June 25/05 — Shabbat Shelach Lecha: Ordinary Life

Commentary by Rabbi Lawrence Pinsker

This week’s Torah portion includes the famous story of the scouts whom Moses sends to the Land of Canaan to report on the land and its population. The spies return with a demoralizing report: the land is unconquerable, a place that consumes its inhabitants. With the exception of Caleb and Joshua, the scouts bemoan their fate.

The scouts—with the exceptions of Caleb and Joshua—overreact. Their failure is particularly painful because they are not ordinary citizens, but rather princes from each tribe, the best, the brightest, and most competent leaders. So why are they so downhearted and despondent?

Furthermore, the scouts have personally witnessed all of God's miracles: the ten plagues, the sea split by God, the portable well that traveled with the Israelites throughout the wilderness and provided water, and manna, the miracle food provided by God. So why on earth would they have the slightest doubt that God would not be able to carry them to victory over the Canaanites?

A remarkable 20th century commentary says that the spies indeed had not a single doubt their people would be victorious in Canaan. Instead, what motivated them was a fear of success. Once they entered the land and conquered it, everything would change forever. They would have to raise an army instead of relying upon God's power. They would have to take responsibility for interpreting and applying their own laws instead of always going to Moses and letting him be the target of both praise and anger from those involved in disputes. They would have to work the land instead of relying upon God.

In short, they would have to live a "less spiritual life." Their lives would be taken up with mundane matters. The scouts thought that by forcing the Israelites to continue to live in the wilderness, they would continue to devote themselves to elevating their souls rather than becoming busy with agriculture, statecraft, and society-building. They wanted the Israelites to spend time with God and Torah, not with planting, harvesting, and governance.

That is why they complained that "this is a land that consumes its inhabitants." In their eyes, Canaan was a place that demanded work. Having to farm, soldier, fabricate clothing and shoes, cultivate politics, and defend its borders would take away the purity of their wilderness devotion of God and Torah.

In other words, the scouts were spiritual men who only wanted to dwell in God's Presence. The sin of the spies is that they wanted to over-spiritualize Jewish life. But Judaism does not command spirituality detached from the world; elevating our souls is worthless if it does not lead to partnership with God in elevating the world as well.

That is why Zionism is such an important concept in Jewish life. Zionism is not only about saving Jewish lives or protecting Israel. Zionism is also about creating political instruments whereby Jews have power to create a society based on justice. Of course political instruments are always human creations and therefore often flawed. We make mistakes—sometimes big ones. However, overall our tradition says that it is better to make a mistake while trying to repair the world than to live in spiritual purity while ignoring the needs of this world.

In Judaism, spirituality is about more than the effects of prayer, meditation, and ritual upon our inner well-being. Jewish spirituality is also about making the world into God's palace, where there is no room for injustice or cruelty. In God's palace, not only do we say prayers and sing hymns, but also we feed the hungry, clothe and protect the vulnerable, and liberate the enslaved. Every Jew is responsible for contributing in this fashion to improving our community and refashioning our world as God’s palace. We are not only a people of prayer; we are also a people of deep caring.