Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world, and He stood within it and created all its lands. He created Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and all the beautiful lands you know – Canada, the United States, and I cannot list them all because they are numerous. All the beautiful countries that everyone flocks to, only to then get stuck there in the end! Look at the beautiful Switzerland – Baruch Hashem everyone who travels there sees how beautiful that land is and how much water it has! Every courtyard there has a stream; here, you need to travel six kilometers to find a trickle of a spring. There, Baruch Hashem, every house has half of Niagara Falls!
So, this is what Hakadosh Baruch Hu created in the world. And from all that He created in the world, the Midrash says, Hakadosh Baruch Hu took a tithe and said, “Eretz Yisrael is Mine. This is the most beautiful land of all I have created in the world!” Chazal say that after He set aside Eretz Yisrael, He said, “Now I will set aside Yerushalayim from within Eretz Yisrael.” And after He set aside Yerushalayim from Eretz Yisrael, He set aside the place of the Beit Hamikdash. Chazal say He created the entire world with all that is in it, all the most beautiful things which you know, and He said, “From all that I created, the most refined is Eretz Yisrael.”
The Midrash continues and says that so too, He created all the nations. He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of Bnei Yisrael. How many were Bnei Yisrael when they went down to Egypt? Seventy. How many nations did He create in the world? Seventy. Very good. He created the Americans with Trump, together with Putin from Russia, together with Macron from France, who gets abused. All of them, one after another, created together. From all of them, whom did He choose? He chose Am Yisrael. Am Yisrael with all of its members, all together – leftists and rightists, and whatever you want, all of them together. He looked at them all together and said, “This is the best for Me.” This, everything you see here, is the best. This is what Hakadosh Baruch Hu chose for Himself. And from all of Am Yisrael, the Midrash says, He singled out whom? Shevet Levi. And from Shevet Levi, He singled out what? Aharon and his sons. And He sanctified them, anointed them, and honored them with the garments of the Kehuna, with the Tzitz, and with the Urim v’Tumim. Aharon would then stand before Hakadosh Baruch Hu and atone for Bnei Yisrael every year. It emerges, Rabbotai, that from all the nations He created, Hakadosh Baruch Hu chose Am Yisrael. And from all the lands He created, He chose Eretz Yisrael. (Additionally, He created seven days in the week and chose Shabbat.)
If so, Rabbotai, after we have reviewed this, the sefer Ohr HaTorah says something wonderful. After choosing the chosen land, Eretz Yisrael, what does Hakadosh Baruch Hu want to do now? To connect the chosen nation, Am Yisrael, to Eretz Yisrael, and unite them to dwell in one place. That is what Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants. To make a wedding, so to speak, connecting Eretz Yisrael with Am Yisrael. This is the will of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He wants us to make a wedding – and where will the wedding be? In Eretz Yisrael! Where? Wherever you want!
Now Hakadosh Baruch Hu looks at everything happening around. The groom, Am Yisrael, comes and says, “Wait, I first want to see the bride.” “You want to see the bride?! I chose you from all the seventy nations and from all the seventy lands, I chose this one!” Rabbotai, you still go to see the bride? “I don’t understand what you’re doing here,” says Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Therefore, the Zohar says, one who speaks about Eretz Yisrael speaks about Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself! When the spies spoke against the holy land, it is as if they spoke against Hakadosh Baruch Hu. One who speaks about Eretz Yisrael speaks about Hakadosh Baruch Hu, because this land is a desirable, good, and spacious land; a land that Hakadosh Baruch Hu desires above all other lands. And this people is the beloved people that Hakadosh Baruch Hu loves above all other nations. And you, who take Am Yisrael and connect it to Eretz Yisrael – this is the most perfect connection that can exist between them. The moment you speak about Eretz Yisrael, you are not speaking about trees and stones. It is as if you’re saying Hakadosh Baruch Hu chose for us a land that is not good. The harm in these words is to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, as if you are saying that He made a poor choice and gave us the worst land there is.
Rabbotai, if this is the case, we arrive at the Kal VaChomer argument that Rashi speaks of. What did Rashi say? What did Rashi tell us? These wicked ones – the spies – saw and did not heed a lesson. What did they see? They saw what happened to Miriam, who spoke about Moshe Rabbeinu. From this, they should have learned that if she spoke against Moshe Rabbeinu and was punished, how much more so for speaking against trees and stones. We asked how this was a logical argument? What is the Kal VaChomer here? Moshe is a human being, a man of G-d, the choicest of humanity, and the most exalted person since Creation. How can you compare Moshe Rabbeinu to trees and stones? Where is the similarity? The answer is very simple.
