Transcript
Okay, good morning, boker tov, welcome back to Parsha Perspectives for today. Back on its regular day. This time the Simcha was Sunday Monday, so I didn't have to move any Shiurim Baruch Hashem. Our Parsha series is generously sponsored by our dear friends Becky and Avi Katz. We don't take it for granted and we're grateful to them in memory of Becky's father. Our learning is le'ilui nishmas David, David Grossman, דוד בן מנחם מאנוש. Also our series is generously sponsored by the Deichman family in memory of their daughter and sister, דניאלה רחל בת שלום עזרא, a remarkable young woman who passed away tragically. Our learning is le'ilui nishmasa as well. This morning is sponsored anonymously in the merit of אבנר בן אברהם הכהן, Sheindel bas David, Meshulum ben David, David ben Meshulum, Nissim ben Neshema, רפאל חיים בן דוד אשר, and ברכה בת יוכבד הלוי. And by Chana Rinkle le'ilui nishmas חיה בת יהושע ישראל יוסף דוד בן הרב מרדכי ויעקב זאב בן הרב. Thank you to all of our generous sponsors. Greatly, greatly appreciate. Okay, Parshas Shlach, page 798 in the Artscroll Stone Chumash. וידבר השם אל משה לאמר. We're continuing the Jewish people's trek through the midbar, through the desert. And here at this point, they were on their way. Had they not made that fatal mistake, a mistake that changed the course of Jewish history forever, a mistake that we continue to be paying for until this very day, this Parsha we would have been on our way into the Promised Land. We would have been setting up shop, Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael, Toras Yisrael, this perfect triumvirate, and we would have been fulfilling the very purpose and mission of why God created the world and us in it. And our Parsha, of course, is this incredible juncture. It's this tremendous pivot, this horrific deviation from where we were supposed to go and meant to go, but I guess on the other hand we ended up where we were meant to be and made the most of that mission based on that reality of the mistakes that we made. וידבר השם אל משה לאמר. So Hashem spoke to Moshe. Shlach lecha anashim. And Hashem tells Moshe, Shlach lecha, send for yourself men. We'll translate loosely soon as spies, but send men. And what's their mission, what's their goal? ויתורו את ארץ כנען. Translate the word v'yasuru. So if you look at the Artscroll translation, that's what I have in front of me, it says: Send men and let them spy. It says spy out the land. I don't know if that's actual English, spy out the land. I think it's just spy, you don't have to spy out something. But go and spy. V'yasuru is spy. That's actually not an accurate translation. We'll see in a moment that that's actually where it all went wrong. I'm not blaming Artscroll for the Cheit HaMeraglim, but I'm saying that that translation is inaccurate and the earlier misinterpretation of what the mission was, v'yasuru, is what led to the entire problem. And where were they meant to go look? את ארץ כנען אשר אני נתן לבני ישראל, איש אחד איש אחד, and one man from each father's tribe, mateh avosav tishlachu, send kol nasi bahem. So much to unpack just in this beginning pasuk. Whose idea was it? Who initiated this? Was it the people? Was it Moshe? Was it Hashem? What, is it a mitzvah? Was it a concession from Hashem that he let us send spies? Was it a good idea, was it a bad idea? What led to this outcome? What is going on over here? So much to see, so much to talk about. Let's start with the Menachem Tzion. Rav Menachem Tzion Sax, we've been learning this new edition of the great Menachem Tzion. And he says the following. He says Shlach lecha, that word, it could have said shlach anashim, send men, send spies. Why does it say lecha? Lecha means for you. Shlach lecha, send for you. לך לדעתך אני איני מצווך. Send for yourself, I didn't tell you. Im tirtzeh shlach. If you want, send. This is all Rashi. לפי שבאו ישראל ואמרו, Nishlecha anashim l'faneinu. Let's send men. We have an idea. Let's check it out. It's true God has promised, but we've got to see, got to investigate, got to do reference checks, got to do an interrogation. Can't just trust. We've got to send spies. Vatikevrun elai kulchem. Moshe nimlach b'shchina. אמר אני אמרתי להם שטובה חייהם שאני נותן להם מקום לטעות בדברי מרגלים אם לא ירשו. All that's Rashi. God said, I told you, I promised you it was going to be good. You didn't trust. You wanted to trust and verify. You wanted to verify before you trust. You wanted to send spies. עצם הדרישה בני ישראל לשלוח מרגלים הוכיחה שהיה חסר אמונה בטחון. What was the core? What was at the core of where they went wrong? Why, why did they insist? God said we're good. We're moving into this community. We're going on this mission trip. We're investing in this stock. God says I'm, I'm promising you a good outcome, positive outcome. And they said thanks, appreciate that, we'd like to check it out for ourselves. Where did that stem from? What was the problem? Says the Menachem Tzion, the problem was they were chaseir emunah bitachon. It was a breakdown and failure in faith. הידיעה מבוססת על עיקר כי נעשה מחויב תמיד להקדים את הנשמע. Listen to this yesod. It’s an incredible principle the Menachem Zion gives. We know what is so celebrated about Har Sinai? We just celebrated Shavuos, Matan Torah, Har Sinai, we were back at the mountain. And when we were recreating that experience of being back at the mountain, accepting the Torah anew, how did we do it? The way it was originally done. And how was it originally done? We said, Naaseh Venishma. We're in. We're in. We're going to do it. We're in. Now tell us what to do. But you need to know before you even tell me what to do, I'm in. A friend, a family member leaves you a voice note, WhatsApp: Look, I need a favor. You leave them a voice note back: Done. What do you mean done? I didn't tell you. Now you can tell me, but I want you to know when you reached out: Done. You'll tell me what the favor is because I need to know what to do, but even before you do, need to know: Done, I'm in. So Hashem said I’ve got a vision, a mission, a purpose, a formula, a blueprint, an instruction manual. And we said: Done. I gotta tell you what—yeah, done. Naaseh, we're in. Nishma, now tell us what to do. What went wrong with the Meraglim was it was the opposite. Hashem said I'm giving you a promise. This is the land. This is your future. This is your destiny. This is your ultimate destination. And we said: Nishma. Tell us more. Check it out. Let us see. Gotta go on a pilot trip, on a pilot mission. And then after Nishma, then Naaseh. Based on what we see, if it meets our criteria, our liking, if we're good, then we'll do. We got it backwards. By getting it backwards, we immediately undid what we got right at Har Sinai. At Har Sinai, those iconic words: Naaseh Venishma. Meraglim: Nishma and then we'll see, maybe Naaseh. We got it backwards, says the Menachem Zion. In Tehillim, the pasuk—my bubby, aleha hashalom's favorite pasuk: טעמו וראו כי טוב ה' אשרי הגבר יחסה בו. Tehillim Lamed Daled, we say it on Shabbos morning as part of the expanded Pseukei D'zimra. And Dovid Hamelech taught us: טעמו וראו כי טוב ה'. Give it a taste. If you give a taste, you're going to see it's delicious. It's delicious. Don't wait to be convinced, don't be persuaded, don't see the compelling evidence and arguments why God exists and why the—just put on tefillin, just put on tzitzis, just put on—just light candles, just get going. Taamu, get a taste of Yiddishkeit, get a taste of what it means to live with emunah, get a taste. And once you taste: טעמו וראו כי טוב ה'. מקודם טעמו ואחר כך וראו. Dovid Hamelech understood that the idea of Naaseh Venishma was what Hashem is telling us is, get a taste, get a feel, experience, experiential Yiddishkeit. When you experience how