar makom haratzon hu, d'Eretz Yisrael. The main place in the world where the power of the will is the land of Israel. Will. Will, meaning our desire, our yearning, our longing, our will. The main place where one can see the light and the energy and the power and the effectiveness of simply willing something is the land of Israel. אזוי זאגט רבי נתן Azoy zogt Rebbi Nosson. This is what רבי נתן Rebbi Nosson had from his רבי Rebbe, רבי נחמן Rebbi Nachman, a few hundred years ago. I found that fascinating because the famous quote from Herzl which is, anyone know it? If you will it, it is no dream. I can't tell you how many people have it as their email signature. If you will it, it is no dream. Herzl's quote. I found that fascinating because long before רבי נחמן Rebbi Nachman taught, the המקום הרצון hamakom haratzon is ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael. The place where if you will it, it is no dream is the land of Israel. ארץ ישראל נקראת ארץ צבי Eretz Yisrael nikreis Eretz Tzvi. It's called the land of צבי tzvi. וצבי הוא רצון בארמית U'tzvi hu ratzon b'aramis. In Aramaic, צבי tzvi is to will. How do you know that? If you ever listen in the reading of a כתובה kesubah under the חופה chuppah, maybe I listen more attentively because I have the privilege sometimes of getting to even read, וצבי החתן V'tzavi hachassan. It means that the חתן chassan wills, he makes this commitment, that commitment, he will honor this promise, this pledge. וצבי V'tzavi. וצבי V'tzavi in Aramaic, בארמית b'aramis is רצון ratzon, he wills. שהיא המקום שממנו נובעים ומשתוקקות רצונות של ישראל לאבינו שבשמיים She'hi hamakom she'mimenu novim u'mishtokekos retzonos shel Yisrael l'avinu she'bashamayim. Where's the place where we spiritually are awakened and aroused, where the will in us is directed to אבינו שבשמיים avinu she'bashamayim? It's Israel. You land in Israel and the air, all of a sudden you feel in touch and connected with your נשמה neshama. You yearn for something bigger and more. כל מי שמקושר לקדושת ארץ ישראל Kol mi she'mekushar l'kdushas Eretz Yisrael, if you're connected to the holiness and sanctity of the land of Israel, something in you is awake just when you come there. ובפרט מי שגר בה בפועל U'vifrat mi she'gar bah b'foal, especially one who lives there, יכול לזכות כתוצאה מכך להארת הרצון yachol lizkos k'totzaah mikach l'ha'aras haratzon, שיעורר בו רצון חזק וכיסופים להתקרב לשם she'yorer bo ratzon chazak v'kisufim l'hiskarev lashem. In the latest edition of Jewish Action, on the 75th anniversary of the state of Israel, it has entries about different גדולי ישראל gedolei Yisrael and their description, their connection to 1948, the state of Israel and to Israel in general. So Rav Moshe Lichtenstein talks about his father רב אהרן זצ\"ל Rav Aharon zatzal's connection to the land of Israel. And רב אהרן Rav Aharon's first trip to Israel when he returned, his רבי rebbe, the פחד יצחק Pachad Yitzchak, רב יצחק הוטנר זצ\"ל Rav Yitzchak Hutner zatzal asked him, נו nu, tell me about it, what'd you find, what'd you see? And Rav Lichtenstein came back and gave a report, not like the מרגלים meraglim, like the מרגלים meraglim of ספר יהושע Sefer Yehoshua, gave a report, positive. The ישיבות yeshivos and this learning, and this was at the כותל Kotel, and this is what I saw, and this is who I met, this is what I experienced. And Rav Hutner when he was all finished said, you left out the most important part. And he said, what's that? I'm only paraphrasing, it's worth reading it inside. I think we have free copies in the lobby. So, you left out the most important part. What's that? He said, did you feel the קדושה kedusha of ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael? Forget who, what, where, when. The air, the land, did it radiate holiness and sanctity? Did you feel where you're in touch, did you connect with its קדושה kedusha? And he records that that was for the rest of his life, Rav Aharon Lichtenstein's mantra was, as significant and as miraculous as the state, the core of ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael is its קדושה kedusha, its sanctity, its singleness, its uniqueness, its singularity. And that's what he's teaching here, that when you come into the land of Israel, it's a place that one is awakened in their רצון ratzon. ובדורנו זכינו שאנו יכולים לגור U'v'doreinu zachinu she'anu yecholim lagur. So this ספר sefer, שולחן השבת Shulchan HaShabbat says, in our generation we've merited, you could live in Israel. You could move to Israel. And all of us, my friend Leo D if he's listening, it's not if, it's