United We Stand – Shlach
וַיַּהַס כָּלֵב אֶת הָעָם אֶל מֹשֶׁה וַיֹּאמֶר עָלֹה נַעֲלֶה וְיָרַשְׁנוּ אֹתָהּ כִּי יָכוֹל נוּכַל לָהּ (במדבר יג ל).
The parsha of the מְרַגְּלִים is one of the least understood in the Torah and perhaps one of the most commentated. In this shiur I would like to explore a radically different analysis of this tragic episode, based on concepts from תּוֹרַת הַסּוֹד and hopefully obtain a deeper insight into a latent self-destruct dynamic that has forever lurked within Am Yisrael.
If I were to ask you "Which other parsha in the Torah most resembles parshat Shlach?" what would you say? The answer is parshat Noach, and we will soon see why.
In order to understand the first passuk in our parsha, we need to skip forward to parshat Devarim –
וַתִּקְרְבוּן אֵלַי כֻּלְּכֶם וַתֹּאמְרוּ נִשְׁלְחָה אֲנָשִׁים לְפָנֵינוּ וְיַחְפְּרוּ לָנוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְיָשִׁבוּ אֹתָנוּ דָּבָר אֶת הַדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר נַעֲלֶה בָּהּ וְאֵת הֶעָרִים אֲשֶׁר נָבֹא אֲלֵיהֶן (דברים א, כב).
Before HKB"H says to Moshe שְׁלַח לְךָ אֲנָשִׁים, (if you want to send them, then send them, but I am not commanding you to send them), there was a preamble, the details of which we read in Devarim.
Am Yisrael were just days away from entering Eretz Yisrael, אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ, the land given by Divine promise to the Avot. The debacle of the מְרַגְּלִים began as an initiative from Am Yisrael to send ahead "spies" before the rest of the nation entered.
The Mefarshim go into this aspect in great length. What kind of "spies" were they? Spies enter secretly, undetected, one or two (like the spies Yehoshua sent to Yericho), incognito. Not 12 (some say 24) and not by first holding a public "press conference" to announce their names. Imagine if Israel sent Mossad agents to spy out the nuclear reactor in Bushehr, would they put their names on the 8 o'clock news?
The Mefarshim give different answers. It was not spies, it was "surveyors" to survey the inheritance of each tribe, where it is best to grow olives (Asher), where best to build a port (Zevulun), etc. Some say it was to acquire a חֲזָקָה on the land, by walking through it שְׁלַח לְךָ, like HKB"H said to Avraham לֶךְ לְךָ, by taking fruit of the land, thereby demonstrating ownership over it. Some say it was to "tour" the land and bring back souvenirs of the bounty … All the answers are correct.
Whichever opinion you follow, however, none were necessary in the first place. The land was later to be parceled out by Divine גּוֹרָל. What good would it do to survey the land? HKB"H knew exactly which region to give to each tribe, that best suited their needs and their purpose. Why is it necessary to send ahead people to get a חֲזָקָה? HKB"H promised the land to us, all we needed to do was enter it directly and thereby acquire the חֲזָקָה. Bring back fruits? What was the need for that? Did we not believe HKB"H when He told us that it was an אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ?
Perhaps the most perplexing question is "Why did Moshe allow them to go in the first place?" Moshe knew what the outcome would be if he sent them (that is why he added a letter to Yehoshua's name, to try prevent it). When Am Yisrael came to Moshe and asked to send people ahead, why did Moshe not refuse and rebuke them for making such a request?
Another question is why Moshe needed to strengthen Yehoshua, but not Kalev? What was the difference between Yehoshua and Kalev?
The punishment for the sin of the מְרַגְּלִים was that the two Batei Mikdash would be destroyed. What does the sin of the מְרַגְּלִים have to do with the Beit HaMikdash?
Before we begin to delve into this more deeply, I would like to bring an important Pirkei de'Rebi Eliezer (מא) –
ר' פִּנְחָס אוֹמֵר, כָּל אוֹתוֹ הַדּוֹר שֶׁשָּׁמְעוּ קוֹלוֹ שֶׁל הַקב"ה בְּהַר סִינַי זָכוּ לִהְיוֹת כְּמַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת ..... וְלֹא מָשָׁל בָּהֶם כָּל מִינֵי כִּנִים וּבְמוֹתָם לֹא שָׁלְטָה בָּהֶם רִמָּה וְתוֹלֵעָה אַשְׁרֵיהֶם בעה"ז וְאַשְׁרֵיהֶם בעה"ב וַעֲלֵיהֶם הַכָּתוּב אוֹמֵר אַשְׁרֵי הָעָם שֶׁכָּכָה לּוֹ.