enriching, how empowering, how beautiful, how uplifting, how inspiring, when you taste, you'll just want more. I wrote about this once. Our family visited Atlanta, we went to the Coke factory. And there we found out everything and more than you ever wanted to know about the history of Coca-Cola. And then, because it's designed to undermine and destroy the parents' rest of the day and following night, you get all you can drink, caffeinated, every type of Coke at the end with machines, and your kids don't sleep for like two weeks after the visit to the Coke factory. My kids were much younger at the time. So I remember they talked about in the history of Coke, first they came up with the Coca-Cola formula. It's not why you came to the parsha shiur, don't worry, just short, briefly. They came up with the Coca-Cola formula. It didn't come originally as Coke in cans and bottles, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, it wasn't a Cherry Coke. It was Coca-Cola, and where did they sell it originally? In pharmacies. And at the checkout of the desk was a vat that had a syrup of Coke that you mixed and diluted in water, and that was how you purchased this original Coca-Cola. And nobody was buying it, because who was experimenting or trying this thing? Who was going to buy this expensive formula? And then they realized: Give away a free taste. If you give everyone who comes in a free taste, then they're going to want more. And now since then, you can't go into Costco every aisle—you can't go wherever you go—everybody picked up and learned and realized: טעמו וראו כי טוב ה'. If you give a taste, you'll just want more. So taamu ureu is similar to Naaseh Venishma. Gemara Avodah Zarah tells a story: כי גזרו גזירתא במערבא לא מגלו טעמא עד תריסר ירחי שתא דלמא איכא אינש דלא סבירא ליה ואתי לזלזולי בה. In Eretz Yisrael, when they were goizer gzeiros, in Israel when they were enacting decrees, they would not reveal the reason for the decree until twelve months passed. Why? Because if we would have, you know, effective immediately the new policy is X, don't give the reason. Why? Because first let people observe and adopt and condition themselves to keep the enactment, and later reveal the reason. But if you give the reason early on, they'll say: Ah, the reason doesn't apply, disagree with the reason, reason's unnecessary. So they were putting the Naase before the Nishma. That's the Jewish way. And the breakdown, the failure, where we went wrong in this Parsha with the Meraglim was, we got it backwards. Instead of saying Hashem you say to go to Eretz Yisrael, you say the land is great, you say we're going to conquer even the giants, we're in, we're in, we'll check it out once we're there, we'll figure out where to live and what schools to send our children to, we'll figure that out. But we got it backwards. Instead of following up on Naase ve'Nishma, we said Nishma ve'Naase. First let's go check it out, and then afterwards and only afterwards will we do. And then he has a second, the Menachem Tzion. What was the mission? ויתרו את ארץ כנען. Investigate the land. אם לא נשלחו מרגלים אפשר היה לחשוב כי תושבי כנען יכלו לשבת בארץ מכח הטבע לכן נאמר ויתרו ויווכחו ממרא עיניהם אשר אני נותן כי לא בכחם ירשו את הארץ וזרועם לא הושיעה למו. So says the Menachem Tzion the following: had the Meraglim not gone first, a person could have thought, you know why we conquered the land? It was easy. Barren, desolate, abandoned. The people who were there were weak and it was so easy to conquer. And על פי דרך הטבע, it is a result of our strength. Kochi ve'otzem yadi. We have a great military, a great army, great weapons, great superiority, so we won because they're weak and it was easy. No. כן הטעים השם בזה כי הדבר העיקרי של המרגלים להשוות נגד עיניהם כאשר יתורו את ארץ כנען. The most important thing to see when you go and you check out the land, what were they going to see? Now, in other words, the Menachem Tzion is telling us, here's how you can punctuate this pasuk. Ready? שלח לך אנשים ויתרו את ארץ כנען. Send men, let them go spy or investigate Eretz Canaan. אשר אני נותן לבני ישראל is that description of the land? Which land? Canaan, which is the land that I'm giving you, or go see the land and what should you investigate? Go see how I'm giving you that land because otherwise there's no other way you could conquer it. על פי דרך הטבע, in the ordinary natural order, the laws of nature, there's no way this slave nation, there's no way you could come in and conquer it. אם הם יביטו על הארץ minikudat mabat zot, if you come to the land from that perspective, if you come and investigate and see Canaan, Canaan's not just another geographic place. Canaan's not just another land. What defines Canaan? What's its defining characteristic? It is אשר אני נותן לבני ישראל. God is constantly giving it. Nothing about it makes sense. In the latest salvo with Iran, yimach shemam ve'zichram, this week's war with Iran, it's like a segment. In this week's war with Iran and exchange of ballistic missiles, yet again, all blown out of the air, none landed, none damaged, and we've just come to take that for granted. Like oh, so my grandchildren they miss school one day, they're back in gan the next, we just exchanged some ballistic missiles, they were all blown out of the sky, weiter we move on. There's nothing normal about that. No part of that's normal. Not millions of our brothers and sisters having to run to bomb shelters, that can never, ever, ever, ever be normal. Not for them, not for us, not for the world. That is not we have to remain maladjusted. There's nothing normal about that. But also equally there's nothing normal about the miracle of blowing those ballistic missiles out of the sky. Or the miracle of Israel again defying all the air space of Iran to fly directly to Tehran and drop bombs wherever they want and knowing exactly where to bomb and who's there and where they're hiding. There's nothing normal about any of this. Hein mitzad sheha'olam tolerates it or from the miracle that God does for us. And that's what the pasuk's telling us, that's what the Menachem Tzion's telling us, what we were meant to go and see and investigate is that everything that will happen in this land is nothing short of miraculous. And according to the natural order nothing should happen. This barren desert will never bloom. Nobody wanted it. Our friend Yedidya Haroush visits often. Our friends in Shlomit and Chaluza, who Yedidya's family was removed from Yamit in the Sinai. And then they built their lives in Gush Katif. And then they were removed from Gush Katif, and then they built their lives in Chaluza, in the beautiful area between Gaza, Egypt and Israel. So barren, so desolate, so hopeless, that Yasser Arafat, yimach shemo, in the negotiations said, I don't want that. What, you give me that? Nothing could ever grow there. What are you going to give me that? And Yedidya Haroush and the incredible pioneers of Chaluza said, we'll take it. They moved there and now if you haven't visited, you should, it's green and lush and growing and exporting all kinds of vegetables everywhere. Why? Because Eretz Canaan is the land אשר אני נותן לבני ישראל. Hashem's fingerprints are all over the skies, the land, everywhere in Israel, the miracles of Israel. That's what they were meant to go see. וייפרקו כל הספקות והיסוסים. And says the Menachem Tzion, any doubt you had, any doubt, any uncertainty, can we nevertheless you will conquer and inhabit the land, now you relax, let go, and let God. ואכן יהושע וכלב הטעימו עיקר הזה בעם. Who got it? Only two out of the twelve, only the good spies, only Calev and Yehoshua understood it when they said אם חפץ בנו ה' והביא אותנו אל הארץ הזאת ונתנה לנו ארץ אשר היא זבת חלב ודבש. אך בה' אל תמרודו וה' איתנו אל תיראום. In their