Rav Chaim Volozhin’s Yesod
Rav Chaim Volozhin comes and provides a wonderful yesod. Let us return to last week’s Parsha and connect the episodes as far as we can. Rav Chaim Volozhin asks, do you know what the complaint was against Miriam? There was one complaint. Miriam heard that Moshe Rabbeinu was separated from his wife. What did she say? “What?! Moshe is separated?! We are also prophets!” Miriam was a prophetess since the age of six and Aharon was a prophet in Mitzrayim. Both were prophets before Moshe Rabbeinu, who received prophecy only at the age of eighty! Miriam came and had complaints. Why is Moshe Rabbeinu separated if she and Aharon were not? That is the question; the question we have here in this matter. What is the answer? Chazal say that Miriam, seemingly, did not need to know that Moshe Rabbeinu had an entirely different conduct.
Rabbi Chaim Volozhin says, Miriam was a prophetess from the age of six, and Aharon already in Egypt, but there was one difference. Neither were invited to be the giver of the Torah to Bnei Yisrael. Neither ascended to the heavens and stayed there with Hakadosh Baruch Hu for forty days and forty nights. Hakadosh Baruch Hu asked, “How do you compare yourselves to Moshe Rabbeinu at all? Moshe Rabbeinu is separated. Who told him to be separated? You don’t know who told him; He didn’t tell him. You compare yourselves, saying you are also prophets? Do you compare your prophecy with his, received direct mouth to mouth, in a vision and not through riddles? Did you ascend to the heavens three times like he did? Do you place your prophecy on the scales with Moshe Rabbeinu’s prophecy?” It follows that the claim was, how could you speak against Moshe? How did you not fear to speak out against the servant of Hakadosh Baruch Hu?
The Kal VaChomer of the Spies
If so, now let us learn the Kal VaChomer. The argument is that if she who spoke against Moshe Rabbeinu was punished, one who speaks against trees and stones, how much more so. What are the trees and stones? Hakadosh Baruch Hu says to Moshe Rabbeinu, to Avraham Avinu, “I will give you this land.” He says to Yitzchak Avinu, “I will give you this land.” Moshe Rabbeinu says, “I want to at least see this land.” You see that this is the land promised to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov – how can you now speak against Eretz Yisrael? Not because it is trees and stones, but because Hakadosh Baruch Hu chose it from all the lands in the world!
What does the Tanna debei Eliyahu say? From all the nations He created – Switzerland, Austria, America, Canada, and all the other lands – Hakadosh Baruch Hu chose Eretz Yisrael. It is a desirable, good, and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Can you say a single word against Eretz Yisrael? As the Zohar says, a person who speaks about Eretz Yisrael, is speaking lashon hara against Hakadosh Baruch Hu! Why? Because He chose it. Do you dispute His choice?! Do you dispute what He chose from all the seventy nations and seventy lands? This, the harm caused is to Hakadosh Baruch Hu by saying, “I don’t believe You that this land is good.” That is the Kal VaChomer.
Therefore, their tongue went to their navel. The Kli Yakar explains this is because Eretz Yisrael is considered the navel of the world, and the navel is the center of a person. You speak about the center? Then your tongue will go to the center! These are the words of the Kli Yakar.
The Parable of the King’s Feast
We’ll bring one more Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni Tehillim 32:759) to summarize the matter – see how beautiful this Midrash is. It brings a parable of a king who made a feast for all who came to his palace. The king had one beloved friend, and he loved him exceedingly, beyond measure. When the waiters brought the food before them, they served the meal, and there was one good dish there. What was it? Probably meat. Good meat. The king hinted to his beloved, “Take from this dish. Do me a favor, take from this dish.” The friend, however, did not understand. He looked at the dish the king was pointing to, saw there was a nice piece of entrecôte, covered in sauce, with fancy lettuce and sprouts all over it, and he said, “Forget it, I don’t need all this fanfare. I’ll take the schnitzel. A nice pile of schnitzel, please.” The king once again hinted to him, “Take the this, take the beef,” but the friend doesn’t even look back at it. The king went, says the Midrash, took the tray, the plate with the prime entrecôte, and served it to him anyway.