when. All of us, not if but when, it's where we all belong. It's where we have to go. It's not if, but when we will be there. But in the earlier generations, the generation of Rav Nachman, עליה aliyah was filled with all kinds of dangers and threats and was for all intents and purposes almost impossible. רבי נחמן Rebbi Nachman himself tried to go, wanted to go, made an effort. But with the רצון ratzon, when a person wills something, we know הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu is מצרף מחשבה למעשה metzaref machshava l'maaseh. The will alone can bring about and create a reality. אין דבר העומד בפני הרצון Ein davar ha'omed bifnei haratzon. Which is not a מאמר חז\"ל ma'amar chazal, you have to trace exactly where it comes from. It's what Herzl was paraphrasing himself, if you will it, it is no dream. There is nothing that stands in the way of the רצון ratzon. The חסידישע ספרים Chasidishe sforim say the word רצון ratzon is the same word as רץ ratz, to run. Why? Because when you will something, you get there even faster. You run towards that goal, towards that result. If you don't really want it, you procrastinate, you're lazy, you stumble, you get there eventually. But רצון ratzon is רץ ratz. Your רצון ratzon, the stronger your will, the stronger your desire, the faster you run, the more you accomplish that goal. Why am I telling you all this? Why is Rav Nachman, Rav Nosson telling us all this? Because the חטא המרגלים chet hamiraglim היה בכך שלא האמינו בכוחו של הרצון hayah b'kach she'lo he'eminu b'kocho shel haratzon. What they didn't connect with about the land of Israel, what they didn't believe in was the power of רצון ratzon. The power of will, the power of a dream, the power of a drive, the power of a desire. והחשבו שהמניעות חזקות יותר V'chashvu she'hamenios chazakos yoser. The obstacles, the impediments, that's the problem. You see, when they come back, this is so important to understanding our פרשה parsha. When the מרגלים meraglim come back and give their report, did they say anything inaccurate? No. Everything they say is true. Did they exaggerate? No. Everything they say is right on point. What'd they do that was so wrong? And if you look, when כלב Kalev responds and כלב Kalev grabs that mic and has his moment of truth and he's turns to the people, he doesn't respond to each of their points. He doesn't contradict it or respond to, what does he say? עלה נעלה Alo na'aleh. נו חברה, let's go! Nu chevra, let's go! We got this. Let's take this. That's not much of an argument. You got a board meeting. Should we build the campus, not? Is it a dream? What are the reality? Can we make it happen? So one person says, you know, here's the problem, here's the other problem, here's the third problem, here's the fourth problem. Here are all the reasons we can't do it. So I think we should drop it. Someone grabs the mic and says, let's do it, let's go, we got this, put the shovel in the ground. Is that an argument? Is that a response? Is that persuasive? Is that compelling? What's going on over here? So Rav Nachman says, you have to understand where the מרגלים meraglim went wrong is all they saw was what was right before their eyes. All they saw was what they could see, what was superficial, what was exterior, external. They didn't understand the power of a dream, the power of drive, the power of failure not being an option. The power of the person who sets their heart, their mind, puts their eyes on a goal and says I'm not stopping till I get it. I will run over walls, around walls, under walls. I will run right through that wall because this is going to happen. I can refute your points point by point. But if you're already so closed-minded that all you see are the reasons not to do something, then you'll never hear the refutation, so there's no point in going there. What you need to know is the power of רצון ratzon, that אין דבר העומד בפני הרצון ein davar ha'omed bifnei haratzon, that ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael is a land of רצון ratzon, that if you dream it, if you will it, it is no dream. that if you will it, it is no dream, אין דבר העומד בפני הרצון ein davar ha'omed bifnei haratzon. It's what the מרגלים meraglim were missing. It was the חטא chet of the מרגלים meraglim. It's where we went wrong and it's haunted us through our history. We've only survived because we didn't listen to that message. Here we are because we didn't look at the reality. Tell a group of Jews who faced the Inquisition, the Crusades, a Holocaust, the odds of leaving Egypt. Tell Jews who faced those odds and