report when Calev and Yehoshua protest the other ten spies what did they say? This land that what? That God is giving us. The whole purpose, the whole idea of the mission was to be able to come back and feel even stronger and more strongly that there's nothing normal in this land. That it's all miraculous. It's all extraordinary. There is no ordinary and with that confidence come back and realize this is all from Hashem. The Ach Pri Tevuah, the holy Ach Pri Tevuah, who was Tzvi Hirsh, Hirsh miLiska, who was the Rebbe, Reb Shayala Kerestir. So the Ach Pri Tevuah also says something fascinating. I saw it this morning it gave me an entire new insight on the story of the Meraglim in our Parshas Shlach. We read the same Parsha every year and we know the story since we're little children, many of us, most of us, but our understanding, our level of sophistication, our analysis of the story has to grow each year. If you're just going to say the story oh there were spies, they went, they came, there were giants, they were grasshoppers, punished 40 days, 40 years, you gotta grow, you gotta go deeper and deeper and deeper. Rashi writes שלח לך לדעתך אני איני מצוה לך אם תרצה שלח. God said Shlach lecha. I'm not sending. You want? It's for you. Don't do it for me. God says I don't need spies. If you're sending spies you're doing it for you. ובלתי מובן כי בודאי לא ישלח משה רבינו עליו השלום אם אין השם יתברך חפץ בכך. Who's the one who gathers and selects and sends the spies? None other than Moshe Rabbeinu. Since when does Moshe do things that God didn't ask? Moshe is Bechol beisi ne'eman. Moshe is the most trustworthy and faithful servant of Hashem. Everything he does is at the direct order of Hashem. So if Moshe sent these spies that's inconsistent, it's incongruous with Hashem saying Shlach lecha. If you want you do it, don't do it for me, I don't need it. And then Moshe goes ahead and does it? If God just said he doesn't need it why would Moshe be doing it? Doesn't sound like the Moshe we know and love. וגם מה שכתב התורה אחרי כן וישלח אותם משה על פי ה'. Then the Torah records and reports Moshe sent them and how did he send them? Al pi Hashem. Based on Hashem's mashma she-beratzon Hashem. Which is it? Did the spies go meeting the ratzon Hashem? Was that the will of Hashem? Or did the spies go and that was not Hashem's plan? And he didn't need it and he didn't ask us for it. Nu, which is it? וגם הפסוקים סותרים זה לזה. And moreover says Rav Hirsh miLiska it's a contradiction. דכתיב כולם אנשים דהיינו צדיקים וכתיב וילכו ויבאו ורש\"י להקיש הליכתם לביאתם. On the one hand before they left they were all righteous. He said the heads of the tribes. These are gedolei haTorah. These are the greatest rabbis of the generation. And yet it says they went and they left and they came the way they left. מה ביאתם בעצה רעה אף הליכתם. Just like when they came back it was bad news when they left originally it was bad news. What do you mean? Were they righteous? Kulam tzaddikim? Or was it עצה רעה אף הליכתם even their going on that mission was already bad news? ונראה לי בכל זה. So listen to what the Ach Pri Tevuah says the Rebbe friend of Reb Shayala. Did you know Reb Shayala's brother is buried in Staten Island? I just learned that last week. I had no idea. And supposedly Reb Shayala said if you can't get to Kerestir to Daven at his grave go to Staten Island and Daven at his brother. His brother is buried in Stat? Who knew? You knew. I didn't know. I didn't. Okay. ונראה לי בכל זה. So says the Ach Pri Tevuah just a little bonus information for Parsha Perspecs. נראה בכל זה מבואר ברבינו בחיי. Rabbeinu Bechayei explains ששילוח המרגלים היה משום דבכל ענינים צריך אדם לעשות בדרך הטבע מתחילה. This is Rabbeinu Bechayei's understanding and insight into the story of the Meraglim. Everything we do we've discussed this almost every week in our Living with Emunah Shiur Wednesday mornings. Everything we do Hashem designed a world for us to do first how? Bederech hateva. Initiative. You gotta go to work. You gotta have a job. You gotta take initiative. You gotta give your all. If a person is sick chas veshalom you gotta go to the doctor you gotta get a diagnosis you gotta take the medicine they prescribed you gotta undergo the therapy. Derech hateva. We have something called the natural order the natural world and we live in it. And the first thing we have to do is our initiative. And once we take our initiative, network in business, try to land clients, try to land customers, try to do sales, try to invest well, ואחר כך תחול הנס. Now you've created a kli kibul through our initiative, through our hishtadlus, we create a vessel that God can now send a miracle. So God gives the healing. Why did you heal? Because of the doctor, because of the medication? No, because God chose for you to heal and be healthy, but you needed to undergo a pi derech hateva, take the initiative. Why is there money in your bank account? How are you able to cash that paycheck? Because of your hard work, because of your employer who gave you your money? No, because the Almighty determined that you would have parnassah. It just that it came about through, it looks like, allude through the illusion, the matrix of the teva of the initiative of the natural order. כמו שאמר שלמה המלך, שלמה המלך פסוק לא in Mishlei says, סוס מוכן ליום מלחמה ולהשם התשועה. You prepare the horse for the day of war, and the salvation is from Hashem. The army, our heroic, incredible, boundless gratitude and awe and admiration, our army, their selfless sacrifice, they prepare, they get ready, but the salvation, the miracle, the outcome, the triumph, the victory is from v'laHashem hayeshuah. צריך האדם לעשות מה שיכולתו ואחר כך צריך לבטוח בהשם. We do what we can, we do what we have to because we live here in this world, knowing that maximum effort, but outcome is entirely from Hashem. והטעם בדבר דלמה עשה השם יתברך ככה שלא יהיה הנס אם לא יעשה האדם הטבע מקודם. Why did God create the world that way? Why Hashem create the world that way? First we have to make our effort, first we have to take our step, first Nachshon had to jump into the sea and then it split. Didn't split and then he walked in. We have to walk in, then it splits. You have to go to work and then you make your income. You have to go to the doctor and then you can heal. We have to take our effort and then Hashem sends the miracle. Why? Haderech mivuar ba'ari. The holy Ari Hakadosh explains on the pasuk, הצור תמים פעלו כי כל דרכיו משפט אל אמונה ואין עול צדיק וישר הוא. The pasuk in Parshat Ha'azinu says, Hatzur tamim po'alo. God is the pure rock, po'alo, His efforts are pure. Kol derachav mishpat. אם אדם נותן מתנה לחברו אין הדבר בשלמות כחברו מתבייש ממנו. מאן דאכל לאו דיליה בהית לאסתכולי באפיה. Yerushalmi in Orlah. We have a principle. People generally, the world has radically changed in this way, not for now, but it used to be and it still should be that people don't like handouts. They don't want handouts. People like to be independent, they like to be proud, they like to take care of themselves. The idea that they were taken a handout, that someone was giving them a gift, that they were being treated, people often had pride that got in the way. אבל השם יתברך נותן בדרך משפט ולכן הוא תמים פעלו ולכן אינו נותן השם יתברך שום טוב עד שיעשה האדם תחילה ויהיה לו חלק בדבר ולא יבוש. Hashem's kindness to us, He lets us live under the illusion that the outcome is also because of us. Hashem says, cute, adorable, He pinches our cheek and says, it's so cute, you think that your parnassah is because of you, sweet, so sweet, so cute, you think because you went to work and you had this effort and you're an entrepreneur and you worked hard and you invested, that's so sweet, so cute, you think that you did well, so cute you think that you have