Also, the Gemara (שבת קיב, ב) –
אָמַר רַבִּי זֵירָא אָמַר רָבָא בַּר זִמּוּנָא: אִם רִאשׁוֹנִים בְּנֵי מַלְאָכִים אָנוּ בְּנֵי אֲנָשִׁים, וְאִם רִאשׁוֹנִים בְּנֵי אֲנָשִׁים אָנוּ כַּחֲמוֹרִים וְלֹא כַּחֲמוֹרוֹ שֶׁל רַבִּי חֲנִינָא בֶּן דּוֹסָא וְשֶׁל רַבִּי פִּנְחָס בֶּן יָאִיר.
We have absolutely no conception of the stature of the generation of the Midbar, דּוֹר דֵּעָה, let alone can we criticize or cast aspersions on them. They are likened to angels and we have no understanding of angels.
However, the Torah includes all these regrettable episodes, not so that we can judge them, but that we can learn from them - not to repeat their mistakes.
In this shiur we are going to be talking about angels and it is a good thing that the shiur is in English and not in Lashon HaKodesh, because when meddling in the affairs of angels, it is best not to do it on a language that they can understand (angels only understand Lashon HaKodesh). This is why the Zohar HaKadosh is written in Aramaic. This is why we say יְהֵא שְׁמֵיהּ רַבָּא מְבָרַךְ לְעָלַם וּלְעָלְמֵי עָלְמַיָּא in Aramaic and not in Hebrew. Since my Aramaic is not that great (and I am suspecting yours too), we will continue in English.
The first word in the Torah explains what happened in parshat Shlach. What happened in Shlach was not the first time, it happened numerous times before.
בְּרֵאשִׁית. The first word in the Torah is in fact made up of two words – בָּרָא-שִׁית. שִׁית in Aramaic is six. HKB"H created "six". In this first word of the Torah, we obtain an insight into the full circle of עוֹלָם הַזֶּה, our world. As we discussed in last week's shiur, everything in this world has a lifespan. This world itself has a lifespan – "six", referring to the six millenia, the lifespan of the world, 6,000 years (we are currently in year 5784). This is the end of the circle.
At the same time HKB"H created the end, He created the beginning of the circle – "six".
Chazal say that the signature of HKB"H is אֱמֶת (Shabbat 55a). The word אֱמֶת represents the number "nine". If you take the "small" gematria (removing zeros and reducing to a single digit) of the word אֱמֶת you get the number nine (א=1 + מ=40=4 + ת=400=4 = 1+4+4 = 9). The number nine is a unique number in that if you take the small gematria of any multiple of nine, you get 9 (18:1+8=9; 27: 2+7=9; 36: 3+6=9; 45: 4+5=9; 99: 9+9=18=1+8=9, etc.). It is the only digit with that property, because it is the Divine signature.
On the other hand, the word שֶׁקֶר, the opposite of אֱמֶת, is represented by the number "six". The small gematria of שֶׁקֶר is six (ש=300=3 + ק=100=1 + ר=200=2 = 3+1+2=6).
If you want to know if something is true or a lie, this is a good yardstick to use. For example, HKB"H created light אוֹר. The small gematria of אוֹר is 9 (א=1 + ו=6 + ר=200=2 = 1+6+2=9), therefore light is associated with אֱמֶת. Similarly, the word אָדָם has a small gematria of 9, because man is created with the signature of HKB"H. On the other hand, the small gematria of עֲמָלֵק is 6 (ע=70=7 + מ=40=4 + ל=30=3 + ק=100=1 = 7+4+3+1 = 15 = 1+5 = 6), which is associated with שֶׁקֶר. Similarly, the word נִמְרֹד has a small gematria of 6.
Before HKB"H created man, He first consulted with the angels who advised against it, a first group, a second group. Both advised against creating man. HKB"H "burnt them with his finger". When HKB"H asked a third group, they said "What good did it do that the first two advised against it, the entire world is yours HKB"H, do what you will in your world" (Sanhedrin 38b).
