The Temple Institute
“The land that we scouted is an exceedingly good land!"
(Numbers 14:7)
Sivan 20, 5786/June 5, 2026
“The land that we scouted is an exceedingly good land!" Translated back into its original Hebrew the verse concludes with the words "tova (good) ha'aretz (the land) me'od (good) me'od (good)!" Remember way back when, when, upon completing creation at the close of the sixth day, "G-d saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good?" (Genesis 1:31) All that G-d had created was "very good." But the land He promised Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, to give to their descendants as an eternal inheritance, was "very, very good!"
At least it was in the eyes of Yehoshua and Calev, two of the twelve tribal dignitaries who were part of the mission sent by Moshe, by command of HaShem, to scout out the land of Canaan, intending to pave the way for Israel's conquest. Unfortunately, theirs was the minority opinion, and their exhortations fell upon deaf ears. The recalcitrant generation of the wilderness, influenced by the negative take of ten of the twelve spies, squandered away forever their chance at entering into the land of milk and honey, promised to them by G-d. By G-d!
"If pleased with us, HaShem will bring us into that land, a land that flows with milk and honey, and give it to us; only you must not rebel against HaShem. Have no fear then of the people of the country, for they are our prey: their protection has departed from them, but HaShem is with us. Have no fear of them!” (Numbers 14:9) So pleaded Yehoshua and Calev, but to no avail. What did they see that the others didn't see? Actually, nothing. They saw the same cities, the same mountains and valleys, the same inhabitants, the same massive clusters of grapes and figs and pomegranates. And, in fact, all twelve agreed that "the land you sent us to; it does indeed flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit," (ibid 13:27) displaying their bounty before the assembly.
But there was one thing which Yehoshua and Calev saw differently from their companions: "we saw the Nephilim there — the Anakites [lterally, giants] are part of the Nephilim — and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them.” (ibid 13:33)
They all saw the giants. And, in fact, there was a family of giants living in Hevron. This was certainly something to take into account when facing them in future battle. But upon seeing the giants, it appears that they looked at one another and saw something else, altogether:"we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves." They felt overwhelmed, puny, crushed, in the face of the giants, a feeling so intense that they made the bold, unsubstantiated claim that "and so we must have looked to them.” While their sense of helplessness was certainly impacted by their sighting of giants, it was their self image that crushed their hopes, sending them back to the desert encampment and bringing catastrophe to the entire nation. No one had defeated them but themselves.
What happened to their sense of self? Had not G-d created them in His image, and, having done so as a final act of creation, concluded that, "behold, it was very good?" What happened to "love your neighbor as yourself, I am HaShem"? It was only when they denied their divine creation by defining themselves as grasshoppers that the spirit of the people was crushed: "The whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night."(ibid 14:1) Not the giants and not the fortified cities, but the self defining image of grasshoppers, flitting from blade of grass to blade of grass, impotent and helpless that literally deflated the people, sucking out of their lungs the very breath of life that G-d had breathed into them. They cried without consolation.
It took a strong stand and a determined prayer by Moshe to temper G-d's rage, and instead of annihilating the nation on the spot, gave them a second chance, with a caveat. The caveat being, one additional year in the wilderness for each of the forty days the twelve spies scouted out the land and totally misread all that they saw, somehow reducing a land that was very, very good into an self imposed image of a nation of rootless, homeless grasshoppers.
Save, of course, for Yehoshua and Calev. While the male adults who witnessed G-d's miracles in Egypt, who were taken out of bondage by G-d's outstretched hand, who walked on dry ground through the Sea of Reeds, woke up each morning to a spread of manna at their doorstep and witnessed, as a nation, HaShem's presence at Sinai, hearing His voice saying "I am HaShem you G-d," would all perish in the wilderness, only Yehoshua and Calev would ultimately enter the land.
Yehoshua, faithful student of Moshe, would lead Israel into Canaan. And of Calev, HaShem said, "But My servant Calev, because he was imbued with a different spirit and remained loyal to Me — him will I bring into the land that he entered, and his offspring shall hold it as a possession." (ibid 14:24) "A different spirit - ru'ach acharet!" A different spirit from his fellow spies, but the very same spirit - ru'ach - breath - that G-d first breathed into man, creating, not a grasshopper, but a being who would, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the sky and all the living creatures that crawl on the earth." (Genesis 1:28) A being who would stand upright and be afraid of no living creature, least of all a family of giants living in the city where the father and mothers of the nation of Israel are buried.
Israel today has to contend with all sorts of giants and on multiple fronts. Israel is spurned, cursed, attacked verbally and physically, her very existence on this earth challenged in international forums. Missiles and rockets and drones, suicide bombers, car rammers and knife wielders. These are today's self defined "giants." But, in fact, they are the hapless grasshoppers perched on a blade of grass of self pity, envy and lies. Israel is a nation of Calevs, filled with a different spirit. A spirit that reminds us that we are created in the image of G-d, and that the land G-d promised us is a very, very good land, one worth defending to our very last breath. The words of Yehoshua and Calev are engraved upon the hearts of Israel's fighters, men and women, young and old: "Have no fear then of the people of the country, for they are our prey: their protection has departed from them, but HaShem is with us. Have no fear of them!” "HaShem is with us!" That says it all.
HAFTARAH FOR SHABBAT PARASHAT SHELACH
Joshua 2:1-24
"And Yehoshua the son of Nun sent two men out of Shittim to spy secretly, saying, Go see the land and Jericho. And they went, and came to the house of an innkeeper named Rachav, and they lay there. And it was told to the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, men have come here this night from the children of Israel to search the land.
And the king of Jericho sent to Rachav, saying, Bring forth the men who have come to you, that have entered your house, for they have come to search out the entire land. Now the woman had taken the two men, and had hidden them, and she said, Indeed the men came to me, but I did not know from where they were.
And it was time to close the gate, at darkness, that the men went out. I do not know where they went. Pursue after them quickly, for you will overtake them. And she had brought them up to the roof, and she hid them with the stalks of flax, that she had laid arranged upon the roof. And the men pursued them in the direction of the Jordan, to the fords; and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, they shut the gate. And before they were asleep, she came up to them upon the roof. And she said to the men, I know that HaShem has given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away because of you.
For we have heard how HaShem dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you completely destroyed. And as soon as we heard, our hearts melted, nor did there remain anymore spirit in any man because of you, for HaShem your G-d He is G-d in heaven above and on the earth below.
And now, I pray, swear to me by HaShem, since I have showed you kindness, that you will also show kindness to my father's house, and give me a true token. And you shall preserve alive my father, and my mother, and my brothers and my sisters, and all that they have, and you shall deliver our lives from death. And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if you will not tell this our discussion. And it shall be, when HaShem gives us the land, that we will deal with you with kindness and truth. And she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was in the town wall and she dwelt in the wall.
And she said to them, Go to the mountain lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days until the pursuers return, and afterwards you will go your way. And the men said to her, we will be blameless of this your oath which you made us swear; Behold when we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window by which you let us down; and you shall bring your father and your mother, and your brothers and all your father's household home to you.
And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of your house outside, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be blameless, and that whosoever shall be with you in the house, his blood shall be upon our head if any hand be upon him. And if you tell this our discussion, then we will be blameless of your oath which you have made us swear.
And she said, According to your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed; and she bound the scarlet line in the window. And they went, and came to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned; and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but they did not find them. And the two men returned and descended from the mountain, and crossed over and came to Yehoshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had happened to them.
And they said to Yehoshua, - For HaShem has delivered into our hands all the land; and also the inhabitants of the country have melted away because of us."
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