what you have because of that. I want you to feel good, so I let you think that. Hashem's kindness and chesed to us is that we begin with our initiative so that we can feel we're partners with Him even though in truth 100% of the outcome is His. אמנם באמת צריך האדם לדעת שאף בלא מעשיו גם כן יכול השם יתברך לגמור דבר. Says the Ari Hakadosh, we need to know that even without our efforts, even without our initiative, if we sat back passively on the couch and Hashem wanted us to be rich somehow we would be. If we didn't go to a doctor and didn't heal and didn't take medication and Hashem wanted us to get better nonetheless we would. Really the outcome is entirely up to Him. So why do we first take initiative? It's His kindness. He lets us believe that we contributed, that we participated. וזה שאמר הכתוב שלח לך אנשים שתלך בדרך הטבע. And now, I don't want to take the time because I want to get to much more, but the Ach Pri Tevua based on this Rabbeinu Bachaye and Ari basically what he concludes is, here's what happened. Hashem said, Shelach lecha anashim. I want you to send. It's not a contradiction. Is it for God or was it for us? Was it על פי רצון השם or neged ratzon Hashem? Why would Moshe initiate it if God didn't really want it? What in the world is going on here? Those were all the questions that the Ach Pri Tevua asked. And here's what he's answering. God did want us to send. But He wanted us to know why were they going, Shelach lecha anashim. Just like we... we undergo the effort of parnasa. Just like we take initiative in our health and wellness. Why? For ourselves. It's God's kindness so we can feel like we participated, we contributed. But really in the end, the outcome is entirely up to him. Here too, God says it's a concession for you. על פי דרך הטבע, before a nation goes to war and conquers and inhabits a land, they send spies. So I want you to think you're doing it על פי דרך הטבע. Shelach lecha. Do it according to the natural order, take initiative the way ordinary people do and do that for you. But don't get confused to think that in the end it's about you. The outcome is still up to me and that's where the spies went wrong. They should have sent, that was God's plan, but God's plan just like we go to work but when we get the paycheck we say thank you, we know it's from you. Just like we go to the doctor but when we heal and get better we say thank you Hashem, we know that came from you. We were supposed to go investigate the land but when we saw it say and we know that we can take it because that's from you. Instead we saw it and thought we're here because we need to investigate and our outcome is we're not sure that we should really go. That's where we went wrong. But what an important yesod for life and that's the way that the Ach Pri Tevuah reconciles what seems like a contradiction in the psukim, but it's really a philosophy and an attitude for life. It's a reminder that all that we do we have to remember. We take our initiative, we do our part, but the outcome is entirely up to him. And if he wanted that outcome it could happen without our initiative. Why did he create and set up a world where we take initiative nonetheless? So that we would have the pride and the sense of independence and the joy and satisfaction that comes from feeling that we too contributed to it. פרק יג פסוק ג, וישלח אותם משה ממדבר פארן על פי ה', Moshe sent these men, כולם אנשים ראשי בני ישראל המה. These were all men, men. What does it mean they were all men? They were men of distinction. Anashim chashuvim I think Rashi says. No? Where's this Rashi? Somewhere. Doesn't he say anashim chashuvim? These were great men, these were the nesi'im, these were the moetzas, these were the great rabbonim. So I want to share with you a Birechas Peretz, the Steipler Gaon, the great Steipler, Rav Chaim Kanievsky's father, the Steipler Birechas Peretz. On the pasuk כולם אנשים ראשי בני ישראל המה, Rashi says, oh Rashi, כל אנשים שבמקרא לשון חשיבות ואותה שעה כשרים היו. Sagt Rashi, why does it say they were men? They were righteous, they were great, they were anashim chashuvim, they were kesherim, trustworthy, reliable, loyal, holy. Then the next pasuk וישובו ויבואו אל משה, Rashi says מה ביאתן בעצה רעה אף הליכתן בעצה רעה. So I don't get it. Before they go, they're anashim chashuvim. They're recruited, Moshe says we're going to meet in the boardroom, we're going to lay it out, I'm going to show you maps, here's the plan, I'm recruiting you to be the spies. And at that point, what are they? They're anashim chashuvim, kesherim, they're righteous, they're holy, they're pure. So pure, so holy, they're Yidden, they're one of the Yidden, righteous and so pure and so holy. So how can the subsequent Rashi say that before they go, just like when they came back they blew it, so too even before they left they blew it. Which is it? Before they went were they righteous or before they went did they already compromise and corrupt the mission? Which is it? Listen to what the Steipler says. לכאורה הדברים סותרים זה את זה. It's a contradiction. Were they kesherim? Did they believe in Hashem and Moshe, or were they not? He says the following: בוודאי בשעה שנבחרו כשרים היו האמינו בהשם יתברך ומה שהבטיח משה רבינו על פי השם יכנסו אל הארץ ושיכבשו שבעה עממים. Before they went they were righteous and holy and they knew and they believed that they were going to conquer and inhabit the land, defeat the seven Canaanite nations, all with Hashem's support and guidance. But what happened? מיד לאחר שנבחרו באו לכלל גאווה ונדמה להם שהם נבחרו לא בתור שלוחים בעלמא לספר מה שראו אלא בתור דיינים פוסקים להכריע על פי דעתם עיקר עניין ביאת הארץ. What happened was once they were chosen and once they were designated, their head and their heart swelled with pride. They grew arrogant, they thought they were empowered with the actual decision should we go or not. וזו העצה רעה שנצנץ בהם מיד אחר שנבחרו או טרם שלחו. Even before they ever left, all of a sudden there's this transition. They're anashim chashuvim, they're righteous, they're holy, so pure, and then what happens? They get arrogant and they think the men, we're the committee, we're going to decide, we're in charge, we're in control, it's up to us. And that's where they went wrong. That's where they went wrong. And that's what the Steipler warns. The person has to be careful, and a person has to know, if they're chosen, if they're designated, if they're selected, be humble, not arrogant. Recognize your responsibility, don't let it go to your head. Don't think you're in charge and you're in control and therefore you're big or you're better. That corrupts, that clouds, that confuses, that compromises. Instead think, I'm humbled by this mission, by this purpose, I'm humbled by this designation and therefore it's not about me, I'm a conduit for what Hashem wants and the will and the outcome, and that will protect us from going wrong. So even before they ever left, they went from Anashim Chashuvim Ukesherim to Eitza Ra'ah. How did that happen even before they ever left? Because they let it go to their head. This is a contrast to last week's Parsha. What did we see in last week's Parsha? אהרן הכהן בהעלותך את הנרות שלא שינה להגיד שבחו שלא שינה. Aharon never deviated, he never changed. Shelo Shina, he never changed was, even though he went from the no-name Aharon that no one ever heard of and he became Aharon Hakohain, the founding Kohain Gadol, the one who lit the candelabra, nevertheless despite this big name, this prominence, this power, this position, Lo Shina, he never changed. He never deviated, he never changed, it never impacted him. Perek Yud Gimmel Pasuk Tet Zayin. אלה שמות האנשים אשר שלח משה לתור את הארץ ויקרא משה להושע בן נון יהושע. These are the men that were sent Lasur, Lasur. We already saw that Vayasuru, שלח לך אנשים ויתורו. And this is coming back to what I alluded to earlier. I asked you to translate that word, and you didn't do anything wrong, you read the ArtScroll. And ArtScroll said spy, and here too again the translation, Elleh Shemot Ha'anashim, these are the name of the men that Moshe sent to do what? Lasur. And again ArtScroll translates it as spy out. Anyone have the Sacks Chumash in front of you? I'm curious how he translates it. Lasur, it's not spy. How do I know? Because the Ktav Vehakabbalah. Who wrote the Ktav Vehakabbalah? Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg, Germany, early 19th century. Heilige Ktav Vehakabbalah. יש הבדל בין תור למרגל. There's a fundamental difference between Latur, Lasur, or we read it Ashkenazis. But if you read it Sfardit, it gives you the translation even within the Hebrew word. Latur, translate the word Latur. Take a tour. We've spoken about this before but I want to read it to you from the Ktav Vehakabbalah. What was their mission, what was their purpose? To go and tour. What's the difference between to tour, Latur, Lasur, and Lemeragel? What's the idea Leragel? To spy. What's the difference between a spy and a tourist? האיש אשר יתור מבקש הטוב. When you go to tour you go to see the good. Nobody pays to take a flight and a hotel and rent a car to find out everything wrong with the country that they went on vacation to. You don't go to tour to find, I mean Jews find what to complain about everywhere. So the food wasn't as good as they said, the view wasn't as good as they said it would be, the hotel wasn't as good as they said it would be, the amenities didn't deliver. Okay, that's like sometimes a Jewish thing. But generally speaking, you go to tour not to find what's wrong and what's bad, you go to tour in order to see what's great. Oh, the food, the culture, the views, the atmosphere was amazing. Latur Lemanucha, לתור לכם מקום ולחנותכם, הארץ אשר תרתי להם, ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם ואחרי עיניכם לרדוף אחרי התענוגים. Ktav Vehakabbalah here links the beginning of the Parsha with the end. The Parsha opens up with Lasur, these men were meant to go and tour. And the Parsha ends with Tzitzit. And why do we wear Tzitzit? ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם. Don't be a tourist who goes to check out every website and every show and every city and everything. Don't go tour all of the pleasures of this world. ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם. Don't be this tourist who's going to check out all the pleasures that the world has to offer. And the Ktav Vehakabbalah here connects the bookends of the Parsha. They were went ויתורו את ארץ כנען לתור את הארץ ולא תתורו. You know where you should go tour and see the good? Israel. You know where you shouldn't go tour in order to check out all the good and the pleasures of this world? ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם, wherever your heart's desires. ובהפך המרגל יבקש את הרע. The spy does the opposite. If the tourist is going to find the good, then the spy goes in order to reveal the bad. כמרגלים אתם לראות את ערות הארץ באתם. Who accused his brothers of being a spy? Yosef. And what does he say? לראות את ערות הארץ באתם. So you see, what's the definition of a spy? To expose what's bad in the country. So that's what again I want to take the time, you could read the rest of this beautiful Ksav Hakabala inside. He says over and over again, Hashem tells Moshe, tell them to go why? Go tour. Go. Why do you go on a pilot trip? Not to confirm to yourself why you shouldn't go, not to see everything bad and wrong. You go on a pilot trip as a tourist. Let's go find beautiful, the bright place, the right, let's go, be a tourist. That's what Parshas Shelach is telling us. Be a tourist of Hashem's world. Go see the good, go find the good, go reveal the good. Don't be a spy. A spy finds what's bad, a tourist goes to see what's good. That's where they went wrong, says Rabbi Yaakov Zvi Mecklenburg. פרק יג פסוק יח. וראיתם את הארץ מה היא ואת העם הישב עליה החזק הוא הרפה המעט הוא אם רב. Go see the land, go see what it's about and the nation that sits on it, dwells there. Are they strong or are they, or are they weak? Says the Menachem Tziyon, back to the Menachem Tziyon. Ur'isem Es Ha'aretz. Twice in our parsha we have the word Ur'isem. So the Ksav Hakabala points out the bookends of Lasur, Lasur Velo Sasuru, and here the Menachem Tziyon says Ur'isem, we have it twice. וראיתם אותו וזכרתם את כל מצות ה׳. When it comes to the land of Israel, Ur'isem Es Ha'aretz, go see the land. And at the end of the parsha with Tzitzis, why do we wear Tzitzis? Ur'isem Osom Uzchartem, look at your Tzitzis and remember the Mitzvos Hashem. אמרו על הנמלה משל כח הראיה שלהן מצומצם הם רואים רק מה שנמצא לפניהן בקו ישר ומה שלמטה מהן. Ants, ants, not your uncle's wife, ants like the creepy crawlies on the floor. Ants. What can they see? Very little. Why? They have no scope, they have no perspective, they have no height. All they see is what's on the ground right in front of them. אבל אינם רואים מה שלמעלה ומה אחור. An ant, an ant can't see what's behind them and an ant can't look up and see what's above them and an ant doesn't have some big perspective to see more broadly. All an ant can see is what's immediately in front of them. יש גם אנשים שכח ראייתם דל וקצר. There's some men, says the Menachem Tziyon, some people who they have very narrow, very limited vision. הם רואים רק את הארץ מתחת ענייני חומר. All they saw is what's underneath them, what's below them, what's beneath them, what's right in front, that's all they see. I just want this food, I just want to share this Lashon Hara, I just want... that's all they see. אבל לא את השמים ממעל. They can't lift up, they can't look above, they don't see there's something more. Inyanei Ruach. That there is a spiritual world and there are heavens and there's a future world to come and there's so much more than what's right in front of you in the here and now. אולם עזאת יש כאלו שרואים רק את השמים ממעל ענייני רוח. And there are other people who live in the clouds. All they see is what's above. Inyanei Ruach. אבל לא את הארץ מתחת ענייני חומר. But they don't see this world and they don't see what's in front of them and they don't see the possibility in the physical mundane. Vechach Ne'emar. And that's why our parsha, says the Menachem Tziyon, includes both. וראיתם את הארץ וכן וראיתם אותו וזכרתם את כל מצות ה׳. You need to be able to live in both simultaneously. We live in two dimensions. We see down here and we look up above. Ur'isem. Ur'isem Es Ha'aretz. And also וראיתם אותו וזכרתם את כל מצות ה׳. The Gemara Menachos teaches us about Tzitzis: וראיתם אותו התכלת דומה לים וים דומה לרקיע ורקיע לכיסא הכבוד. Techeiles. Techeiles when a person sees the blue turquoise of Techeiles, the Techeiles look like the sea and the sea is similar to the heaven and the heavens are a reminder of God's throne. אנו מחויבים לראות את השמים ואת הארץ החומר והרוח גם יחד לא סגי בחדא. Find that blend. We have to live in both. If your head is too much in the clouds and you're not in the here and now, you're not reliable and trustworthy, you don't see the possibility, you're not giving Hashem a Dira Betachtonim, you don't see the richness and the spirituality and it's not a religious experience the here and now, then you're missing something. And the person who only lives in the here and now and all they have is this material physical mundane world but they don't connect to that which is above is missing something. Our mission is Ur'isem Es Ha'aretz, see even within an Artziyus, even within the material see the possibility. But also וראיתם אותו וזכרתם את כל מצות ה׳, connect it with that which is above. Who had a dream that created