Don't Believe Everything You Hear--Some Points From the Parsha

The main players in this week's parsha are popularly referred to in Hebrew as the מרגלים (m'raglim), generally translated as spies. Interestingly, that word does not appear at all in this story. It does figure in the story told in the second chapter of Yehoshua, but we'll come back to that in a bit.

The command here is:

במדבר פרק יג (ב) שְׁלַח לְךָ אֲנָשִׁים וְיָתֻרוּ אֶת אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אִישׁ אֶחָד אִישׁ אֶחָד לְמַטֵּה אֲבֹתָיו תִּשְׁלָחוּ כֹּל נָשִׂיא בָהֶם:

Bamidbar Chapter 13 (2) Send men for you, that they will explore the land of Canaan that I am giving to the Children of Israel; One man, one man for (each) tribe of his fathers shall you send, every prince thereof.

The key word here is ויתרו (v'yaturu) which derives from the root לתור. The meaning of this word is not absolutely clear but it seems to involve the idea of wandering and exploration. Significantly, the same root word appears at the end of this week's parsha:

במדבר פרק טו (לט) וְהָיָה לָכֶם לְצִיצִת וּרְאִיתֶם אֹתוֹ וּזְכַרְתֶּם אֶת כָּל מִצְוֹת יְקֹוָק וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם וְלֹא תָתֻרוּ אַחֲרֵי לְבַבְכֶם וְאַחֲרֵי עֵינֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם זֹנִים אַחֲרֵיהֶם:

Bamidbar Chapter 15: (39) and they will be for you as fringes and you will see them and you will remember all of the commandments of God and you will do them and you will not wander after your hearts and after your eyes which you stray after.

Again, the meaning here is not absolute, but it implies in this context a kind of loose wandering.

We can contrast that with the story told in the second chapter of Yehoshua where Yehoshua sends two men (again the same word in Hebrew אנשים, as we see in the beginning of our story) but they are sent as מרגלים—spies.

יהושע פרק ב פסוק א וַיִּשְׁלַח יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן נוּן מִן הַשִּׁטִּים שְׁנַיִם אֲנָשִׁים מְרַגְּלִים חֶרֶשׁ לֵאמֹר לְכוּ רְאוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְאֶת יְרִיחוֹ וַיֵּלְכוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ בֵּית אִשָּׁה זוֹנָה וּשְׁמָהּ רָחָב וַיִּשְׁכְּבוּ שָׁמָּה:

Yehoshua Chapter 2 (1) And Yehoshua the son of Nun sent from Shittim two men, spies, secretly saying: Go and see the land and Yericho. And they went and came to the house of a woman, a prostitute and her name was Rachav and they slept there.

The contrast between the two stories and their outcomes is enormous. In short, though, Moshe's contingent was comprised of 'men' which we have seen elsewhere is a description of men of standing and importance, in this case they were the princes/leaders of each of the tribes. However, the command that they 'explore' or 'wander' seems to have been taken by them as a kind of blank check—that is they were supposed to be looking for certain general indicators, as are specified by Moshe later, but otherwise were sort of on their own to 'look around.'

Apparently Moshe thought it prudent and politically correct to send the prince from each tribe in a public sort of way. He must have thought that by using such transparent means to gather information it would be clear that he, Moshe, wasn't hiding anything from the people. He also assumed, naively, that they would come back with positive, or at least neutral, reportage.

Alas, Moshe's faith in that regard was misplaced. While they did bring back correct information, the way it was reported along with their own commentary on what they saw turned out to be extremely negative. The people, whom we know to be wary of Moshe and of God from other stories, are quick to seize upon the negative report. It is almost as if they knew in advance that things would be bad for them in the Promised Land and needed very little encouragement to believe such stuff.

Chazal learn a great deal about Lashon Hara from this parsha. Lashon Hara (literally 'evil tongue', refers to gossip of sorts or speaking ill of someone or something) is by definition 'true' (there is another term for speaking ill in false terms). However, by its nature it is a limited truth as Lashon Hara inevitably leaves out information which does not suit the teller's version of events. If you read our parsha carefully and understand what Calev is saying to the people, you will see this is true here, as well.

Yehoshua was much more careful in his use of 'men.' He sent spies, apparently professionals and not political appointees. He sent them secretly, which implies that even the Children of Israel didn't know about their mission. They were sent to gather specific intelligence and not to give some general report. And they reported directly to Yehoshua and not to the people at large.

The difference between לתור (to wander/explore) and לרגל (to spy) are very sharp and evident.

Likewise, the tendency to see what we want to see, to believe what we want to believe and to ignore truth are dramatically displayed in this parsha.

Hamevin yavin.

Learning, Inspiration, Genius in a Post Shavuot World

I was most privileged to make the acquaintance of one Nava when I brought in a Pitum Haktoret piece I did for framing into her shop a few days ago. She made a great impression on me in many ways but especially when she said that while she has been involved in framing for decades, even now she feels that her 'talent' in framing is not from her at all but rather just a sense she has from somewhere or something outside of her.

