Rabbi's Sermons

Shabat Shalom!

          Besides the flag of Israel and the menorah, perhaps one of the most representative iconic images of the Land of Israel is the one having two characters carrying huge bunches of grapes on their shoulders. This image appeared several decades ago, on Israel's postage stamps, and is as old as the one that was found in archaeological excavations in a synagogue in the Tiberias area, which also had a beautiful mosaic.

          The origin of the image comes from the weekly portion of this Shabbat – Parashat – "Shlach lecha", which begins in the book of Numbers 13, with a curious commandment that God requests from Moses: "² Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, everyone a ruler among them". This recognition tactic is understandable and justifiable. In modern times, we call it the "intelligence service", which provides valuable information to gather information about the enemy before starting a confrontation. Similarly to Moses, who has taken forty days to receive the law on Mount Sinai, it also took forty days for the twelve representatives of each tribe to visit Canaan, gather information regarding its inhabitants, and cities, and bring back samples, to demonstrate the goodness of the land. They brought back enormous bunches of grapes and various fruits, as it is written: "²³ And they came unto the brook of Eshcol (cluster in Hebrew), and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates and of the figs”.

          The report of the twelve spies to Moses and Aharon – reminds me of those jokes, that begin by saying – "I have good news and bad news...", first the good news is received, to which everyone agrees as follows: "²⁷ We came unto the land that you sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it"; but there was also bad news saying: "Nevertheless the people are strong who dwell in the land, and the cities are walled and very great, and moreover we saw the children of Anak there (which in Hebrew means ‘giant’) ... ³¹ We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than us… ³² The land, through which we have gone to search, is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof, and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. ³³ And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, who come of the giants. And we were in our sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight”. Anyone reading these verses may have a feeling, that all of this seems more like excuses than real concerns. Ten out of the twelve spies mentioned five times, that the average height of the people of Israel, would make them feel like "grasshoppers", in the face of the enormous size of the inhabitants of Canaan. I think that neither Moses nor Aharon nor two of the spies who did not agree with them, Joshua bin Nun and Kalev ben Yefune, took them seriously.

          The response of the ten spies was very rare, unexpected, and extreme, especially when it came from the leaders representing each tribe, and not ordinary people, randomly picked from each tribe. They were the representatives of the tribes of Israel, the most spiritual and highly respected people. The spies were people selected by Moses himself, individuals who had demonstrated their faith in Adonai and in the leadership of their leaders. What could have been the reason for such an overwhelming response, validated in something as absurd, and even childish description like: "There are giants and that we are not able to go up against the people"?

          My teacher, Rabbi Samuel Simcha Lerer (of blessed memory), used to tell me: “David, in life you are going to meet people who will give you good reasons and real reasons. You must have the wisdom to identify the difference”. If the "giants" were the good reason for the ten leaders, which was the real one?

          Several years ago, in Israel, the concept of – “spiritual retreats” – had caught the attention of many. Those were a couple of days of getaway in the Negev desert and were very popular. As part of those meetings, there were activities performed in absolute silence, during which, not a single word could be said for 24 hours. In the "energy circles", where the participants were able to integrate, a well-deserved rest was ensured to the body and the mind, away from worries, physical desires, and the use of technology. Some even fasted. This period of disconnection from the world was, in my opinion, a very spiritual way of taking a break and starting over, with renewed energy. Due to lack of time, I never participated myself, nor was I fully convinced by the idea of leaving my family, my cell phone, or my laptop, going through a terrifying cold at night and extreme heat in the desert, perhaps without food, without basic services and still pay a lot of money for it. This was not for me. Many Hasidic stories agree with the idea of a “spiritual retreat”, which compared to the slavery in Egypt, a new spiritual life that B’nei Israel had spent years in the desert, was almost paradise. The children of Israel were, in fact, on a spiritual retreat journey for many years in the Sinai desert, far from the world, in contact with nature, without worries, miraculously receiving daily water, food from manna, and quail meat. They were also protected from enemies, guided by the Shchina itself,  the divine presence through a column of fire and smoke, and all this free! At the end of the day, it was a very comfortable, highly spiritual, and holistic life, without effort, without work or worries!

          The tour to the land of Canaan and the contact with other cultures, was like a cultural shock for the twelve spies, who suddenly imagined, how would be the REAL LIFE: Having to fight against enemies, even large ones in size,  establish commercial relations with other cultures, sow the land to eat, raise cattle, earn bread with the sweat of the forehead (no more quail or manna…). The ten leaders surely returned fully convinced, that the spiritual life in the desert, was far more beneficial than the material life in a land, which does not automatically flow milk and honey, but instead, it would require milking the cattle and taking care of the bee hives. That is, perhaps, the real reason that they answered and confessed with much concern: "it is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof", in the sense, that it is going to swallow the spirituality of the people into a material world, with the concerns of the daily life.

          In this perspective, it is valid to accept, that the ten spies were right to react in this manner. The spiritual life is perhaps more important than the material life, of the daily routine. Proof of this is that today, many are willing to pay a lot of money to experience this, just for 24 hours in the desert... However, those leaders had missed the deepest message that Judaism offers, about the meaning of life and our faith. Material life in the land of Israel, or anywhere in the world, requires a "descent" into materialism, and with it, to face the laws of nature and the society we live in, laws that did not exist in the wilderness full of miracles. Judaism does not expect us to live in a desert, nor to distance ourselves from society and live in endless spiritual retreats of solitude.

          The most important message in the story of the Twelve Spies is that living our routines, day by day, with the problems of modernity, traffic, the challenges we face, and moments of happiness with our families when returning home. None of it degrades in the slightest, the spirituality of our souls. On the contrary, just in the material aspects of our lives, relies the most important challenge – to develop our spiritual growth, pursue justice, peace and being devoted to our faith and our destiny as a people. Let us live our lives fully, day by day! Because by doing so, we also find our deepest spirituality.

Shabat Shalom!

Rabbi David Laor

June 28^th, 2024