that connection between heaven and earth? Yaakov. When he lay his weary head to rest and he had a dream about a stairway to heaven. That stairway to heaven was a bridge between heaven and earth. That was exactly... what he was learning. He just spent 14 years in Yeshiva Shem Ve'Ever. Yaakov is leaving the Yeshiva, a place that focuses almost exclusively only on heaven and earth, on heaven. And so he leaves and he thinks, I'm done. I just left my religion, my spirituality behind. Now I'm going to become a balabos. I'm no longer Yeshiva bochur, no longer a ben Torah, ben aliyah, just going to be a lowly balabos. So he has a dream of a bridge, of a staircase between heaven and earth. Hashem was telling him, no, you're now going to bridge heaven and earth. You're going to find God in the physical and mundane. You're going to elevate, elevate the earth in order for it to touch heaven. That's your mission, that's your purpose. There's no such thing, we're never done. And that's the combination of the u're'item oso's, the beginning of the parsha and the end of the parsha. So that's twice today we saw the bookends of our parsha. The connection between the meraglim and tzitzis. The word lasur, meraglim were spent to go, not spy, ArtScroll if you're listening, issue out a new Stone Chumash, you gotta upgrade that translation. They were never sent to spy. They were sent to tur, go be tourists, go see the good. So while we're meant to tur and see the good of Eretz Yisrael, ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם. And similarly u're'item is in the beginning and the end of the parsha. פרק י\"ג פסוק כ\"ה. Finally turning the page. וישבו מתור הארץ מקץ ארבעים יום. They came back from touring the land, mikeitz arbaim yom. They came back at the end of 40 days. They came back at the end of 40 days. I quote every year but I have to repeat it. Rav Asher Weiss, Mori V'rabi asks, we were punished, they came back touring 40 days, so therefore when they gave the negative report about the land, the punishment was we wandered how many years in the desert? 40. Why? One year for every day. Asks Rav Asher Weiss, but that wasn't the failure. The failure was one day, the day they get back, they gave a bad report. So we should have wandered one year, one year for the one day, the one day we made the mistake of the bad report. Why 40 days, 40 years? What does 40 have to do with anything? And he has an incredible insight. Going back. These men, their yetziasam, their biasam was be'eitzah ra'ah. They left with a bad attitude, they came back with a bad attitude. From that Rashi, we know that they didn't just come back and give the negative report, they left with a bad attitude. We know there's something called confirmation bias. Confirmation bias means sometimes when we have a bias, we then go out and in the world, we only see what will confirm our bias. So we heard that that restaurant's no good and we really wanted to go elsewhere, but we were dragged to that restaurant against our will, the one that we heard and that we think is no good and we don't want to be at and we don't want to go to. No matter what happens and no matter what we're served, at the end of the night we're going to say, eh, no good, terrible, should have gone to the other place. Why? Because we went in with the attitude, the outcome was already predetermined. These meraglim went in with a bad attitude. And because the confirmation bias, they went in with a bad attitude, the outcome was already predetermined. So all 40 days that they went through the land, no good, eh, not going to happen, won't work, here's a bad reason. They spent all 40 days confirming their bias that this isn't a good plan. So the mistake and the failure was not the one day, the one presentation when they came back. What was the failure and breakdown? Not the one day, not the one presentation. It was that all 40 days, their bad attitude, bad attitude, that just confirmed, that just confirmed. V'achari tsu'ah, but Tzvi Hirsh Lipska has a different bederech remez. He says, hinei ra'isi bisfarim, ein tzetel katan. Who wrote the tzetel katan? Who was the tzetel katan? Anyone know? No? The Heilige Reb Elimelech, the Noam Elimelech, Reb Elimelech Lizhensk. אם יש לאדם איזה מידה רעה, chas v'shalom. If a person has a quality they want to change, something you want to work on, something you want to change, how long do you need to change it? Shteit in Atomic Habits, what? How long do you need? So the tzetel katan says, יתגבר עליו ארבעים יום. You need 40 days to change a habit. So we made a mistake. We did a 30-day technology challenge. It's still going by the way. Now we do a challenge for the week. You know what the challenge for the week is this week? Oshkoach? I was testing a little bit, we still have. The challenge is, anytime you're walking, don't look at your phone. Guess who failed at that challenge? Stepped in a hole and twisted his ankle. Yours truly. I was looking at my phone. I'm okay. Don't... My point is chatasai ani mazkir. Anyway, we have now a weekly challenge because we're still going, but we ran the 30-day challenge. It was a mistake. Not 30 days. If you want to change your attitude and relationship with technology, not 30 days. You need how long? 40 days. Why 40 days? Says the Rebbe Reb Elimelech because how long was ארבעים יום נגד יצירת הולד? How long does it take yetziras havlad to go from embryonic fluid to an embryo? 40 days. 40 days. Yetziras havlad is 40 days. That's why it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. And Moshe went on the mountain for 40 days. And the mission in Israel was for 40 days. Every time we see the word 40, it's because we're trying to change something. 40 is gestation, 40 is birth, 40 is growth, 40 is the amount of time. 40 days. Date for 40 days before you get engaged. 40 days. Everything is 40 days. You could date more, you could date less. I don't know why I threw that in. וזה שרמזה התורה וישובו מתור הארץ מקץ ארבעים יום and that which the Torah says, go tour the land 40 days, אז יגיע טבע חדשה ולא יהיה בו מדה זו שיכול לשוב מארציות שלו מקץ ארבעים יום ויהיה כבריאה חדשה אז. That's how to read the pasuk. וישובו מתור הארץ מקץ ארבעים יום. If you come back 40 days, you'll get rid of your artzius. 40 days. This mission was 40 days. It's not a coincidence, says the Ach Peri Tevua, just like going on the mountain, just like the Mei Noach, just like ארבעים יום יצירת הולד. All of these gestations are 40 days. How many, how many measures of water for a mikvah to be kosher? Arbaim seah. You'll see 40 all over the place and anytime you see 40, it's because 40 is all about rebirth and change and a new beginning and a fresh, a fresh start. That's 40. Why? What number is 40 in Hebrew? Oh, we don't have time for this. What number is 40 in Hebrew? Mem. Mem, mem is unique in the Hebrew alphabet. How and in what way? Spell mem. Mem mem. It's the only letter in the alphabet that the way you spell it is with its own. You can start again. It's a new beginning. It's the same thing but over again, the letter mem. A lot more to talk about. Okay, moving along. Vayashuvu, we just did. Alo naaleh, פרק י\"ג פסוק ל. Turn the page again. The spies give their negative report, the turus, who were meant to be tourists but instead were spies. Come back and they give their negative report. And they say we can't go up. Lo nuchal. We can't do it. We can't go up. And now it's time for Calev. פרק י\"ג פסוק ל. ויהס כלב את העם אל משה. Calev silenced the people towards Moshe. Vayomer, and he says: עלה נעלה וירשנו אתה כי יכול נוכל לה. We've got this. We can do this. We're going up. No one and nothing is going to stop us. They brought an attitude of, they were fatalistic. You know people like this in your life? Maybe among family, among friends, shul