"To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner.  I am not a teacher, only a fellow student."  (Soren Kierkegaard)

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A FEW PRE-SHABBAT AND POST SHAVUOT WORDS FROM RABBI AARON

I Spy, a WikiLeak Drash, along with a few bits about our arch-enemies, and our approach to the unkown other 

Briefing (opening verse of parashat sh'lach lecha)

"Send men to scout the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelite people; send one man from each of their ancestral tribes, each one a chieftain among them."

Mission

Assess the strength of

(1) the indigenous population

(2) their strongholds

(3) measure the land's productivity 

Analysis of the Cables

The narrative which emerges from Numbers 13:1-33 is not unfiltered raw intel. Rather, it has been highly edited; what we have is really a combination of at least two cables that have come down to us from different intel sources [known as "JE" and "P"]. These  sources address two issues:

(1) Which specific territory is the object of the mission?

(2) How many agents relay an upbeat tone in their report?
 

Significant Actor to Watch

The agent from the tribe of Ephraim seems to be a likely pick to eventually succeed Moses. Note his name being publicly changed by Moses. His new name, Joshua, contains God's name - this symbolizes God's support for this up and coming leader.

Ominous Blowback

(Numbers 13:32) "we cannot attack that people, for it is stronger the we are. The country that we traversed and scouted is one that devours it settlers. All the people that we saw are men of great size - and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves."

The downbeat reconnaissance report was met with a swift massive chorus of despair and anger. "If only we had died in the land of Egypt! "If only we might die in this wilderness!" "Why is God taking us to that land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be carried off! We're better off returning to Egypt!" 

Significant Political Fallout

"Naflu al p'neihem - they fell on their face."

Aaron and Moses have lost face. Their poll numbers have taken a dive. Caleb and Joshua hastily convened a press statement focusing on unity, resolve, and faith: "The land that we've scouted is an exceedingly good land.  If God is pleased with us, He'll bring us there - to a land which flows with milk and honey!" Still, this minority "pro-invasion of Canaan" camp has acknowledged that the anti-Moses and Aaron sentiment has become a daily spectacle of mass demonstrations. "The people want the regime to go!" Mob violence againt Moses and Aaron could easily be kindled in this volatile polticial environment.

Game-changer: Divine Escalation
God has taken to shouting aloud His being thoroughly fed up with the faithless Israelites: "How long will this people reject me? Despite all the cosmic pyrotechnics I displayed in Eypt, they have no faith! I'll dish out some plague for them. I've had enough of this people; why not start over, Moses?" 

An amazing slice of layered drama, that's what this parasha is. 

A Land that Devours its Settlers

It's about a bleak view of the punishing wilderness - "the people who inhabit the country are powerful; the cities are fortified and very large...Amalekites dwell in the Negev, Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites - Hamas, Hizbollah and Al Qaida...

A long list of arch-enemies, relentless hostility, existential threats. It is this long line foes that we remember at the seder. It is this relentless assault that inspires the talmudic statement: "the hatred of Esau for Jacob is a given." That is a powerfully stated world view - "they're" out to get us. Always. Quick check: Is That what you believe? They're always to get us? Must it ever remain so? 

A Land that Devours its Inhabitants

What else do those words mean? Beyond our listing hostile neighbors, we are challenged to look inward. In what ways does our culture eat its own? Are we able to look away when people fall through the torn Safety Net? One of the long-term effects of living in a land which devours its inhabitants is compassion fatigue. It is a chronic condition that results when we get tired of looking at the suffering of other people. 

Finally, one more bit about outlook. If all the spies scouted out the same territories, how could they return with two different assessments of Canaan? It turns out that "outlook" is a vital collections of predispositions that go into shaping our experiences. Without a doubt, Canaan presented the Israelites with daunting challenges. Caleb and Joshua represented the approach that says: "God has always guided me. I trust the Guardian of Israel not to slumber." The other ten spies collapsed in the face of the challenges all around them.

Everyone on a journey faces their unknown territories. Is the Canaan that resides in your imagination a hostile and unforgiving badland, or is it a fertile paradise, or is it a land of lacerating strife? Is it a land of milk and honey and abundance or is it heartless cauldron of resentment? Could "all of the above" be true? Is God holding you close or are you totally alone? There is no doubt that the road ahead is rough. How important is your outlook as you draw in your breath and prepare for your next move?

Rabbi Aaron

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