Rabbotai, I want to focus on the Pesukim that Moshe Rabbeinu said. In our Parsha, something wondrous is written. After the spies said the place hosts Achiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, truly frightening (giant) people, Chazal say these giants would walk and make pits with their footsteps. When they wanted to dig a pit for a building, they didn’t call a tractor. They called those giants who simply said, “Just mark where you want a hole and say how deep.” In addition to these giants, there were fortified cities, and besides that, Amalek dwelled in the land. Rashi says, Amalek came to frighten them even more!
Kalev silenced the people to hear about Moshe, and he said: “We can surely go up to the land and we shall possess it for we are surely able to overcome it.”
The Torah then says: And Kalev silenced the people toward Moshe. Rabbotai, how do you silence six hundred thousand people? Have you ever tried to silence six hundred thousand people? During the Torah reading, you want to silence someone, how many times do you need to try? You sound a very audible “Shhhh,” but he doesn’t even hear. Why doesn’t he hear? Because others are talking too and he doesn’t know who you’re shushing!
What does Rashi say on Kalev’s actions? The way of people is that one who wants to silence a group of people says, “Shush.” That’s it. Rashi tells you how it was done. Not even a microphone.
Six hundred thousand people – do you know what six hundred thousand people is? Do you grasp an event where six hundred thousand people are present, and on the stage are twelve spies, crying out “Giants! Fortified mountains!” When you want to hold an event with 20,000 people, 30,000 people, a demonstration with 50,000 people, what do you do? You bring eight trucks, right? Full of speakers and sound systems mounted on the huge trucks, with speakers tied to electric poles, and someone yelling “test, test, test,” endlessly. Six hundred thousand people gathered, in an uproar, yet all Kalev does is stand up and say “shh.” He has no microphone, nothing. He doesn’t fire warning shots in the air. He says “shh,” and they quiet down instantly. Have you ever tried to say “shh” in a class of thirty kids? This is a wondrous marvel!
This means, as the Ohr HaChaim Hakadosh explains, we must read the Pasuk as meaning an ordinary person has no power to silence such a crowd. No chance. For this reason, it says, “he silenced toward Moshe,” not by his own decree.
What did Kalev say? “Shh... Moshe, Moshe!” He said “Listen to Moshe!” and everyone became quiet. What does Rashi say? What were they all thinking when Kalev stood up? They thought he was about to speak against Moshe Rabbeinu! They said, “Is this all that (Moshe) Ben Amram did for us?” They all thought Kalev was going to speak in disparagement. The Ohr HaChaim says “toward Moshe” means out of awe for him, they fell silent to hear what he would say. Everyone, out of fear that Moshe Rabbeinu was about to speak, sat quietly.
After silencing the people, Kalev said, “We shall surely ascend and possess it.” Meaning, even according to the spies’ words, even if there are giants present, we will succeed. Here comes Rabbeinu Ovadia Seforno, who writes: Moshe, Aharon, and Kalev silenced toward Moshe Rabbeinu, to hear what Moshe would respond. Perhaps Moshe then said what he later testified, namely, “Do not be terrified or afraid of them,” and Kalev aligned his words with truth.
Rabbotai, what does Seforno say here? He says Moshe Rabbeinu spoke, but it’s not written what he spoke. If you want to know what he spoke you need to open Sefer Devarim, where Moshe Rabbeinu speaks things there that are different from what is written here. When the spies returned with their report, the Torah describes the scene:
Devarim Account
But you were unwilling to go up, and you defied Hashem, your G-d. You grumbled in your tents and said, ‘‘Because of Hashem’s hatred of us, He took us out of the land of Egypt to put us in the hand of the Emorite to destroy us. Where are we going up to? Our brothers have shattered our hopes by saying, ‘A people greater and more powerful than we, cities great and fortified sky-high, and also descendants of the giants did we see there.’’’
Moshe responded: And I said to you, “You shall not be terrified nor afraid of them. Hashem your G-d, who goes before you, He will fight for you, as all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes.”
Moshe Rabbeinu asked: Why are you so agitated? So what if they are giants as tall as the Azrieli towers? What does it matter if one is square, one triangular, one hexagonal? They have the same heart as Pharaoh, the dwarf! How tall was Pharaoh? One amah – 50 centimeters. He sat on a curb, and his feet didn’t reach the ground! Yet he ruled Egypt with an iron fist; no slave ever escaped. Why are you afraid? Hakadosh Baruch Hu performed the makkot of blood, frogs, and killing the firstborns – did they budge? Can’t He now kill the giants Achiman, Sheishai, and Talmai? Why are you getting so excited? No slave had ever escaped Egypt, so now suddenly Hakadosh Baruch Hu can’t manage the situation?
And in the desert, where you saw that Hashem your G-d carried you as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place. And in this matter, you do not believe in Hashem your G-d.