those realities throughout our histories that if you dream it and if you will it, we will overcome. Tell the חשמונאים Chashmonaim who faced the story of חנוכה Chanukah. Tell מרדכי Mordechai and Esther who faced the story of פורים Purim. And if you listen to the voice of the מרגלים meraglim in our own heads, and this point and that point and the other point and the odds and the data and the likelihood and the statistics and what the oddsmakers are saying, we wouldn't be here today. We would have given up long ago. But מרדכי Mordechai and Esther didn't listen. And the חשמונאים Chashmonaim didn't care. And our ancestors who faced the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Holocaust, and those skeletons who survived in 1945, three years later, cobbled together old parts of cars to form Israel's first Air Force. If you haven't seen the film that was done by Steven Spielberg's sister on the first Air Force for the founding of the state of Israel, you can't watch that documentary and not think that the modern state is not a miracle. Skeletons who'd never flown planes, who just walked out of concentration camps, took spare parts of cars to make planes that wobbled through the air that became Israel's first Air Force. If someone would look at those parts and look at those people and say, what do you think? Should we take on seven surrounding Arab countries with their Air Force and their armies and their military? What do you think of those odds? If the מרגלים meraglim had a chance to grab a microphone and stand up, would we have a state of Israel today? It's because we silenced the voice of those מרגלים meraglim in our ears and we see beyond the surface and we understand the power of רצון ratzon, of dreaming, of desire, of drive, of will, that אין דבר העומד בפני הרצון ein davar ha'omed bifnei haratzon, that ארץ ישראל is the מקום הרצון makom haratzon in the world, the light, the energy, the power. So what was their answer? אפס כי עז העם היושב בארץ Efes ki az ha'am hayoshev ba'aretz. No, they're too strong. לא נוכל לעלות אל העם כי חזק הוא ממנו Lo nuchal la'alos el ha'am ki chazak hu mimenu. They're too powerful, we can't go up. And what does כלב Kalev say? עלה נעלה Alo na'aleh. I can refute your points point by point after. I'm happy to sit and go few, I'm happy to sit and go through and refute point by point later. But the first thing you need to know is עלה נעלה alo na'aleh. Nothing is going to stop us. If we dream it, if we have the drive, if we believe in it, if we will it, we'll make it a reality. Okay, now you want to know the strategy how to respond and refute your points? No problem. Pour a drink, make a coffee, light a cigar, we can go through them one by one. But if you're not first with me that עלה נעלה alo na'aleh, if you don't believe that we've got this, that our will is going to make us overcome it, then forget about it. It's never going to happen. And that's really the story of the חטא המרגלים chet hamiraglim versus the voice of כלב Kalev. פיאסצנה Piaseczna has a beautiful piece we studied this last year. Last year we saw four or five different opinions or two years ago, we didn't have שלח Shelach last year. Two years ago, תשפ\"א Taf Shin Pey Aleph, 2021, you could find it online. We saw four different approaches to עלה נעלה alo na'aleh. But this is another, or this is a furthering their approach of עלה נעלה alo na'aleh. עלה נעלה Alo na'aleh is כלב Kalev saying, we got this. This is ours. We believe in this. This is going to happen. This is ours. This can happen. This can happen. This was their miscalculation, and this is why כלב Kalev came up. He stopped in חברון Chevron, and he דאווענט davened, and he responded that we can, we can make it happen. We can make it happen. There's a beautiful Alexander Rebbe, the ישמח ישראל Yismach Yisrael, 1853 to 1910, the Alexander Rebbe. He says the מרגלים meraglim were concerned, if we're worthy, it will be טובה הארץ מאד tovah ha'aretz me'od. It'll be a land of קדושה kedusha and טהרה tahara. אפס כי עז העם Efes ki az ha'am, but there's also טומאה tumah. Israel is a complicated place. You know, there are people who send their children for a gap year to Israel because they bank on Israel flipping their child out. Israel will set my child straight. Israel will be exactly what my kid needs to come back on the straight and narrow. And it's true, ארץ ישראל is טובה הארץ מאד tovah ha'aretz me'od. It's a beautiful land. מערת המכפלה, קבר רחל, הכותל, הישיבות, הסמינרים, וואה Ma'aras Hamachpela, Kever Rachel, haKotel, haYeshivos, haSeminars, wah, it's amazing. But there's also