Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
Parshat Shelach begins with the seminal event that has impacted so much of Jewish history: the twelve spies sent by Moshe Rabbenu to reconnoiter the Land Bnei Yisroel were about to enter, their return, and the disastrous results. Moshe Rabbenu gave the spies specific instructions: "Is it good or bad?... And how is the land?... You shall strengthen yourselves and take of the fruit of the Land." The Torah then interjects to say that "the days were the season of the first ripe grapes."
These were instructions from which Moshe Rabbenu wanted us to learn special details about the Land. While the instructions were quite specific, there was a disconnect between Moshe Rabbenu's intentions and the meraglim's report, an error that has caused that date to be forever designated a "night of crying."
What is obvious is that Moshe Rabbenu wanted to provide evidence of the wonderful Land Hashem was giving us. The cluster of grapes required eight men on four poles to carry it. Meam Loez estimates that cluster to weigh as much as 16,000 pounds! Yet, although the meraglim saw, their minds and hearts led them to misinterpret what their eyes were seeing.
The Kli Yakar zt”l, notes that Bnei Yisroel is often compared to grapes. The allusion here, therefore, implies that Bnei Yisroel were "ripe" to enter the Land. And taking of the fruit was the symbolic consummation of taking possession of the Land. Nevertheless, why did Moshe Rabbenu think it was appropriate to send the spies? [Hashem did not command this; Hashem simply agreed to Moshe Rabbenu's request on behalf of the people.]
In Heorat Derech, Rabbi Weissblum tackles this question. Citing the Ramchal zt”l, Rabbi Weissblum notes that to reach a level of purity to do any mitzvah requires preparation. It requires the correct mindset, an awareness of the Divine before Whom we stand, and the elimination of distractions. Entering Eretz Yisroel required massive preparation to tap into the sanctity of the Land and the removal of the impurities currently in the Land.
In this context, Rabbi Wolfson zt”l notes that Tanach records other instances were meraglim play a part in establishing kedushah/sanctity through establishing routines [hergel] that foster kedushah and destroy the layers of impurity embedded in the land. Sarah Imeinu paved the way for Bnei Yisroel to retain their sexual morality in Mitzrayim, as Yosef did when he rebuffed the advances of Potifar's wife. When Yehoshua sent the meraglim at the end of the forty year voyage to the Land, although they stayed at the inn of a famous harlot, they retained their morality, again leaving seeds of sanctity in the Land which Bnei Yisroel were about to enter. Moshe Rabbenu's intent, writes Rabbi Wolfson, was not military, but rather spiritual. Moshe Rabbenu hoped that the spies would speak of holiness in the Land, preparing the atmosphere for the holy nation about to enter.
Had Bnei Yisroel entered Eretz Yisroel in that exalted frame of mind, it would have inaugurated the Messianic Age, writes the Stochiner Rebbe, Rabbi Wolfson's son in law. To validate this point, the Stochiner Rebbe provides a novel definition of Moshe Rabbenu's instruction "latur et ha'aretz," to bring Torah to the Land. Moshe Rabbenu's instructions were twofold, to look at the Land and to take of the fruit of the Land., representing the two methods of acquisition. One can acquire an object through the desire generated by sight, a spiritual/emotional acquisition, or through taking a physical object. A full acquisition needs both the spiritual connection and the physical completion. This is the essence of Moshe Rabbenu's instructions, see the Land emotionally, and bring back the fruit to physically acquire the Land. Although Moshe Rabbenu was later barred from physically entering the Land, he still asked Hashem to see the Land before his death so that he could at least have cemented the emotional connection.
The Kli Yakar zt”l notes that this two step acquisition can be traced back to Hashem's promise to Avraham Avinu. First Hashem tells Avraham that He will show Avraham the Land He is promising Him. Then He instructs Avraham to walk through the Land, to pace it out, thereby laying legal claim to the Land for all generations, even if our actual dwelling on the Land would still depend on our being worthy.
The spiritual acquisition through sight is heightened at Har Habayit, the Temple Mount. Anyone who looks at Har Habayit is immediately infused with a special sanctity, for you have come closer to where Hashem's presence is most manifest. He sees you as you enter this spiritual sphere, an orbit of continual, eternal spiritual influence.
The eye is meant to be a conduit to spirituality. As Rabbi Frand reminds us, the purpose of wearing tzitzit is specifically to see the blue thread that will lead us to connect to the sea, to the sky, and eventually to the throne of Hakodosh Boruch Hu Himself.
In Mima'amakim, Rav Moshe Rabbenu Shapiro zt”l discusses the relationship between the letters ayin and peh. The letters can also be translated as "eye" and "mouth." Generally, the eye sees before the mouth speaks, because the eye sends the image to the brain to connect the individual pixels into a coherent, logical whole. This explains the symbolism in the order of the aleph bet where the ayin precedes the peh. When the mouth speaks before the brain has truthfully interpreted the visual image, what emerges is a distorted, incomplete description at best, and a complete lie at worst.
