KILL THE MESSENGER?
One of the many questions raised by biblical commentators concerns the reason why the meraglim, the spies, whose report, described in this week’s parsha, demoralized the Jewish nation and drained it of its motivation to enter the Land of Israel, were condemned to punishment. Moses gave them a detailed list of questions about the Land; he instructed them to make their own observations as to what would await the people upon their arrival.
This is exactly what the spies did. They came back with answers to all of Moses' questions and reported what they perceived to be the reality. If Moses expected them to cover up their observations — that the Land was inhabited by mighty men and its cities were greatly fortified — he should never have sent them in the first place!
Why were the men faulted for relating what they had seen? Is this not a case of "kill the messenger"?
INTRODUCING PARALYSIS
The answer is that if the spies had merely related to Moses and the people the reality of the situation as they saw it, everything would have been fine. But they did more than that. They used the difficulties they observed as an excuse to capitulate in the face of fear.
Had the spies returned and said, "Hey, guys, we have seen a mighty people and well-protected cities in the Land, so now we need to devise an effective strategy of how to go about our challenging mission," they would have fulfilled their task flawlessly. The moment they responded to the obstacles by saying, "We cannot do it anymore," they swayed an entire people to abandon their G-d-given destiny.
The spies are condemned for substituting the legitimate and important question of "How will we do it?" with the despairing and helpless conclusion, "We can never do it!"
CONQUERING YOUR DARKNESS
Each of us has a domain in our life that needs to be conquered, a terrain that needs to be transformed into a "holy land." Some of us need to confront trauma, fear, insecurity, temptation, addiction, or shame. We must confront challenges within our psyches, our marriages, and our families. Since the challenges that lay in recovery's path are at times frightening, we are naturally tempted to believe that we are incapable of overcoming our darkness, and we surrender to the obstacles.
The feeling is understandable, but if you surrender to it, it will rob you of the opportunity to liberate your life and arrive at your personal "Promised Land." The option of resignation compels you to remain stuck in a barren desert made up of the stuff of shame and despair.
The question ought not to be, "Can I do it?" because that's the question coming from my inner sense of incompetence. G-d conceived you in love, and the day you were born was the day He declared that the world was incomplete without you. As the saying goes, sometimes when you find yourself in a dark place, you think you’ve been buried, but you’ve actually been planted. The resources to repair the "hole in our personal roof" are present. I am empowered to leave my wilderness and discover my light, joy, and wholeness. G-d has sent me into each of my life's journeys with the power to bring light into my darkness and discover my own inner infinity as a Divine ambassador of love, light, healing, and hope.
The story of the spies is our personal story. My trauma tells me, "I can't," and I have all the emotional evidence and data to support my conclusions. But with lots of empathy and faith in my inner Divine self, I can discover a deeper, untarnished, unfearful core that has the power to say, “I can, and I will; now let me figure out how. I want to dance to the beat of creativity and connection, not despair to the beat of mere survival and loneliness.”
Ask not "whether," but, rather, "how."
RABBI YY JACOBSON
MONDAY & THURSDAY Chassidus Shiur 7:45 AM(18 Main) • TUESDAY Womens Shiur 9:30 AM (84 Viola Rd)
SHABBOS Friday Night – before Barchu (20 Upstairs)) • Morning 8:40 AM (20 Upstairs) | After Davening 12:00 PM (20 Upstairs)
PLEASE NOTE: Rabbi Jacobson’s Shabbos morning shiur will now begin at 8:40 AM, followed by the Minyan at 10:00 AM.
