Shelach Lecha is the fourth portion in the fourth book of Torah, called Numbers or Bamidbar. God tells Moses, shelach lecha, send for yourself(!) scouts to check out what I’ve already told you is a good land. Thus begins what Rabbi Shai Held calls a “sad and dark tale in a Book of profound tragedy.” He describes the wandering Israelites as a people for whom there is no going forward because they are always looking back, grumbling, complaining, mutinous, rebellious, and longing for what was, with little capacity to envision what they had never experienced.
Moses, at God’s request, deployed 12 respected sons of tribal leaders to give an accounting of the land. Their mission was not to spy. The Hebrew word for their mission, occurring 12 times in the portion, is la’tur. There are other words for spy in Hebrew, but none of them occur in this portion. Moses tells them to explore and survey for themselves whether the land was good, whether there were urbanites or nomads, fortifications or not, forests or plains. Additionally, he implored, cause yourself to be courageous, be strong, and bring back proof of the land’s fruitfulness.
After 40 days, the 12 scouts returned and issued a report with disastrous results, triggering a cascade of anger, recriminations, and retributions for everyone involved: Israelites, Moses and God. Instead of moving toward a landed lifestyle, the entire Israelite community was sentenced to a wilderness — wander for 38 years until an entire generation of persons over the age of 20 were dead. There were only two exceptions: Joshua and Caleb. Their minority reports encouraging the camp to move forward ignited an angry, violent hysteria that ended as many of our narratives end, with an angry God and an overwhelmed Moses.
The scouts did report the land as abundantly good, as God said, efes –but! Ten of the 12 scouts were traumatized by what they saw and reported feeling diminished in their own eyes. Modern commentators have asked how much of their conflict was simply fear of the unknown and how much was anchored in skepticism about God’s ability to ensure their victory.
Perhaps the more important question is: what influenced such a negative report?
Experience is an important influence in how a person views the world. Perception is reality, our way of making meaning, whether true or not. Changing one’s perception is difficult and often life-altering, as one sees with new eyes. Chaim Potok, in his 1967 book “The Chosen,” captures the subtext of Shelach Lecha. “There’s something in us called the unconscious that we’re completely unaware of. It practically dominates our lives, and we don’t even know it.”
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Thirty-four years ago, our middle son stood at a podium ready to lead a bar mitzvah prayer service and chant from Shelach Lecha. It was the year a jury acquitted the officers involved in the Rodney King incident, which was viewed by millions of people and captured on video. Many who watched on news channels believed that law enforcement used excessive force. A jury of 12 persons saw another version of the incident, which led to their verdict.
Our son drew a parallel between Shelach Lecha and the contradictory reports given not just to Moses but to the entire camp within earshot. Caleb and Joshua, he said, saw a land of potential with rich soil, good food, and inhabitants who might live alongside them. He called them optimists. Other commentators have celebrated their self-confidence, loyalty, faithfulness and willingness to take risks. The other 10 scouts were pessimists who saw through a veil of fear; their report filled with giants who would slaughter them. Commentators have judged them as sinners, disloyal, unfaithful and lacking in courage.
Past experiences shape behaviors and responses in the present. Apart from Joshua and Caleb, the scouts were unable to grasp the potential for success. Fear is a powerful emotion. Threats change the way the human brain functions. Serious threat hijacks the rational mind and lights up the emotional one. Given the litany of threatening experiences the ancient Israelites survived, the scouts were already programmed to see potential threats everywhere, and the substance of their negative report was interpreted as a momentous breach of faith in God’s promise to see them safely through their journey.
When the ancient Israelites stood at Sinai, they uttered, in one voice, n’aseh v’nishma, we will do, and we will understand. Those words tell us that experience is essential to understanding. When Moses charged them to be courageous, they had no frame of reference. The Children of Israel have been camped in a cocoon called wilderness. They have been told where to stand, what to carry, and when to move forward. Perhaps Moses thought to impart the benefit of his own experience when he said, fortify yourselves! Whatever his intentions, we now know their outcome.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z”l, in his book “Morality,” wrote: We are, in large measure, the story we tell about ourselves, which means that we are always a work in process. Nor do we construct our story out of nothing. Our lives, our culture, our faith, all shape the narrative which, in itself, then reshapes our lives.”
Through their years of wanderings in the wilderness, the Israelites became seasoned and disciplined. When they next stood at this same crossing place, they were better able to understand what was being asked and how to achieve it.
Shelach Lecha ends with the reminder to wear fringes. We wear them, our son taught, not just to follow the commandments for honoring God, but especially to remind ourselves to recognize our own fear, seek the truth about ourselves and our leaders so that we will know the right things to do to bring us all closer to Shalom- a world of peace. May we do all we can to help it along in our families, communities and world.