It is through the brain that one can attach the spiritual component to an image and connect to Hashem. The spies saw the external images of the Land, but didn't internalize the images, they didn't give it eyun, depth or connect them tho the ma'ayan, the Wellspring and Source of everything. As Rabbi Schwab zt”l adds, they saw only with their physical eyes, not with their internal, spiritual eyes. They observed physical giants, but ignored the Land's connection to our spiritual giants, our Patriarchs, for example. They created mevuchah/confusion, and the response from Bnei Yisroel was bechiyah/weeping, and that night would be a night of weeping throughout our history.
When one looks with an eye connected to Hashem, one will always find the good, for Hashem Himself is all good, even when we are blind to that goodness. And there are times when Hashem gifts us with seeing His goodness in open miracles that save us in traumatic times such as those we are experiencing today. We can recognize even in these upheavals Hashem's guiding hand, adds Rebbetzin Smiles.
Although we associate the month of Av with tragedy, based on the spies' tremendous error and its tragic fallout in that month, chazal tell us that that the month is actually associated with good, with its representative letter of tet. [Like so much in the secrets of Torah and Yiddishkeit, the Hebrew letters, containing mystical qualities, are often associated with entities in the physical world. CKS] The structure of the letter ט provides the impetus for this interpretation. The letter is open at the top, allowing the good from above to enter and remain in the core of the letter. Aharon himself passed away on Rosh Chodesh Av. Aharon's mission was to light the menorah, a light that was then mirrored in our neshamah. Aharon prepared Bnei Yisroel to see the light and relate everything back to Hakodosh Boruch Hu, the ultimate Good, writes Rabbi Z. M. Silverberg in Sichot Hitchazkut.
We need to recognize Hashem's goodness in our daily lives. Therefore it is appropriate, when experiencing or relating something good in our lives to say, "Bechasdei Hashem," or, Bli ayin horo,", Except for Calev ben Yefuneh and Yehoshua, the other spies did not see the good.
Moshe Rabbenu told the meraglim to " strengthen themselves and take from the fruit of the land." According to Rabbi Wolfson, Moshe Rabbenu was not telling them to carry fruit back with them, but rather to eat of the fruit. Although the Land was still filled with impurity, in anticipation of Bnei Yisroel's arrival, the fruit was already filled with sanctity. Had they eaten of the fruit, and Calev and Yehoshua did, they would have been strengthened to withstand the negative interpretation of what their physical eyes saw. As Oznaim Latorah notes, eating the fruit of Eretz Yisroel helps promote yirah, awe of Heaven by helping your eyes lirot/to see more clearly.
Rabbi Bernstein points out an interesting phraseology in Moshe Rabbenu's directive, "Send one man, one man from each tribe." Why the repetition? While there is a difference of opinion as to whether there were actually two men from each tribe or only one, all agree that the mission was twofold. physical and spiritual. Taking the cluster of grapes represented both these missions, most specifically claiming ownership, evident in giving the place a name not as individual men, but as Bnei Yisroel. Thus, these months of Tammuz and Av are the designated times for the future redemption, as they were meant to be initially. But we need to break through the layers of impurity that cover the sanctity.
It is because of the great force of the impurity in the land, a force generated by the ani, the egotistical nature of its inhabitants, that it s Ani, I, Hashem, who is giving you this Land and the power to counteract the evil within it. Look beyond the physical joy of harvesting the first fruit, and give it back to Hashem through Moshe Rabbenu [and later through the kohanim], writes the Oshorover Rebbe zt”l in Be'er Moshe Rabbenu. Rejoice in the goodness of Hashem.
The allusion to the mitzvah of bikurim, bringing the first fruit of one's land to the kohein in the Beit Hamikdosh is not accidental. As Rabbi Frand reminds us, citing the Alshich Hakadosh zt”l, Hashem created the world bereishit, with several "firsts" in mind. One was Bnei Yisroel who are called First, and another is the mitzvah of first fruit, bikurim. [The third, not part of this discussion, is "the first of your dough, separating "challah" for the kohein.] What Hashem wants from us above all else is hakorat hatov, to express gratitude for all the good He does for us.
In Mishchat Shemen, Rabbi Kofman zt”l citing the Ari Hakadosh zt”l, explains the deeper connection between the fruit the meraglim brought back and the mitzvah of bikurim. Since seeing is what led the meraglim to sin, Hashem commands us to go to the field and see when the first fruit has appeared. The mitzvah of bikurim thus became a rectification for the sin of the spies.
That is why perhaps the Mishnah in bikurim cites notes R. Zamba zt’l specifically mentions these fruit, grapes, pomegranates, and figs, since these were the fruits that the spies brought back. But since the spies were trying to denigrate all the produce of Eretz Yisroel by these examples, we have the special blessing praising all seven special species of Israeli produce. This too is a rectification for the sin of the spies.
May our eyes soon see the full glory of Eretz Yisroel in peace and tranquility.