The Meraglim introduced a spirit of כפירה- heresy, against the Almighty into the camp of Bnei Yisroel when they declared, “We cannot go up (to the land) because it is stronger than him.” Rashi interprets their words as speaking out against Hashem, as if to say that Hashem, כביכול, cannot bring the Nation up because the land and its inhabitants are stronger than Him. To even consider such malicious untruths after all the people had witnessed - the plagues, miracles and revelations - it is hard for us to fathom!
In his later years, the holy Chofetz Chaim zt”l made arrangements to emigrate to Eretz Yisroel. He packed his bags and even located a future home in Petach Tikvah. In the end, though, he never made it.
The Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem at that time was R’ Shlomo Elifandry zt”l and he explained why in his opinion, the great tzaddik was not enabled - from on high - to reach the Holy Land.
“Of course, had R’ Yisroel Meir emigrated to Eretz Yisroel, he would have visited Yerushalayim. Once here, he would have seen the ongoing dispute between the old Yishuv led by R’ Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld zt”l and the camp of R’ Avrohom Yitzchok Kook zt”l, which had nearly blazed out of control. The great Chofetz Chaim would have surely attempted to make peace between the two sides and he would have visited each one.” “The problem is that the moment he would have walked out of R’ Kook’s house, the zealots from the old Yishuv would have no doubt slandered him for his visit and ultimately they would have thrown his sefer Mishna Berurah out of their homes in protest. This, Hashem would not allow!”
Rashi quotes the Sifri which discusses the episode of the מקושש עצים - the man who gathered wood on Shabbos: “The posuk mentions this (incident) as a disgrace to Bnei Yisroel for they were only able to keep the first Shabbos (after Kabbolas Hatorah), and on the second Shabbos this man came and desecrated it.” Why is this a disgrace to the entire nation if just one man desecrated the Shabbos? On the contrary, it shows the righteousness of the nation who immediately apprehended and locked up the violator and waited for a punishment to be handed down to the man who was מחלל שבת.
The Baalei Tosfos find a clear connection between the parsha of the מקושש עצים, and the ensuing parsha dealing with tzitzis. After witnessing the desecration of the Shabbos, Moshe begged Hashem, “The mitzvah of tefillin was given as it says, ‘In order that the Torah of Hashem should be in your mouths.’ When we wear our tefillin, we remember the mitzvos and we follow the precepts of the Torah. However, there is no mitzvah of tefillin on Shabbos and thus, we have no reminder to sanctify the Shabbos.” Hashem responded by giving the mitzvah of tzitzis, which applies on Shabbos and of which it says, “You will see it and you will remember all the mitzvos of Hashem.”
For this very reason, notes the Gerrer Rebbe, R’ Simcha Bunim Alter zt”l, did the “wood gatherer” do what he did. Chazal tell us that he violated the Shabbos purposely in order to serve as a warning of the severity of the punishment for chillul Shabbos. But the very fact that the people needed a reminder on the second Shabbos after Kabbolas Hatorah – this in itself constitutes a "גנות" a disgrace to Bnei Yisroel!