אפס כי עז העם efes ki az ha'am. But there's also the square at the end of Ben Yehuda. There's also the underground. There's also places of temptation and challenges, and there's places that kids can easily fall in in Israel too. And that's what the מרגלים meraglim's fear was, what if we're unworthy? What if we come up short? What if we aren't up to the test? What if we don't have what it takes? Yeah, there's a lot of reward if you go to Israel and you get it right, but there's a big risk if you get it wrong. Can argue, I'm gonna get in trouble for this, that's one of the calculations and issues when considering עליה aliyah. There's a lot who go and their children thrive and flourish and blossom. And there are many who go and children depending on the stage of life struggle because אפס כי עז העם Efes ki az ha'am. It's not also only easy. So there's enormous reward but commensurate, there's also a lot of risk. And that's what the מרגלים meraglim got up and said, see the fruit, see the land, it's filled with possibility, it's pregnant with potential, there's incredible reward. But we've got to tell you, we were sent to investigate, we were asked to be honest, so we've got to give you a little honesty, reality check. It's also filled with risk. So, what does the Alexander Rebbe, the ישמח ישראל Yismach Yisrael, so where'd they go wrong? What's the matter with that report? Sounds pretty honest, isn't it fair? What was wrong in their thinking? Moreover he says, didn't יעקב אבינו Yaakov Avinu have the same thought process? הנה אנוכי עמך ושמרתיך בכל אשר תלך Hinei anochi imcha u'shmarticha b'chol asher teilech. On the one hand השם Hashem promised יעקב Yaakov I'm with you wherever you go. But יעקב Yaakov says קטונתי מכל החסדים katonti mikol hachasadim. Maybe I'm unworthy. Maybe I'm not up to the challenge. Maybe I'm not worthy of השם Hashem's promise and protection. So why do we vilify the מרגלים meraglim but we laud and praise יעקב Yaakov? When the people leave Egypt, did they not express concern and resistance and fear and doubt? As they get to the sea, the Egyptians in pursuit. And yet, we celebrate and lord all of them and the מרגלים meraglim are vilified. So says the Alexander Rebbe, here's the fundamental difference. יעקב Yaakov was scared, he was nervous, he didn't let him hold him back. He plowed forward. He planned for his reunion. He marched on. He mentioned the concern he has, he was only honest and real, but he never hesitated. He didn't use it as a cop-out to hold back. Part of him said I can't. But then he was determined. And the bigger and greater part of him said, I can. When we stood at ים סוף Yam Suf, we panicked. We considered turning around. We doubted if we ever should have been taken out. But then we pushed forward. Then we jumped in the water anyway. And the problem with the מרגלים meraglim was not that they had doubts. The problem with the מרגלים meraglim is not the reality check. The problem with the מרגלים meraglim is not the voice who says, are you building too much? Can you afford it? Do interest rates? What are you taking on? Those voices are welcome, they're needed, they're necessary. The problem is when you let them hold you back. You have to persevere and overcome responsibly, strategically, but it's unforgivable, it's unforgivable to abort the mission and the plan because you indulge and you give in to those that voices of self-sabotage and self-defeat, when you give up and you give in instead of pushing forward and believing that you can. כלב Kalev jumps in and that's when he blurts out, עלה נעלה alo na'aleh, we've got this. Who's in with me? Who's in with me? Who's coming? That's the answer, the ultimate answer that he's giving, one foot in front of the other, you gotta plow forward. We don't have a voice. The מרגלים meraglim said לא נוכל lo nuchal. That was their mantra, לא נוכל lo nuchal. And what was כלב's Kalev's answer? עלה נעלה, why? כי יכול נוכל לה Alo na'aleh, why? Ki yachol nuchal lah. If you had to just contrast the two voices, and I have to tell you, I find that people can be divided into one of those two camps. There are the לא נוכל lo nuchal people. Everything you raise, everything you suggest, every idea, every proposal, לא נוכל lo nuchal. Won't work out, can't be done, we tried it, the other failed, לא נוכל lo nuchal. And כלב Kalev says no, no, no, that's not our people. We are the כי יכול נוכל לה ki yachol nuchal lah. I gotta say one of the reasons I have the best job in the world, I speak to colleagues and friends, rabbis in other communities, and they go to their board. First