HKB"H appointed one the angels, perhaps the head of this third group, to be the "checks and balances", to ultimately prove that HKB"H was right in creating man and making sure that man lived up to HKB"H's expectations. This angel was more elevated than the other angels, with twelve wings (as opposed to the other angels who have less), and HKB"H placed this angel in charge of the 5th level in Heaven, called מָעוֹן, in which angels sing praise to HKB"H (during the night only – so as not to compete with Am Yisrael who sing praises during the day, Chagiga 12b). Also, in this level מָעוֹן is the treasury of שִׂמְחָה.
The name of this angel is "samech" for short (or in full "samech mem aleph lamed" – we are forbidden to directly write/say the names of angels). The small gematria of the Hebrew letter "samech" is 6, because this angel employs שֶׁקֶר as one of his primary tools to test man and make sure that man is true to his Creator. This angel has many nicknames, including "satan", "yetzer harah", "mal'ach ha'mavet", etc.
At the beginning of time, HKB"H created the starting point and ending point of the circle of this world. HKB"H instituted the "checks and balances", the Heavenly "comptroller", if you will, to make sure that the full circle adheres to the signature of HKB"H which is אֱמֶת - by testing mankind specifically with שֶׁקֶר, to see if man cleaves to HKB"H's truth or not.
Just as this world has a lifespan – six, so too does this angel have a lifespan – six. At the end of the six, HKB"H is going to eliminate this angel, since there will no longer be a need for him. As we say at the end of the Hagadah - וַאֲתָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וְשָׁחַט לְמַלְאָךְ הַמָּוֶת.
A synonym for the "end of the six" is Geulah. When the Geulah arrives, this angel will no longer be needed and will cease to exist. There are two "speeds" at which we can traverse the "circle". The first is at "normal" speed, which means that the circle will be traversed in 6,000 years. This speed is called בְּעִתָּהּ. We can, however, traverse the circle at "accelerated" speed, arrive at the end point of the circle before the 6,000 years are up according to normal speed. The accelerated speed is called אֲחִישֶׁנָּה. These are the two possible timelines for the Geulah (ישעיהו ס, כב). It is not incidental that these timelines are described in the Navi in perek "samech", because the angel "samech" is a key player in determining the eventual timeline.
Although this angel is active throughout the cycle of the six, he is most active when closely approaching the end of the circle, either at normal speed or at accelerated speed. It is then that he wreaks his full power of deception, in all its intensity, because … he wants to prolong his existence as long as possible.
If we examine the course of history, we will see that this angel is at his greatest intensity at junctures that approach closure of the circle.
HKB"H created Adam and Chava on the sixth day and placed them in Gan Eden, which was equivalent to a Beit Mikdash – the עֵץ הַחַיִּים was the Menorah and the עֵץ הַדַּעַת was the Shulchan Lechem HaPanim, with HKB"H's Shechina omnipresent in the Gan. At the end of the sixth day, when Shabbat came in, the Geulah would have arrived, the circle would have been complete. On Shabbat Adam would have been permitted to eat from the עֵץ הַדַּעַת just like the Kohanim are permitted to eat the Lechem HaPanim on Shabbat.
However, just as the sixth day was approaching its end, our angel "samech" unleashed his full power of deception and caused Adam to eat the fruit of the עֵץ הַדַּעַת prematurely, equivalent to a Kohen eating the Lechem Hapanim during the week, before Shabbat - the sin of מְעִילָה. This prevented closure of the circle and Geulah was postponed.
The next opportunity HKB"H gave us to close the circle was in the generation of the Flood. As it says - הַנְּפִלִים הָיוּ בָאָרֶץ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם וְגַם אַחֲרֵי כֵן אֲשֶׁר יָבֹאוּ בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים אֶל בְּנוֹת הָאָדָם וְיָלְדוּ לָהֶם הֵמָּה הַגִּבֹּרִים אֲשֶׁר מֵעוֹלָם אַנְשֵׁי הַשֵּׁם. In the generation of Noach HKB"H created a reality that was equivalent to Gan Eden. There was no illness, humans possessed superhuman strength, there was such natural bounty that people sowed once in forty years and reaped the miraculous fruits for the entire 40 years. HKB"H wanted to give the generation of the Flood the Torah, that was the plan. However, as we can guess, the angel "samech" unleashed his full powers of deception and the world deteriorated into a reality of חָמָס, was destroyed and again the circle did not reach closure.