leadership. You've small-minded people, it's never going to work out, it's not going to work out, nothing could ever work out, nothing's going to be good, everything's going to be bad, not going to happen. Calev brought exactly the opposite attitude. Calev's attitude was, alo naaleh, we're going up. We've got this. Nothing's going to stop us. Nothing can get in our way when we're determined and with Hashem's help, we've got this. Positive, optimistic, ambitious, driven. Rashi says alo naaleh, when Calev told alo naaleh, אפילו בשמים והוא אומר עשו סלמות ועלו שם נצליח בכל דבריו. If Hashem says climb all the way up to the heavens, make ladders that you can climb all the way up to the sky, no problem. We've got this. Nothing will stop us. Alo naaleh, we are going up. Failure's not an option. That's the Jewish way of thinking. Failure is not an option. For others who are fatalistic, failure's already the outcome even before you start. Some people live life that failure's unavoidable. And other people live life that failure's not an option. Failure is not an option. Not an option. אי אפשר לעלות השמים עם הפסולמות הכי גבוהים. So what does the Menachem Tzion... what? Calev, Rashi? Even if God said climb to the heavens, no problem. We'll make a ladder that stretches to the heavens because nothing's going to stop us. Alo naaleh, we are going up. Ask the Menachem Tzion, reality check? You can't make a ladder that goes to the heavens. Not going to work. What are you thinking? בכל זאת על אדם לעשות סלמות ובכדי לקרב את העליה עד כמה שאפשר. Doesn't matter. Make a ladder. Keep stretching, keep adding on, keep contributing another rung, keep climbing higher and higher. Why? ומהסולם ומעלה יבוא הנס. This connects to what we said earlier, the tradition from Rabbeinu Bachya and the... We have to do our part על פי דרך הטבע. If we do our part in the natural order, God says climb to the heavens. We say no problem, we're going to make a ladder. Ai, moron, you can't make a ladder that'll reach the heavens. That's not my problem. God said to make a ladder, I'm going to start. He'll take care of the rest. He takes care of the outcome. That's when we merit a miracle. And that's the pasuk. I'm going to spare you now to sing it even though it's one of my favorite songs. אקרא לאלוקים עליון לאל גומר עלי. A pasuk Tehillim, Kappitel Nun Zayin. Ekra Lelokim Elyon, I call out to the God above, La'Keil Gomer Alai. God Gomer. What does it mean Gomer Alai? Listen to this. It's a bonus behind the music. We once did a series of classes. We sing all these beautiful songs. We have incredible Jewish music, but we don't even know what it means. Today, this morning's new Behind the Bim, Chaim Guri, beautiful composer, you should listen, you should listen to his music. It's amazing. It's part of this new type of music where young people in particular are pouring out their hearts and their souls and they're writing English, Jewish English music. It's like Jewish country music. It's amazing. But the music that's quoting psukim that we all know and love and sing, but if you don't even know what it means, imagine where it could take you if you knew what it meant. So Ekra Lelokim Elyon, La'Keil Gomer Alai. What is Gomer Alai? כלומר על אדם לעשות מצדו כל אשר בכחו לעשות ולקרוא לאלוקים עליון. Our job is Ekra Lelokim Elyon. I call out to you, God. לקל לגמור את מה שלמעלה מכחו. Now God, La'Keil Gomer Alai. God Gomer, Gamar, ligmor means to finish. God, I start, you finish. Ekra Lelokim Elyon. I call out, I start. I'm getting started. I'm started. I don't know how this is going to work out. I don't know how it finishes. I don't know what the outcome is going to be. But I only know I can get started. I take the initiative, I get started. La'Keil Gomer Alai. It's up to you, God. La'Keil Gomer Alai. You finish, you finish what I start. If I don't start, you don't finish. I can't rely passively on you. You won't finish if I don't start. I have to take my initiative, I have to make my effort. I have to make my effort. Shidduchim, parnassa, health and wellness, every area of life. I can't sit back passively and wait. I can't be a spectator to my own destiny. I have to wait, I have to work. I have to על פי דרך הטבע, I have to make the kli kibul. But La'Keil, even though Ekra... Look what I call out to you is, I started, I did my part. Ekra Lelokim, I called out to you and what do I ask? La'Keil Gomer Alai. You be Gomer, you finish. וברכך ה' אלוקיך בכל אשר תעשה. יכול ויושב ובטל תלמוד לומר בכל אשר תעשה. Hashem will give us a bracha bechol asher ta'aseh. When does God give us a bracha? Bechol asher ta'aseh. He blesses our efforts. But he can't bless if there's no effort. He blesses our effort, he blesses our initiative. But if there's no initiative, there's no effort, he can't bless. Imagine, you say to your grandchildren, you say to your beautiful grandchild, I'm going to put a little bit of money every week in the bank. I want you to get used to saving, I want to build for you, I want you to understand the concept of compounding, I want you to take whatever interest, I want to teach it to you. So I want to give you, I have an incredible bracha, shefa bracha I want to shower on you. But you need a bank account. If you don't have a bank account, I can't transfer it to you. I have the best intention and in my bank account I've already allocated what I want to give to you, but I can't give it to you if you don't have a bank account. So Hakadosh Baruch Hu told us the way we create the bank account that he can shower the bracha and transfer to is our effort, our initiative. When we take our effort, we make our initiative, shidduchim, parnassa, health and wellness, shalom bayit, every area of life, war with our enemies. The bank account is our effort and then he can transfer in the bracha he's waiting. So u'veirachacha Hashem Elokecha, Hashem will give us the bracha, but when does he give the bracha? Only when bechol asher ta'aseh. Only asher ta'aseh. Make a bank account. Only when we make a bank account. את עניי ואת יגיע כפי ראה אלוהים ויוכח אמש. He quotes countless psukim that give this example. Ma'aseh Yadav Beirachta, pasuk in Iyov. וירא ישראל את היד הגדולה אשר עשה ה' במצרים. Many, many psukim that reinforce the same idea. Where do we see this idea? Bitya Bas Paroh. Moshe is floating in the Nile far away from her. She was clearly too far to be able to grab him. What did she do nonetheless? She extends her arm. Nonetheless she puts out her arm. Ai, it made no sense. What are you extending your arm to a basket that's way too far? Because even that which is beyond our reach is still within our grasp. Hakadosh Baruch Hu, when you believe in Hashem, even that which feels beyond your reach is still within your grasp. Bitya taught us. That's where Rashi there says a miracle happened. Her arm stretched longer. She became bionic, she became plastic, she became... her arm stretched. stretched even longer and she was able to grab it. Ay, but the miracle of her arm stretching longer only came about. What was necessary prerequisite to the miracle happening? Her effort, her initiative, her stretching. So that's the attitude of, that's the attitude of Calev. עלה נעלה וירשנו אותה. We're going up! We're going to conquer, we're going to acquire it, we're going to win, we're going to achieve it. Failure is not an option. We've got it. We're going to take initiative, we're going to make an effort, we're going to stretch, we're going to strive, we've got this! And if we do, we create the account, the bank account, the k'li kibul, the vessel that Hashem can make the deposit in. Perek yud daled pasuk chaf daled. Moving along. Moshe's successful plea on their behalf: ועבדי כלב עקב היתה רוח אחרת עמו וימלא אחרי והביאותיו אל הארץ אשר בא שמה וזרעו יורישנה. Hashem