I pointed out that this sense has been noticed in many cultures including ancient ones and, in fact, including our own Jewish one. Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love (which admittedly I haven't read), has a great TED talk about this same idea.

This notion is alluded to in a midrash apropos of Shavuot which, of course, has just passed. The midrash states:

שמות רבה (וילנא) פרשת כי תשא פרשה מא

אמר ר' אבהו כל מ' יום שעשה משה למעלה היה למד תורה ושוכח, א"ל רבון העולם יש לי מ' יום ואיני יודע דבר, מה עשה הקב"ה משהשלים מ' יום נתן לו הקב"ה את התורה מתנה שנאמר ויתן אל משה

Shmot Rabbah (ed. Vilna) Parshat Ki Tissa 41

Rabbi Avahu said: Throughout the entire forty days which Moshe spent above, he would learn Torah and then forget [what he learned]! He said to God, "Sovereign of the Universe! I have forty days and I don't know a thing! What did the Holy One Blessed Be He do? As soon as [Moshe] completed the forty days, the Holy One Blessed Be He gave him the Torah [as a] gift. As it says, (Shmot 31:18) and He gave to Moshe.

The full verse there says: And He gave to Moshe, when he finished speaking with him on Mt. Sinai, two tablets of testament, tablets of stone written with the finger of God.

While the plain understanding of the verse is simply that God handed over the tablets that He wrote, the midrash picks up on the word ויתן vayiten (and He gave). The verse could have stated that Moshe took the tablets or that Moshe brought the tablets or some such. The fact that it says that God gave the tablets implies that it was only by God giving them could Moshe 'receive' or comprehend them. 

The 'giving' here implies that God simply implanted the knowledge of the Torah in Moshe's brain a la The Matrix, meaning that Moshe, in the end, received the entire Torah not through intellectual struggle and mastery but through Divine Grace in some way.

One obvious question is: If God had to give the Torah in this manner to Moshe, why didn't He just do it on the first day? Why shlep the whole process out for forty days? 

There is a hint, I believe, in the words of the midrash: As soon as [Moshe] completed the forty days. This implies that Moshe had to do his part by showing up for forty days. For many reasons, Moshe was the one whom God wished to bring the Torah from the heavens and down to mankind. The Torah was/is the culmination of Divine Wisdom, something which is arguably beyond mortal comprehension. In short, no person could really bring it from the heavens to the earth by his or her abilities alone. Divine help was clearly needed.

But in order to deserve that help, in order to be able to receive that which the Divine is offering, Moshe had to be there, to make the effort, to show up. 

So it is with all learning. We need to understand that while creativity and learning are things which are granted to us by the Divine, we need to make the effort to receive that gift. 

May we all learn to show up!

A Little Justice

Just to pick up on where we left off: The theme of משפט (justice) is found earlier in B'reishit 18. God is about to destroy S'dom and Amora and decides He ought to let Avraham know about his decision. It is interesting how the word משפט is used there and it has implications for understanding back in Exodus.

Consider, though, the question of how would Avraham known about concepts of justice, how did he use those concepts in his argument with God and how did God understand Avraham's relationship to justice (you can address these questions by reading Genesis 18).

Once you have some direction there, consider that Moshe may have already known about the basics or more of a justice system which was passed down to him from many generations prior, even before he would have received the Torah.

Unfortunately, because it is nearly Shabbat, I will have to leave the rest of  my comments until next week. Just recovering from being a bit out of sorts. 

What Did Moshe Know and When Did He Know It?

Thanks for the questions from the last posting. For those who didn't read them, they are important and will help to fit things together as we proceed.

So at the beginning of parshat Yitro, we are faced as readers with a bit of a dilemma simply trying to figure out when the scenario with Yitro visiting Moshe takes place. The chronological issue was provoked by the geographical issue, as we noted last time.

There is at least one more issue to give us pause, as well, and that is Yitro's advice to Moshe. We read in chapter 18 that Moshe gets up every day to act as judge for the people. Yitro suggests how Moshe can implement a judicial system which would be far more effective.

Is Yitro adding on to the Torah which Moshe already received at Sinai? Or is he anticipating something which will yet be given at Sinai?

As for Moshe judging the people: If the Torah has not yet been given, how does Moshe know how to judge the people?  Moshe says to Yitro:

שמות פרק יח (טז) כִּי יִהְיֶה לָהֶם דָּבָר בָּא אֵלַי וְשָׁפַטְתִּי בֵּין אִישׁ וּבֵין רֵעֵהוּ וְהוֹדַעְתִּי אֶת חֻקֵּי הָאֱלֹהִים וְאֶת תּוֹרֹתָיו:

Exodus Chapter 18 (16) When they have a thing (with legal implications), it comes to me and I judge between a man and his neighbor and I let them know the statutes of the Lord and His teachings.

How does Moshe know what the statutes and teachings of the Lord are if the Torah hasn't yet been given? While this question would seem to point to the understanding that this entire chapter must have taken place after the revelation at Sinai, there are other possibilities.

Where else in the Torah prior to this did we learn about justice?