The next chance to close the circle presented itself at Har Sinai. Along the way, the building blocks to accomplish this were constructed, one by one, by the Avot. During this preliminary process, the angel "samech" tried to hamper any progress by using his full powers of deception. To prevent Avraham from sacrificing Yitzchak. To get Yitzchak to bless Eisav instead of Yaakov. To prevent the emergence of the Twelve Tribes using a shaliach - Lavan, by substituting Leah before Rachel. To destroy the Twelve Tribes by sowing discord between Yosef and his brothers. However, all his efforts failed and Am Yisrael, forged in the melting pot of Egypt, stood at Har Sinai and received the Torah. The closure of the circle was again imminent, but the angel "samech" once again applied the full intensity of his deception and caused Am Yisrael to sin with the egel.
HKB"H forgave Am Yisrael and commanded them to build a Mishkan. The Mishkan was inaugurated and Am Yisrael were poised to enter Eretz Yisrael and close the circle, but once again the angel "samech" pulls out all the stops and with his deception, caused the sin of the מְרַגְּלִים, and on it goes, throughout history.
At each of these junctures, man sinning defies all logic. In Gan Eden, Adam was the most elevated creature after HKB"H Himself, how could he sin? The generation of Noach were superhumans living in Gan Eden, like Adam, how could they sin? Am Yisrael had just received the Torah on Har Sinai, how could they sin? Am Yisrael were just about to enter Eretz Yisrael and realize the promise HKB"H made to the Avot, how could they sin? There is no logical explanation for any of it.
The answer is that it defies logic. It is not something that can be explained in concepts that we humans can understand. It is the workings of an angel in his death throes, doing whatever he can to prolong his existence.
If we examine each of the examples given above, we notice a pattern in the deceptive strategy of the angel "samech". The strategy is "divide and conquer".
In Gan Eden the angel "samech" divided Adam from Chava, he separated them and attacked them one by one. First Chava, and then through Chava – Adam. In the time of Noach, the angel "samech" afflicted the generation with חָמָס, in other words גֶּזֶל, sowing distrust and division amongst men. At the sin of the egel, in addition to the central egel, each tribe made their own egel and danced around it (ירושלמי, סנהדרין, פרק י', הלכה ב) - again disunity. In the sin of the מְרַגְּלִים the angel "samech" sowed discord between the twelve emissaries and it ended up a house divided, two against ten. The gematria of first names of the ten מְרַגְּלִים is וַיַּעַשׂ אֱ-לֹקִים אֶת שְׁנֵי הַמְּאֹרֹת הַגְּדֹלִים – the first incidence of disunity in history.
The similarities between our parsha and parshat Noach are unmistakable. We have references to וְשָׁם רָאִינוּ אֶת הַנְּפִילִים בְּנֵי עֲנָק מִן הַנְּפִלִים וכו' (במדבר יג, לג) like in parshat Noach הַנְּפִלִים הָיוּ בָאָרֶץ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם. The מְרַגְּלִים brought back with them miraculous, oversized fruit that required multiple people to carry. Moshe (רָעֲיָא מְהֵימָנָא) was the tikkun for Noach (רָעֲיָא שָׁטְיָא). Chazal say that תֵּיבַת נֹחַ was a Beit Mikdash.
Moshe saw that the Geulah was imminent. Moshe would lead Am Yisrael into Eretz Yisrael, build the Mikdash which would be eternal and never be destroyed. But Moshe also saw that the angel "samech" was going to do his best to hamper it by sowing disunity. When Am Yisrael were united in their request to send מְרַגְּלִים, Moshe perceived the danger, but he also saw the unprecedented unity (וַתִּקְרְבוּן אֵלַי כֻּלְּכֶם) and instead of disrupting the unity in Am Yisrael, he tried to preserve and fortify it by giving them strict instructions, by strengthening Yehoshua by adding a yud to his name, hoping that the unity would prevail and undo the deceptive workings of the angel.
Kalev did not require extra fortifying by Moshe. Kalev was made of sterner stuff, from the Tribe of Yehuda, the tribe of kings. Kalev, of his own initiative made a detour to Hebron to reconnect with the זְכוּת אָבוֹת. Kalev tried his best to preserve unity between the twelve מְרַגְּלִים. Even though he remained true to Moshe, Kalev portrayed to the other ten מְרַגְּלִים that he was with them. Kalev tried to use the angel "samech"'s own trick of deception against him. "Heh" refers to the 5th level in Heaven over which "samech" is in charge, the two letters together make הַס. Up until the very end the ten מְרַגְּלִים thought that Kalev was with them, and therefore he managed to silence everyone וַיַּהַס כָּלֵב אֶת הָעָם, because they thought he was going to speak against Moshe. Of all the מְרַגְּלִים the only one who has a small gematria of six (שֶׁקֶר) is כָּלֵב בֶּן יְפֻנֶּה.