The Midrash says, so too Hakadosh Baruch Hu distributed all the lands to all the nations. Switzerland said, “I want this,” Austria said they want that, America wanted the other piece, and England and Russia laid eyes on something else. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu hinted to Knesset Yisrael to take Eretz Yisrael, “Take this.” But they didn’t want to. Why not? Because it is small compared to all the other lands. You look for Eretz Yisrael on a globe – you turn it this way and that way searching, saying, “Where is it? I can’t even see it!” You then look for Egypt, and only then can you find where Eretz Yisrael is, more or less. A small strip on the giant globe. They did not want to take it. They said, “Ribbono Shel Olam, look, there are some huge countries here, Ben Porat Yosef, look at all that’s around it.” But the king again hinted to them, “Take it.” But the land was small and they didn’t want it.
Even though it is a small land compared to all the others, it is at the center of the news. How many times do they mention Indonesia? How many times? Once a year they mention Indonesia, when a bus overturns there. That’s it. Who even hears about it?! Whatever station or newspaper you open – Israel! All the time! Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, “Small, but it takes first place. Take it.” This is the best land in the world. Hakadosh Baruch Hu chose Eretz Yisrael from all the lands and Am Yisrael from all the nations.
If so, it follows that the spies sinned with two sins. The first sin they committed was speaking lashon hara about Eretz Yisrael, but there is another thing here – they despised the desirable land. There were two sins. And therefore, says the Midrash, they were punished with two punishments. Not only did they speak lashon hara and their tongue went to their navel, but in the end, they also died.
The Ramban’s View and the Sin of “No Chance”
The Ramban comes in this week’s Parsha and says, there is no complaint against the spies. The spies said everything was fine and everything the spies said was true. So writes the Ramban, no less and no more. They reported accurately on the land flowing with milk and honey and the fertility of the land. They also spoke the truth about its fortifications and the strength of the people dwelling there. Their wickedness, however, was in using the word אֶ פֶ ס – But, to introduce their report on the fortifications and people, indicating something impossible and unattainable for man. The Ramban says, everything they said was correct, but there was one word they were forbidden to say: אֶ פֶ ס. It means there is no chance.
There is no such thing as no chance; that’s not your business to calculate. A spy returns and factually says what he saw. “I saw thirty-five F-15s parked at the airport. At the second airport, I saw thirty F-15s and twenty F-35s. In the hangar, there were also three hundred B-58 bombers.” You say exactly you saw – restricted to numbers and facts. If you say, “we have no chance,” that’s not your business nor mission.
If you were to come and tell the Mossad what you saw and then give them recommendations on how to handle it – you are out of line. Why? That’s their job. They decide how to best address situations. They are the ones who send people to Iran first, prepare a drone base and a fleet of car bombs so that the moment before war erupts, they explode, and the drones come out of refrigerated trucks. There is a process – they prepare it; not you. Don’t say “no chance.” For that, there are people who do good work, very good work. Saying אֶ פֶ ס is not your job. The Ramban says this was their sin.
Lessons from Parshat Devarim
Rabbotai, with these words, I want, with your permission, to enter another topic. The other topic is found deeper, not here. It is found deeper in Parshat Devarim.
In Parshat Devarim, Moshe Rabbeinu recounts what he saw with his own eyes – matters that are not found in our Parsha. What did the spies say? אֶ פֶ ס. No chance. If Hakadosh Baruch Hu said He is giving us this land, there is no such thing as no chance. All we need to ask is, “how do we enter?” The Gemara says (Brachot 3b): When David Hamelech rose at dawn, the sages came to him and said, “Your people need sustenance.” How did he respond? “Go and sustain yourselves from one another.” They then responded, “A handful does not satisfy a lion, nor does a pit fill from its own dirt.” David Hamelech responded, “Go and stretch out your hands in a troop.” That is, raid the enemies and take spoils. Immediately, the Gemara says, they consulted Achitophel on which path to take, and how to set up a strategy and tactics for the battle array. They asked him how to go to battle, and from where to enter to conquer.
The commentary Ein Yaakov says they did not ask Achitophel whether to go to war or not. Why? Because the moment David Hamelech said, “Go, stretch out your hands in a troop,” they go to war. What you are allowed to ask is only one question: How. There is no question of whether. The king said, “We’re going,” so we’re going. The only question they ask Achitophel is how. If Hakadosh Baruch Hu said we are entering Eretz Yisrael, we are entering. What is the only question? How. That’s all. For that, you send spies. Don’t come back and say “No chance” – that’s not your business.
Kalev’s Silence and Moshe’s Response
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:
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.
