This week’s Parsha features the episode of the Meraglim. These were the twelve spies sent by Moshe to reconnoitre the Land of Israel prior to the people’s entrance. On their return, they gave a negative report of the land, leading to the dissent of the entire nation. As a punishment, the nation was to wander the wilderness for forty years, until the generation had died out entirely and their children were ready to inherit anew. The people’s crying over the land was to be the harbinger of Tisha B’Av, the nation’s saddest day that commemorates its suffering through the ages.
The Midrash explains the juxtaposition of this episode and the previous Torah portion of Miriam’s Loshon Hora and consequent punishment: the spies failed to learn from what they had witnessed. The punishment meted out for Loshon Hora should have convinced them to guard their tongues. This is in contrast to the Nazir who, upon seeing the disgrace of the adulteress, commits to extra stringencies.
R’ Shlomo Wolbe in his Alei Shur, points out how the failure of the spies to learn from Miriam was the very source of their downfall. This was symptomatic of their evil. They did not internalise what they had witnessed and remained unaffected. Unlike the Nazir who grew spiritually from external events, the spies were uninspired by what they had seen. The spies were of the greatest men of the nation yet caused one of the greatest tragedies of our history. The events that they had experienced should have changed them and they are deemed culpable due to their lack of growth.
Indifference to events that happen to us, as well as that we witness, is all too common. It is much like the figure driving to an important meeting, arriving to the area with plenty of time. He starts to look for a parking space. He circles the block slowly but finds nothing. He circles again and still no spaces. The nerves kick in as he checks the time, edging ever closer to his meeting. As he circles the block a third time, he turns to God. Sweat starts to pour down his face as he circles again, making all sorts of religious commitments in return for a parking space. By the tenth time around the block, he’s taken on Shabbos and Kashrus and promised half his salary to charity. With less than a minute to his meeting, he sees a car pull out. ‘Don’t worry God’, he says with relief, ‘I found a space’.
We must allow life to affect us and learn from everything that happens. The events we experience are not simply the workings of chance; they are rather the things we need to experience. Every aspect of our lives is tailor-made for us. The circumstances in which we find ourselves are not just the stage upon which we act; they frame the specific environment we need. Anything and everything we see or experience demands a response. We are called upon to internalise all things. Instead of approaching the vicissitudes of life with superficiality and indifference, we must live deeper.
This is true not just on an individual level. The story is told of how the Chofetz Chaim cried when he heard of a distant earthquake that had killed many. He explained that everything that happens in the world occurs to teach us something. When something happens to the nation or to the world, we must grow from it.
On all levels (individual, communal, national, global) and in all aspects (social, political, environmental) we must internalise the messages that life is offering. As the Sages said: ‘for me was the world created’.
Good Shabbos, Gavi
