There is a Medrash in Parshas Shelach that quotes a pasuk in Mishlei in connection with the meraglim. The pasuk in Mishlei says, “Like what vinegar does to a person’s teeth and like smoke getting into a person’s eyes, this is what a lazy messenger does to the person who sent him.” (10:26) The Gaon, in his commentary to Mishlei, explains that when a person wishes to stimulate his appetite, he usually drinks something. However, if by mistake he drinks vinegar, not only will that not stimulate his desire to eat something, but on the contrary, it ruins his appetite (because it ruins his teeth). Similarly, if a person wants light to read by, or if he needs a source of illumination for any reason, but he lights wood that is still moist, it will cause a lot of smoke and make it even more difficult for him to read or see anything. The Gaon explains that a lazy messenger is similar, vis-a-vis his sender: Contrary to his expectation and hope, the lazy messenger not only does not accomplish his mission, but also causes disappointment and aggravation that is even worse than if he had never been sent in the first place. The Medrash is pointing out that the meraglim were lazy, and this caused great aggravation and disappointment to Moshe Rabbeinu, who sent them on their mission.
The meforshim provide a lengthy indictment of what the meraglim did wrong. They had ulterior motives, they were seekers of honor, they were haughty, etc., etc. The list of what they did wrong goes on and on. However, laziness does not seem to be among the list of accusations. So why then does the Medrash accuse them of laziness? How was their laziness manifest? On the contrary, the Rashbam says that the meraglim volunteered for this mission. A spy mission is a dangerous venture. It involves heading into enemy territory. If a spy is caught, he will likely be killed. Lazy people do not volunteer for life-threatening jobs.
Rav Chaim Dov Keller addresses this question with a vort from Rav Shneur Kotler. His insight is based on another pasuk in Mishlei and on another Gaon.
The pasuk in Mishlei (6:9) reads, “How long will you be lazy, one who sleeps? When will you arise from your sleep?” This pasuk seems to contain a redundancy of expression. However, the Gaon says that there is no redundancy here. Just as there is laziness in action, there is also laziness in thought. The first part of the pasuk is speaking about physical laziness (not getting out of bed). The second part of the pasuk is referring to laziness of thought. The laziness that we usually think about is when someone is too lazy to get up and do something. However, there is a much more subtle form of laziness: Laziness of thought, for example, failing to expend the effort to think things through.
Laziness of thought is characterized by jumping to conclusions and being satisfied with the most facile or superficial explanation of the facts.
This is what the Medrash means that the meraglim were lazy. They were not lazy in their actions. They volunteered for this mission. They traveled throughout the country for forty days. These were not lazy people. But their laziness manifested itself in how they viewed and how they perceived Eretz Yisrael.
One of the complaints of the meraglim was that Eretz Yisrael was “a land that consumes those who dwell there.” How did they come to that conclusion? When they arrived, the whole country was involved with funerals. Their immediate conclusion was “People are dropping dead here like flies.” Granted, that was one way of explaining what they witnessed. But there was another way to view this phenomenon.
From my house, I happen to have a view of the corner of Mt. Wilson Lane and Reisterstown Road, on which stands a funeral home – Sol Levinson and Brothers. I have a good idea what happens at funeral homes. Some days, there are no funerals, some days there are two or three funerals, and some days there are four or five funerals. Even though Baltimore is a large city, and this is a major funeral parlor, it is very rare, if ever, that I see seven or eight funerals on the same day. And here we have an entire country involved in funerals. What does that mean? If the meraglim would have taken the time to think about the matter, they would not have immediately concluded “this is a land that consumes its inhabitants.” Maybe it was a sign of Divine providence that the Ribono shel Olam wanted the inhabitants to be preoccupied with burials and mourning so that they would not notice the meraglim passing through their land.
However, coming to that conclusion required thought and brainpower. Anything that requires depth of perception will not be considered by someone who manifests laziness in thought.
The mistakes that the meraglim made were all along these lines. It is possible to come to more than one conclusion. Their conclusions were caused by laziness, not traditional laziness, but rather laziness of thought. This is what the Medrash means that the meraglim were lazy and caused aggravation to their sender.
