TORAH TALK: WEEKLY WISDOM FROM THE PARASHA
Parashat Shelah: Numbers 13:1 - 15:41
A Promised Land or a Land of Promise?
When I decided to leave New York City for San Diego, a former congregant said in his Brooklyn-ese, "I don't understand, I could never live there, it's so beautiful. What would I ever have to look forward to?" He was joking of course, but the truth in what he said amounted to a need to see his glass half empty, not half full. It is all about perception of course, and the central story of Parashat Shelach hinges entirely on the power of perception.
Moses instructs twelve scouts, one for each of the tribes, to investigate the characteristics of the land they are about to enter. Since Sinai, they have been traveling for two years, and they are on the edge of the Promised Land. When the scouts return from their expedition, they have contradictory impressions of the land. On the one hand, it is a "land flowing with milk and honey," on the other hand, the people of land are called nefilim--giants who cause heart failure in anyone who sees them. Among the scouts, only Joshua and Caleb assert with complete faith that Israel should enter and take the land immediately, despite the anticipated challenges of the mission. The ten other scouts not only assert the facts of their discovery, but they interpret those facts. They say, "We looked like grasshoppers to ourselves and so we must have looked to them."
The scouts could not see the forest through the trees of the land. They could not see themselves and the people as protected by God's promise. They could only see the land as "promised"—as if it had no challenges or difficulties to overcome when then would enter it. Joshua and Caleb saw the land as "one of promise"—a land that with vision, imagination, and faith, they could enter and dwell there.
When the people hear the report, they react with fear and loathing. They exclaim, "If only we would die in the wilderness...it would be better to back to Egypt!" (Num. 14:2-4) This generation of freed slaves can only see the future in relation to the past, and they are not sure they can rally to secure their future. The rabbis teach that the people wept for no reason, and because of their lack of faith, their punishment is for the entire generation that lived through slavery and redemption would need to die out before the people could enter the land. This is why we wandered for forty years—two years to get to the land, and thirty-eight more of punished wandering for lack of faith.
This experience of exile is as important to our national narrative as liberation from bondage. While the dream of a promised land is deferred, the journey to the land of promise is just as important. We are descendants of slavery and oppression, but we are also descendants of a people who had to muster courage, vision, and faith to pursue our future.
The story of the spies invites us to consider whether what we imagine possible is limited to what we see before us, or whether we can discern possibilities not immediately apparent to our eyes. We can choose to see the future before us with trepidation and skepticism, or we could see our unfolding future as one that will rely upon our determination, commitment, relationship, and faith in our shared destiny to ensure that the world our children will inherit will indeed be filled with continued promise.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yael Ridberg
NOTE: TORAH TALK WILL RESUME THE WEEK OF JULY 3RD
Moses instructs twelve scouts, one for each of the tribes, to investigate the characteristics of the land they are about to enter. Since Sinai, they have been traveling for two years, and they are on the edge of the Promised Land. When the scouts return from their expedition, they have contradictory impressions of the land. On the one hand, it is a "land flowing with milk and honey," on the other hand, the people of land are called nefilim--giants who cause heart failure in anyone who sees them. Among the scouts, only Joshua and Caleb assert with complete faith that Israel should enter and take the land immediately, despite the anticipated challenges of the mission. The ten other scouts not only assert the facts of their discovery, but they interpret those facts. They say, "We looked like grasshoppers to ourselves and so we must have looked to them."
The scouts could not see the forest through the trees of the land. They could not see themselves and the people as protected by God's promise. They could only see the land as "promised"—as if it had no challenges or difficulties to overcome when then would enter it. Joshua and Caleb saw the land as "one of promise"—a land that with vision, imagination, and faith, they could enter and dwell there.
When the people hear the report, they react with fear and loathing. They exclaim, "If only we would die in the wilderness...it would be better to back to Egypt!" (Num. 14:2-4) This generation of freed slaves can only see the future in relation to the past, and they are not sure they can rally to secure their future. The rabbis teach that the people wept for no reason, and because of their lack of faith, their punishment is for the entire generation that lived through slavery and redemption would need to die out before the people could enter the land. This is why we wandered for forty years—two years to get to the land, and thirty-eight more of punished wandering for lack of faith.
This experience of exile is as important to our national narrative as liberation from bondage. While the dream of a promised land is deferred, the journey to the land of promise is just as important. We are descendants of slavery and oppression, but we are also descendants of a people who had to muster courage, vision, and faith to pursue our future.
The story of the spies invites us to consider whether what we imagine possible is limited to what we see before us, or whether we can discern possibilities not immediately apparent to our eyes. We can choose to see the future before us with trepidation and skepticism, or we could see our unfolding future as one that will rely upon our determination, commitment, relationship, and faith in our shared destiny to ensure that the world our children will inherit will indeed be filled with continued promise.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yael Ridberg
NOTE: TORAH TALK WILL RESUME THE WEEK OF JULY 3RD