of all, they need approval before they can send out an email. But they go to their board, they have a big idea, they can afford it and pay for it, they have an idea, it's fiscally responsible. But no, that's not the way we do it here. This is why it'll never work out. Don't try it. This one will be against it. That one will be unhappy about it. So no. And they're stuck and stagnant. And I'm blessed to be the rabbi of the greatest שול shul on the planet, where there's a leadership who say, rabbi, here are your wings, go fly as long as you're doing it financially responsibly, יכול נוכל לה yachol nuchal lah. Why not? Why can't we? Why can't we? We got this. יכול נוכל לה Yachol nuchal lah. And you have to ask yourself in your family and whether it's about your own health, physical, spiritual, mental, whether it's about a project, you want to finish ש\"ס Shas, finish תנ\"ך Tanach, finish משנה Mishna, finish משנה ברורה Mishna Berurah, whether it's about a dream that you have professionally. Do you bring the attitude of לא נוכל lo nuchal? It's never gonna work out, it's never gonna happen. I'm not deserving, I can't pull it off. There's all the forces that are against me, my parents, my spouse, my children, my boss, my neighbor, לא נוכל lo nuchal, I can't. Or do you bring the mentality of יכול נוכל לה yachol nuchal lah? Are you the progeny of כלב Kalev? Where does כלב Kalev get his name? I happen to have a son-in-law named כלב Kalev. I said this under his חופה chuppah. Where does כלב Kalev get his name? The מדרש midrash says כלב Kalev comes from כלב Kalev is כולו לב kulo lev. He's all heart. כלב Kalev is כולו לב kulo lev. All heart. When you're all heart, when you have drive and desire and passion, I play tennis against my son-in-law כלב Kalev. He gets to every ball. I hit a ball that should be a winner, anyone else I would play, he's כולו לב kulo lev, he gets to every ball. יכול נוכל לה Yachol nuchal lah. There's no such thing as a passing shot, as a winner. יכול נוכל לה Yachol nuchal lah, I'm going to get to every ball and get it back. יכול נוכל לה Yachol nuchal lah. כלב Kalev is כולו לב kulo lev. So are we the children of כלב Kalev, whether we're from his שבט shevet or not? What's our spiritual legacy? Are we לא נוכל lo nuchal? Never going to happen, can't pull it off, forget about it, abandon the dream. Or are we a people of אין דבר העומד בפני הרצון ein davar ha'omed bifnei haratzon? There's nothing that stands in in the face of us. I said before, this is also I think the פשט pshat connecting the מרגלים meraglim at the beginning of the פרשה parsha, ציצית tzitzis at the end of the פרשה parsha. The מרגלים meraglim are sent לסור את הארץ lasur es ha'aretz and ציצית tzitzis it says ולא תסורו אחרי לבבכם v'lo sasuru acharei l'vavchem. There's no coincidence the same language is used at the beginning of the פרשה parsha and the end of the פרשה parsha. The מרגלים meraglim are sent to investigate the land, לסור את הארץ lasur es ha'aretz, וראיתם אותו u'risem oso, go see it. And ציצית tzitzis, ולא תסורו אחרי לבבכם v'lo sasuru acharei l'vavchem, וראיתם אותו u'risem oso. Very same words, investigate and see, investigate and see. How does ציצית tzitzis work? And we're skipping to the end of the פרשה parsha. How does ציצית tzitzis work? How does it work? תכלת tcheiles, contrast turquoise and the white. תכלת דומה לים, ים דומה לרקיע, רקיע דומה לכיסא הכבוד tcheiles domeh l'yam, yam domeh l'rakia, rakia domeh l'kisei hakavod. When you see the turquoise, it reminds you of the sea. The sea reminds you of the heavens. Heavens reminds you of the heavenly throne, reminds you of השם Hashem. So when you're tempted to do the wrong thing but you look down at your ציצית tzitzis and see the contrast of those colors, what kicks in? What kicks in to save you from your own יצר הרע yetzer hara? The power of the imagination. If you look at your ציצית tzitzis, all you see are a bunch of threads, white and turquoise. But you're not just supposed to see what's right before you. What are you supposed to employ and engage? The power of the imagination. So you don't just see turquoise and white, you see, oh, that reminds me of the sea, that reminds me of the sky, that reminds me of the heavens, that reminds me of השם's Hashem's throne. Oh yeah, I guess I shouldn't say this, do this, watch this, eat this, or go there. How does it work though? The mechanism is the power of the imagination. וראיתם אותו U'risem oso. Jews have a third eye. We don't have two eyes. We don't just see what's right in front of us. You know, on סוכות Sukkos, the ארבע מינים arba minim