"And YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, 'Send out for yourself men and they shall spy out the land of Canaan…” (Num. 13:1-2). In the course of their second year of wandering in the desert, it was time for the Israelites to 'touch base' with the Promised Land. Twelve leaders of the tribes were therefore commissioned "to spy out" this piece of property (Cf. Dvarim 1:22-23, where it says that the people had initiated this expedition, which was looked upon favorably by YHVH). These leaders were singled out individually, as we read in 13:2,3: “… from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, everyone a leader among them… all of them men, heads of the children of Israel”. The Hebrew is even more emphatic; for “from each tribe… every one…” it reads: “one man, one man” and continues, “every elevated leader… all of them men, the heads of the sons of Israel” (italics added). These individuals were assigned a complex task that could potentially take various directions, as the Hebrew verb for "spying out" - "tour" - implies. Aside from "spying out", "tour" also means "to observe, seek, search, reconnoiter, explore, examine, and follow". However, "tour's" primal meaning is to “turn". .1
In the middle of last week's Parashat B'ha'a’lot’cha we read:
"And they set forward from the mount of YHVH three days' journey; and the
ark of the covenant of YHVH went before them three days' journey, to seek
out [“tour”] a resting-place for them" (10:33 italics added). We
are thus informed that before any "touring" could take place, and
before any human reports could be filed, it was first and foremost YHVH Himself
who did the "seeking" - "tour" - of a resting place for His
people. Embedded in that act was also a promise that He would continue to do
so, not only in the wilderness but also in the land which they were about to
enter and possess. Let us now follow the band of twelve on their journey.
Which way
will they turn, as they set forth on their "touring"
expedition? Will their mission be marked by genuine exploration and seeking YHVH's
face, clinging to Him when faced with challenges (of which there will be no
shortage in the new territory)? Will they see the land through His eyes, or
will their experience prove to be a mere sightseeing tour, inspecting the
'attractions' of the land and expressing dissatisfaction if their expectations
are not met? And above all, since these men were singled out so
categorically, inferring that each of them was a strong individual, would they
be able to come to a conclusive agreement at the end of the day?
When YHVH
tells Moshe to send the twelve, He says, "shla'ch le'cha",
meaning "send forth for yourself [or, on
your behalf]…" recalling a similar and a likewise vigorous call many
years beforehand. “Lech le'cha", or "go forth (for
yourself)" (Gen. 12:1), were the words that set off Avram from his
"land and from [his] kindred, and from [his] father's house", toward
the land which YHVH was about to show him. Both dispatches were marked by a
certain sense of expediency and urgency to “get going". The first
'send-off’ was followed implicitly, resulting in a successful mission despite
several setbacks. Although living as a nomad, Avram/Avraham was no
"tourist" in the Promised Land. He took YHVH at His word, to “rise
up, walk through the land, its length and its breadth, for I will give it to
you" (Gen. 13:17). When Moshe heard the words "sh'lach le'cha",
the centuries-old story of the father of the Hebrew nation must have resounded
in his heart. What wouldn't he have given to be numbered among the twelve?!
What, then, does he have in mind when he follows YHVH's instruction to
"send them to spy out, to examine, to check - "la'tour" -
the land of Canaan…” (Num. 13:17)?
Moshe’s
instructions are very specific: "And you shall see the land, what it is,
and the people who are living on it, whether it is strong or feeble; whether it
is few or many; and what the land is… whether good or bad; and what are the
cities… whether in camps or in fortresses; and what the land is, whether it is
fat or lean; whether wood is in it or not…" (verses 18-20). Moshe is
seeking information on facts and figures that are necessary for strategic
purposes, and not for scrutinizing Elohim's plan for the nation of
Yisrael. Additionally, the responses of the delegates will expose their
deep inner convictions, “whether strong or feeble”, “whether good or bad”, and
‘whether full of faith or following natural inclinations".
But
regardless of what the intelligence will turn out to be, the Nation’s leader
has a certain end view in mind: "And you shall make yourselves
strong and shall take of the fruit of the land" (13:20, literal
translation, italics added). Paraphrased, Moshe's words may sound something
like this, "If you rely on YHVH's strength and on the power of His might,
you shall succeed and partake of the fruit of the land". This appears,
then, to be the nature of the "tour" that Moshe had intended for the
dozen leaders. Hopefully, these leaders’ reports will turn out to be a
testimony of encouragement, in order to build up their compatriots’ faith.