forgives, he decrees forty years: 'My servant Calev, a different spirit was with him, he followed me wholeheartedly, I'll bring him to the land and his offspring will possess it.' Asks the Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh, the Magid Yosef quotes the Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh. Why does Hashem call specifically Calev avdi? Who's missing? Who else got it right? Where's Yehoshua? Why only Calev? Earlier it said, ויס כלב את העם ולא מצאנו שיהושע השתיק ומסתם יהושע הכריע שאין כאן חיוב מסירות נפש הרי בקשו להורגם. Because while Yehoshua did not join the ten wicked spies, he also did not speak up with Calev. He wasn't moser nefesh. He didn't risk himself, he didn't put himself on the line, he didn't stand up and protest. וכן מסתמא סבר שלא יועיל התוכחה. Yehoshua concluded in his mind they're just going to kill me. ומצוה לא לומר דבר שאינו נשמע. If they're not going to listen, if they're not going to hear it, if they're not going to be persuaded by it, then there's no reason to say it. So Yehoshua, he didn't join the wrong side, but he also didn't stand up with the right side. כלב לא עשה חשבונות. אלא היה בו התכונה של עבד שרצה במצוות רבו. Calev's behavior demonstrated that he was avdi Calev. He was Hashem's. Why? Because an eved doesn't make cheshbonos. Calev wasn't there calculating: Should I do this? What if they kill me? Should I do this? What if they won't listen to me? There was no point. Should I do this? My kids will never get shidduchim, they'll never get married. He didn't sit there and make cheshbonos. He was an eved Hashem and he said, 'This moment demands standing up, protesting, articulating, doing the right thing.' And because he demonstrated, the Torah therefore calls him V'avdi Calev. No Yehoshua. Yehoshua's not mentioned. Why? Because while Yehoshua did the right thing by not joining the wrong people, he ultimately didn't put his neck on the line. He didn't stand up in protest. He didn't join Calev in challenging the people. And because of that here, it's only avdi Calev, it's not avdi Yehoshua. פרק יד פסוק לח. Bottom of page 808. ויהושע בן נון וכלב בן יפנה חיו מן האנשים ההמה ההולכים לתור את הארץ. Yehoshua son of Nun and Calev son of Yefuneh lived from among those men who were going to investigate, spy, tour the land. What word is peculiar, and why is it peculiar? Haholchim. Translate the word haholchim. Haholchim means they are going. In what tense is that? Present tense. Should it be present tense? What should it say? Yehoshua and Calev are the only ones who lived from among the men that halchu. Who went to see the land. Not haholchim, are seeing the land. Why in the present tense? It should be halchu, the past tense. Says the Menachem Tzion: הליכתם הייתה כבר דבר שבעבר. It should be past tense. And there's a reason for this. Here's how you can explain it. ויבכו העם בלילה ההוא. The people cried that night. They cried that night. What day on the Jewish calendar was it? The ninth of Av. גמרא תענית דף כט tells us: אמר להם הקדוש ברוך הוא אתם בכיתם בכיה של חנם ואני קובע לכם בכיה לדורות. You cried for no reason? What are you crying about? God says I told you we got this. I told you it's going to be great. I told you, no, come! And you cried? You're crying for no reason? I'll give you a cry. And taki he's given us many reasons. Countless calamities happened on that date, Tisha B'Av. מזה משמע שכל ענין של מרגלים הצל והאור שבו הוא מהלך שנמשך לדורות ההולכים. This issue of the meraglim, this is not part of the past. The issue of the meraglim, that mistake, that doubt, that uncertainty, that questioning of Hashem, that attitude is not part of our past. Unfortunately, it haunts us in the present. And therefore says the Menachem Tzion... It's not shehalchu, it's haholchim. הליכתם מהדהדת עד היום הזה. It continues to follow us and haunt us until today. כמו אז כן עד עתה יש רוב ומיעוט אשר נאבקים זה בזה. רוב הרואה רק את הבעיות החמורות המצבים הקשים החריפים שיש בארץ ומכבר לשבת בגולה מאשר לארץ לנסוע. There are those, rov, most. This is an indictment of us. The Menachem Tzion himself a product of Yerushalayim, the son-in-law of the chief rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank, but where did he live, where was he a rav in Chicago? He says those who live outside the land of Israel, that's us. We have all the reasons, all the uncertainty, all the doubts why we can't move, why we don't go, why we don't settle our lives, why it's not our destiny and destination. We're still living here. רוב המואס בארץ חמדה מייצגת הבכיה לדורות. We're continuing that bechiya forever. Why it won't work, ourselves, our children, our parnassa, our family, our safety, our security. ומיעוט שהוא בבחינת ובשרידים אשר קרא, Yehoshua v'Calev. And the mi'ut who stand up, who stand up the shnayim k'neged asara, who are na'ale na'ale, we're in, we're going up. ובאווירה הניבה שכל העדה אמרה לרגום אותם באבנים והמיעוט שאומר לנו עתה הולכים נגד הרוב ההולכים, haholchim. So the reason that it's used in the present tense is to remind us this is not a problem of the past. This must be an ongoing conversation, not if but when we're all moving to Israel. Because you could live with the attitude of what's missing, why it won't work. Essentially, the problem of being spies instead of tourists is a problem that follows us. haholchim, the Jewish attitude. My friend Chef Gersh, who in his restaurant on the receipt he used to print, \"Thank you for coming, was anything okay?\" Featured one night on Jay Leno, his receipt from his restaurant, \"Thank you for coming, was anything okay?\" Why is that the Jewish attitude? Why do we always see what's wrong? Why are we always complaining? Why are we coming as spies instead of living our lives as optimistic, positive tourists? That challenge and that problem, our geula is not going to come with one another. The next challenge we're going to run by the way is a three-week challenge. Shiva Asar B'Tammuz to Tisha B'Av, every day a ahavas Yisrael challenge of something to do that day to demonstrate love of a fellow Jew. A fellow Jew not like you. Hopefully we'll bring mashiach and the challenge will be cut short. But we're going to issue, we're going to join that group, we'll publicize it soon, the three-week challenge starting on Tisha B'Av, ahavas Yisrael, every day a specific thing to do that day to show and demonstrate love to a fellow Jew. You could see how you disagree and what's wrong and the shortcomings and their failures. You could live as a spy of their life. You could spy on your neighbor or you could tour your neighbor. Tour your neighbor means let me see what's redeemable, what's admirable, what's beautiful, let me see what I love and could connect with among my neighbor. That's v'ahavta l're'acha kamocha. That's living life as a tourist of your neighbor. Or you could be a spy of your neighbor. Let me show what's wrong and what's missing and why they're no good and why they're bad and why we disagree. It's time to go from spies to tourists. It's only when we fix that and correct that we can stop being haholchim, a problem in the present, and only then we'll be able to put it in the past. Now, let me tell you what I didn't get to, for like the 10th year in a row. Next year Parshas Shlach, somebody please tell me, let's start with Challah. Parshas Shlach has the mitzvah of Challah. I have so many nice things to say about it. Challah, Tzitzis, the mekoshesh etzim, so much more in Parshas Shlach we never get to. I apologize Parshas Shlach. It's not fair to you, it's not fair to me, it's not fair to us. Im yirtzeh Hashem next year. Please stay, all of Sefer Tehillim, so many things to davven for. War in Lebanon, Iran is not yet over. If everyone stays, we divide Tehillim, it'll take only a few minutes. בשורות טובות ישועות ונחמות.