correspond with our four senses. So, the לולב lulav is the spine and the אתרוג esrog is the heart and the ערבות aravos are the two lips and the הדסים hadasim are the eyes. Problem is, how many הדסים hadasim are there? I know it's סיוון Sivan, but you got this, guys. How many הדסים hadasim are there? If there are two ערבות aravos, one אתרוג esrog, one לולב lulav, how many הדסים hadasim? Three. How do they correspond with the eyes? How many eyes do you have? Two. So it's like it's close? Close enough? It's cute? How does that work? One לולב lulav, one spine, one אתרוג esrog, one heart, two ערבות aravos, two lips, three הדסים hadasim, two eyes? The answer is we don't have two eyes. Jews have a third eye. And what's our third eye? Is the eye that doesn't see what's right in front of us, the eye that dreams. The eye that has רצון ratzon. The eye that sees beyond the surface. The eye that sees possibility where others see what's impossible. And that's why, when משה Moshe says go לסור את הארץ וראיתם אותו lasur es ha'aretz u'risem oso, and they get it all wrong. They come back and report only what's on the surface. Here's the military stations, here's how big they are, here's the fruit, here are the data, here are the details. They only report as far as the eye can see. At the end of the פרשה parsha, we learn when it comes to ציצית tzitzis that what does it mean וראיתם אותו u'risem oso? וראיתם אותו u'risem oso doesn't mean see what's in front of you. It means see beyond the surface, see with the third eye, see with the power of imagination. See a color that reminds you of the sea and the sky and the heavens and השם Hashem, see well beyond. That's why we're here. We're only here, the Jewish people, because we see beyond the surface. We see beyond the odds, we see beyond the possibility, we keep going further and further and further. They were אנשי מידות anshei middos. They are described as being אנשי מידות anshei middos. פרק י\"ג פסוק ל\"ב Perek Yud Gimmel, Pasuk Lamed Beis. I, anyone have an extra hour? פרק י\"ג פסוק ל\"ב Perek Yud Gimmel, Pasuk Lamed Beis. ויוציאו דיבת הארץ Vayotzi'u dibas ha'aretz, they spoke negatively about the land and they described ארץ אוכלת יושביה eretz ocheles yoshveha, this is a land that consumes its inhabitants. וכל העם אשר ראינו בתוכה אנשי מידות v'chol ha'am asher ra'inu b'sochah anshei middos. And all the people that we saw in it are people of מידות middos. What does it mean to be people of מידות middos? People of... No, what does it mean? You could cheat, look at the English. They were huge, they were enormous, they were people of great measure. No human growth hormone needed for these kids. They were fine, they were people of great measure, people of great measure. What is אנשי מידות anshei middos? So the דעת זקנים מבעלי התוספות Daas Zekeinim Miba'alei HaTosfos says, you know what אנשי מידות anshei middos means? Listen to what it says. Listen to what he says. שאמרו המרגלים לבני ישראל She'amru hamiraglim l'vnei Yisrael, שמה שארץ כנען היא ארץ אוכלת יושביה shemah she'Eretz Kna'an hi eretz ocheles yoshveha, אינם דומים לרוב אכילתם ושתיתם einam domeh l'rov achilasam u'shtiyasom. לא כן הוא Lo kein hu. הרי אנשי מידות הם Harei anshei middos hem. שאוכלים במידה ושותים במידה She'ochlim b'midah v'shosim b'midah. He says you know why we have no possibility of conquering this land? Because these aren't fat, overweight, unhealthy shlubs in there. They don't just fress to their heart's desire. They're אנשי מידות anshei middos. They're all on Weight Watchers. They're all eating exactly the measure they're supposed to eat, the drinking the measure they're supposed to drink. So they're ripped. They're in incredible shape. They're star athletes. You can't contend with this army because they're אנשי מידות anshei middos. Well we're busy eating פתחא patcha and, what else? Give me some more over here. We're eating קישקע kishke and טשולנט cholent and קיגל kugel and פתחא patcha and shortbread and, we're eating all the things that clog your arteries. What kind of an army are you? That's what the מרגלים meraglim turned to כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael and they say, hey חברה chevra, I know we couldn't even have this meeting without offering refreshments. None of you would have showed up to hear our report. They wouldn't have had a... what do we always need to get? We have a meeting tonight, no? What do you need to get? A קוורום quorum. So the מרגלים meraglim come back and they say we wouldn't have even had a קוורום quorum if we didn't put out a קידוש kiddush. That's כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael. כלל ישראל Klal Yisrael you can't, you can't arrive at a קוורום quorum unless you put out a קידוש kiddush. So we're giving you our report while you're stuffing your face with shortbreads and פתחא patcha and קיגל kigel and טשולנט cholent and קישקע kishke and charcuterie boards. I got to tell you, you know why we're in trouble? Because in כנען Kna'an they're אנשי מידות anshei middos. You know what they're doing? They're eating the right measure, the right amount, exactly what they're supposed to eat. Where does he get this from? The דעת זקנים מבעלי התוספות Daas Zekeinim Miba'alei HaTosfos. You know who else says this? אוצר בלום התורה Otzar B'lum HaTorah quotes from the רמב\"ן Ramban. The רמב\"ן Ramban in הלכות דעות Hilchos Deios says אכילה ושתיה has to be במידה b'midah. רוב החלאים הבאים על האדם אינם אלא... שאוכל מאכלים רעים... שממלא בטנו ואוכל אכילה גסה אפילו ממאכלים טובים rov hacholaim haba'im al ha'adam einam ela... she'ochel ma'achalim ra'im... she'memaleh bitno v'ochel achilah gassah afilu m'ma'achalim tovim. The רמב\"ם Rambam who himself was a doctor writes the reason people get sick, get ill, is because they're eating either the wrong foods, or even if they're eating the right foods, they're eating the wrong measure of it. מידות Midos. We have to be אנשי מידות anshei middos. Don't overeat. I'll tell you a little secret. It's not well known. You're allowed to stop eating when you're full. You go to a restaurant and whatever they determined was the portion is what you feel you have to finish your plate. Now I understand part of that's been ingrained in us through generations of being on the run and pogroms and holocausts and being starved to death that we've ingrained within our very DNA, you got to finish everything on the plate. But you don't have to finish everything on the plate. You're allowed to finish and stop eating when you're full. And the רמב\"ם Rambam says you'd be surprised to know this, that's actually a very healthy way to live. Sometimes you don't even have to change your diet enormously, you just have to change not the quality. but the quantity. And who would you be emulating? The those who lived in the land who were אנשי מידות anshei middos. What made them superior, what made them people we were afraid we couldn't conquer, was they were אנשי מידות anshei middos. They ate the right measure. That's what the Rambam says. The Rambam writes there in הלכות מידות Hilchos Middos, אני ערב לו שאינו בא לידי חולי כל ימיו ani areiv lo she'eino ba lidei choli kol yamav. He says I'll guarantee it. The Rambam says I am the guarantor. Eat the right foods in the right measure, join the ranks of the אנשי מידות anshei middos, and I guarantee you will not suffer from cholesterol and blood pressure and sugars and the many issues that are plaguing the free world, the western world today. The Rambam says, אני ערב ani areiv, I will be your, I will be your guarantor.The ספר שני לוחות הברית Sefer Shnei Luchos HaBris has a different interpretation. אנשי מידות Anshei middos. You know what he says? The מרגלים meraglim saw the children of the ילידי הענק yelidei ha'anak and he saw they were אנשי מידות anshei middos. They were really well behaved. And Moshe says, the spies rather turn and they say, our kids are little bullies, they're a little aggressive on the playground, they're not sharing even though it's caring. Our children, they got a long way to go. And I found in Israel, the מרגלים meraglim say, they're אנשי מידות anshei middos. They have good מידות middos. And we're going to have trouble conquering them when they're בעלי מידות טובות baalei middos tovos, when they have fine מידות middos. It's an ארץ אוכלת יושביה eretz ocheles yoshveha, because the better מידות middos are going to persevere over the poorer מידות middos. So we need to improve our מידות middos if we're going to be able to go in and conquer.Fascinating, new interpretations of what does it mean אנשי מידות anshei middos. He has many more. We got about a third of the way through what I wanted to share. So, depressing. מקושש עצים Mekoshesh eitzim, how ציצית tzitzis work. Why does it say מאד מאד me'od me'od? Could have just said the word מאד me'od. Don't rebel against השם Hashem.אוי Oy. Alright. What can we do? Tomorrow morning, ten minutes of meaning we're heading towards concluding מסילת ישרים Mesilas Yesharim, Living with אמונה Emunah. Tomorrow night we're going behind the בימה bimah with Tzvi Gluck, the founder and CEO of עמודים Amudim. Until next time. Stay happy, stay healthy, and stay holy. Have a great day everybody. Eat well.