The
Biblical narrative elaborates on the mission, and so we read the ‘headlines’:
"And they went up and spied out the land… And
they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty
days… And they reported to him… "(13:21, 25, 27 italics added). The
faithful messengers apparently did according to Moshe's bidding, and in
addition also found the land to be "flowing with milk and honey"
(verse 27), evidence of which was the fruit that they had picked and which they
were now bringing to their leader, just as he had asked them to do. So far, so
good…
However,
what started out as a promising report suddenly came to a screeching halt:
"e'fes!” "E'fes" translated here as "however"
or “nevertheless” (13:28), is followed by the envoys' very negative
descriptions. The literal meanings of "e'fes" are: “to cease or come
to an end" and hence "extremity" (such as "ends
of the earth" in Deut. 33:17), as well as "naught or nothing"
(Is. 34:12), and "only." "E'fes" turns what promised
to be a positive report into an extremely negative one.
One of the characteristics, which the report attributed to the land, was
that it “devours its inhabitants”, or literally “eats up” its inhabitants
(13:32). Verse 30 depicts a conflict of opinions, as Calev (Caleb)
“stills the people", assuring them of their ability to take the land.
A little later on, Calev and Yehoshua continue to exhort the people:
“Only do not rebel against YHVH, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread;
their protection has departed from them, and YHVH is with us. Do
not fear them” (14:9 italics added). Thus, instead of the land devouring them,
they would devour (or consume) their future enemies if they would only obey
YHVH.
Additionally,
the two faithful messengers observe: “their protection has departed from them”,
which in Hebrew is, “their shadow has departed…” Calev and Yehoshua paint a
totally different picture from the one just presented. They counter the
description of “men of great stature, giants” (ref. 13:32,33) with a depiction
that ascribes to the enemy “no shadow”, as if he has no substance at all, so as
not to even cast a (proverbial) shadow.
But when
the evil reporting does not cease, "Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the
son of Jephunneh, of those who spied out the land, tore their
garments; and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying,
'The land into which we passed, to spy it out, is an
exceedingly good land'" (14:6-7 italics added). The eyes of these two
devoted witnesses had seen something altogether different when they made their "tour"
of the Land of C’na’an; evidently, they were of "another spirit" (v.
24), and thus both of them were to be rewarded by entering the land and
possessing it (ref. v. 24, 30). As for the rest, their punishment was
pronounced by YHVH: "By the number of the days in which you spied out
[“tour”] the land, forty days, a day for a year, a day for a year; you shall
bear your iniquities forty years…" (v. 34).
The "tour" of the other ten resulted in what became for the
entire body of the People of Yisrael a wandering “tour” in the wilderness,
while for those dispatched it spelled an immediate death by a plague (ref.
v.37).
By
following their own hearts and inclinations, these leaders, who had been
granted the privilege of walking ahead of the nation, brought calamity not only
upon themselves but also upon the entire nation. This type of "going
about after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you go
astray" (15:39, italics added) is, once again, defined by the verb "tour".
Thus, at the very end of Parashat Sh’lach Le'cha, provision is made
against the inherent condition of following, or going about after one's own
heart and senses. Hence the "tzitzit" (root tz.u.tz,
tzadi, vav, tzadi meaning “bloom, burst out”, and by
inference “protrude out” of one’s clothing, which explains the shape of
the “fringes”), is introduced "to look at and remember all the
commandments of YHVH, so as to do them and that you may not follow
the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined in order
that you may remember to do all My commandments, and be holy to your Elohim”
(15:39-40).
Let’s
read part of this excerpt again, but in its literal translation this time: “And
you shall not tour after your heart and after your eyes
[leading] you to commit harlotry”. In other words, the unsteady and shifty
heart is inclined to “tour”, followed by the eyes that are also easily given to
deception, culminating in harlotry. The “touring” hearts and eyes in the
previous section about the spies certainly verified this description of the
inner heart.
Appended
to the tzitzit injunction are the words, "I am YHVH your Elohim who
brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your Elohim. I am
YHVH your Elohim" (v. 41), to which we may add from Deuteronomy 1:33,
"Who goes before you in the way to seek out ["la'tour"]
a place for your camping, in fire by night, to show you the way in which you
should go, and in a cloud by the day" (italics added, see also Ezekiel
20:6), as we also saw in last week's Parasha. Ultimately, for all of our own
seeking, searching, and exploration - our so-called touring expeditions - it is
YHVH who goes before us to “seek out - 'tour' – “a place” and
“rest” for us, so that we, in turn, may turn to Him.
But as if to
underscore that, despite what has just taken place, the aftermath of the
negative report, and the response of the people, the following chapter starts
with "when you have come into the land you are to inhabit… and you make a
burnt offering" (15:2-3). The promise to enter the land still stands firm
and sure…
Note: The
English words "turn" and "tour" are derivatives of the
Hebrew "tour", which we have just examined, having found their way to
the English language via the Old French "tourner", meaning "to
turn" (ref. The Word, Isaac E. Mozeson, Shapolsky Publishers, New
York, 1989).
[1] The New Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Lexicon, Francis Brown
Hendrickson. Publishers, Peabody, Mass. 1979.
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