Despite Moshe, Kalev and Yehoshua's efforts, the deception of the angel "samech" managed to sow discord in Am Yisrael and the result is as we know.
Why was the punishment for the sin of the מְרַגְּלִים that the two Batei Mikdash would be destroyed? What does the Bet HaMikdash have to do with anything? The answer is that the Beit HaMikdash is the ultimate symbol of unity and peace within Am Yisrael.
When the נְשִׂיאִים brought their korbanot during the inauguration of the Mishkan – each brought exactly the same korban, total uniformity and unity. The twelves loaves of Lechem HaPanim sit on the Shulchan in total unity. The purpose of the Ketoret (with eleven ingredients) is to reestablish unity lost between the eleven brothers and Yosef. The first to build the Mikdash was שְׁלֹמֹה. Shlomo was thus named because he was הַמֶּלֶךְ שֶׁהַשָּׁלוֹם לוֹ. During his reign, total peace and unity prevailed.
The מְרַגְּלִים sowed the seeds of disunity and destruction of the future Beit HaMikdash, by dooming Am Yisrael to another 38 years in the Midbar and entering Eretz Yisrael without Moshe. If Moshe had built the Mikdash, it would never have been destroyed.
Our circle, created in the first word of the Torah is a repetitious saga of failed opportunities, primarily because of disunity.
At the junctures where the circle draws to a close, the angel "samech" is at his most active and most destructive. The damage he wreaks defies logic, because it is not logical, it is the workings of an angel.
Now as we approach the end of the 6,000 (we are in year 5784, only 216 years before the closure of the circle according to the "slow" speed), once again the angel "samech" is attempting a last-ditch effort. The more illogical and surreal things seem to be, this is indicative that the possibility of Geulah is once again imminent. The more illogical and surreal, the more imminent.
As before, the greatest threat that will chas vechalila cause us to miss this opportunity, is disunity. If the angel can fracture us from within, once again, the circle will not reach closure ahead of time and we will doom the next three generations to having to accomplish what we should be finishing in our generation. We doom them to more suffering, bloodshed, war and tragedy.
We are weary. We are weary of 5784 years of repeated failures and resulting suffering. It has left its mark in our psyche and we all bear the scars in our souls, some more than others.
We beseech HKB"H to gather us up in His loving embrace, and like with the Mann in the Midbar, to heal all our physical and emotional ailments and make us whole again and give us the fortitude to transcend the deceptive wiles of the angel "samech". To wash our land with a new spirit of דַּעַת אֶת ה', a new spirit of כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲרֵבִים זֶה לָזֶה and love for each other, despite our differences. The timeline אֲחִישֶׁנָּה is dependent on the acceptance that אֲחִי שֹׁנֶּה, that we are not all alike, but as HKB"H loves us equally, so too should we love each other (מאיר פנים, פרק יד, עמ' קנה).
If we transcend despair and defeatism and stand united, no enemy, man or angel, can defeat us. The gematria of all the full names of the twelve מְרַגְּלִים, (if they would have all been united) – שַׁמּוּעַ בֶּן זַכּוּר, שָׁפָט בֶּן חוֹרִי, … גְּאוּאֵל בֶּן מָכִי, is –
וְהָיָה הַנָּס מִקּוֹל הַפַּחַד יִפֹּל אֶל הַפַּחַת וְהָעוֹלֶה מִתּוֹךְ הַפַּחַת יִלָּכֵד בַּפָּח כִּי אֲרֻבּוֹת מִמָּרוֹם נִפְתָּחוּ וַיִּרְעֲשׁוּ מוֹסְדֵי אָרֶץ (ישעיהו כד, יח).
This passuk from Yishayahu describes what will happen to our enemies in the time of the Geulah בבי"א. Only we have the power to make it happen prematurely, before the 6,000 years are up.
The Gemara says that the generation of the Geulah will be כְּדוֹר הַכֶּלֶב. Perhaps the Gemara means that the generation of Geulah will be כָּלֵב כְּדוֹר, who in his wisdom tried to used the deception of the angel "samech" against him, and unite the rest of Am Yisrael. We desperately need to employ the wisdom of כָּלֵב to unite our generation. We have work to do.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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