I spy with my eyes...Parashas Shlach...As usual its all about Emunah/Faith

"...Send forth men and let them spy out the Land of Canaan that I give to the Children of Israel..." (Bamidbar 13:2)

In this weeks parasha we find the story of the meraglim/spies that the Jews asked Moshe Rabeinu to send into Eretz Yisroel before we entered from the desert. The Jews stood upon the threshold of the land of Israel and at Hashem's command they were about to enter and conquer the land. At the nation's bidding, Moshe received Hashem's permission to send spies to asses the quality of the land and the military strength of their foes, as a prelude to the actual invasion. Moshe sent twelve spies, one man from each tribe, all righteous and distinguished leaders. Ten spies returned with a very ominous and foreboding report that discouraged and demoralized the people, causing them to lose faith in Hashem and their ability to conquer the mighty Canaanite nations. As a result, the entire generation was condemned to wander in the desert for forty years until those people who had sinned by despairing of Hashem perished. The tragedy of their sin had far-reaching consequences. The nation wept the entire night, which was an expression of their lost faith in Hashem. In response, Hashem declared, "They wept without cause; I will establish [this night as a time of] weeping throughout the generations." That night was the ninth of Av, the date both the first and second Temples were destroyed and the date upon which countless other tragedies have occurred throughout Jewish history.

The episode of the spies was recorded in the Torah not as mere historical notation, but to teach us a little about Hashem's ways. Hashem always orchestrates events in each person's life so that there is the potential for that person to come closer to Him, as illustrated by the open miracles performed in the desert. But at each new turn, our faith must be tested in order to maintain the balance of free choice so that we can earn our eternal reward. We see this in the many trials Hashem placed before the Jews in the desert. If one truly desires to come close to Hashem, Hashem will send him all sorts of hints that lead to the truth. However, people who are not really looking for the truth, because attachment to the truth requires hard work, and because of the desire for immediate gratification, will find themselves more and more attached to materialism and falsehood. Hashem demands that all of Israel discover the truth for themselves. Since Hashem redeemed us from Egypt, He is entitled to demand of us that we fulfill His purpose, which is to endeavor to discover the truth using our free will. Therefore, Rav Noson says that if a person does not work at discovering the truth during his lifetime, he will be reincarnated to a life of suffering which, as is true of all suffering, is designed to alert him to the need for change. In this case, the change is that he must recognize that Hashem runs the universe and so, must have absolute faith in Hashem. A person will thus go through as many reincarnations as it takes until he finally makes the effort to discover the truth, as the verse says, "The Torah of Hashem is perfect, restoring the soul." (Psalms 19:8) The holy Ari explains this verse as follows: The word in the verse for perfect, t'mima, can also mean complete. The word restoring, m'shivas, can also mean 'cause to return'. Thus the verse could be understood as follows: [In order for a Jewish soul to gain entrance into paradise, it has to have first fulfilled the entire Torah], as the verse says, "The Torah of Hashem is complete(" [If a soul is deficient in the fulfillment of any commandment, that lack] "causes the soul to return [through reincarnation, as many times as it takes to complete all of the commandments of the entire Torah]." (Shar Ha'Gilgulim)

As a result of the sin of the spies, Hashem decreed that the future Temple would be destroyed and that the Jews would have to wander for several thousand years from country to country in exile. The episode of the spies demonstrated an inherent flaw within the nature of the Jewish people. It is true that their faith in Hashem far surpassed that of any other nation, but still it was not absolute and not at the level that Hashem had expected of them. Exile was the perfect remedy to develop an unshakable faith in Hashem, to enable them to reach the level of absolute faith that Hashem expected. It was only through their incredible faith that the Jews were able to live in a hostile exile environment throughout the millennia, going from crisis to crisis. They not only managed to survive, but they flourished because of their loyalty to Hashem and His Torah. No other nation can boast of such a feat. Anyone remotely familiar with Jewish history and with the endless threats to their survival in each generation can plainly see that Jewish survival is nothing less than an open miracle. This all came about through their unshakable faith and their determination to attach themselves to the truth. It was the exile experience that would rectify the flaw in their faith that was manifested by the incident of the spies. Rabbi Nachman taught, "Redemption is dependent upon faith. The root cause of exile is a lack of faith." (1 Lekutai MoHaran 7:1)

Rabbi Nachman taught that it is not enough to just have faith in Hashem and the sages, one must have faith in himself as well. A person's faith in Hashem and the sages cannot be complete unless he has faith in himself. If not, it is considered to be flaw in the entire concept of faith. Many people have fallen away from Hashem simply because they did not believe in themselves.

So lets strengthen our belief in ourselves and in Hashem so that we may greet the Mashiach! Speedily! In our days! Amen!

A wonderful Shabbos to one and all!!!

peace and joy,

Etan