Parshat Shelach תשפ”ה

Parshas Shelah– This week’s portion relates the story of the 12 spies
who Moshe sent into Israel to see the Land and report to the Jewish
people. Ten of them, unfortunately, misinterpreted every sign that
Hashem had provided to show them that He would be there for them to
defend them against the powerful people whom they were observing,
so they returned with the report that it is impossible to conquer the Land
of Israel.
The other two, Yehoshua and Caleb, fervently protested and told the
people not to believe them, and that, indeed, the Land was conquerable
(Numbers 14:9).
ַאַ ְך ַּבַ יָוֹד�ָד ַַאל ִּתִ ְְמֹרֹדּו ְְו ַַאֶּתֶ ם ַַאל ִּתִ יְְראּו ֶאֶ ת ַעַ ם ָהָ ָאָ ֶרֶ ץ ִּכִ י ַלְַחְ ֵמֵ נּו ֵהֵ ם ָסָ ר ִצִ ָּלָם ֵמֵ ֲעֲֵלֵיֶהֶ ם ַוַיָוֹד�ָד
. ִִאָּתָ נּו ַַאל ִּתִ יָָרֻאֻ ם
9) “But do not rebel against Hashem! You should not fear the people of
the Land, for they are our bread. Their protection has departed from
them; Hashem is with us. Do not fear them!”
By this point, after having experienced the ten plagues in Egypt, the
splitting of the Reed Sea complete with the drowning of the Egyptian
army, the daily allocation of Manna from heaven, the travelling well for
water, and the protective clouds, the people should have known that
the all-powerful Hashem, Who was in complete control of the world,
could and would easily subdue any foe. The Jewish people should have
rejected the report. On the contrary, they should have stoned those who
spoke blasphemy and said, that Hashem couldn’t handily decimate any
enemy no matter how powerful.
But they didn’t, and as a result of this sin, the Jewish people were forced
to wander in the wilderness for forty years until that whole generation
had died out.
In a sense, we face the same challenge today with the situation in Israel.
Currently and in the recent past we have witnessed open miracles, yet
many still do not acknowledge Hashem’s protective hand providing
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miraculous protection for the Jews living there.
Moreover, as we marvel at the stunning success of the IDF in Iran and how
perfectly choreographed was the attack on the Iranian top brass as
well as the nuclear sites, we tend to laud the brilliant military leadership
who so carefully planned and executed these amazing attacks. What
too quickly gets lost in all of the accolades, however, is the One Who
helped it all to happen–Hashem.
Think about it. How often do even the most rudimentary of tasks that
we engage in go awry? In real life, things almost never go as we expect
them to! “Even the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”
(Robert Burns). And when they do go properly, we thank Hashem for it,
because we recognize that without His involvement, it would not have
happened. Here, too, where everything went swimmingly well, we need
to thank Hashem for making it happen.
The Talmud (Avoda Zara 2a) teaches us:
דרש רבי חנינא בר פפא ואיתימא רב שמלאי לעתיד לבא מביא הקדוש ברוך הוא ספר
תורה ]ומניחו[ בחיקו ואומר למי שעסק בה יבא ויטול שכרו
Rabbi Chanina bar Papa, and some say Rav Simlai, taught. “After the
Mashiach comes and all humanity recognizes Hashem as the Creator
and Master of the world, Hashem is going to hold a small Torah scroll
in His bosom (so to speak) and announce, ’Whoever has been involved
with the Torah should come and claim his fair reward!’”
Rome is the first to arrive. After stating their claim, Hashem shows them
how they are not entitled to anything. The Talmud then continues with
the Persians.
מיד יצאו בפחי נפש יצאת מלכות רומי ונכנסה מלכות פרס אחריה … אמר להם הקדוש
ברוך הוא במאי עסקתם אומרים לפניו רבונו של עולם הרבה גשרים גשרנו הרבה כרכים
כבשנו הרבה מלחמות עשינו וכולם לא עשינו אלא בשביל ישראל כדי שיתעסקו בתורה
The Romans then leave feeling humiliated, and the Persian Kingdom
enters. Hashem says to them, “What did you do for the Torah?” They
answer, “Master of the Universe, we built many bridges, we conquered
many cities, and we waged many wars. And everything we did, was just
so the Jewish people should learn Torah!”
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אמר להם הקדוש ברוך הוא כל מה שעשיתם לצורך עצמכם עשיתם תקנתם גשרים ליטול
מהם מכס כרכים לעשות בהם אנגריא מלחמות אני עשיתי שנאמר ה‘ איש מלחמה
Hashem responds, “Everything that you did you did for yourselves! You
built bridges to collect tolls, you conquered cities to use the people
for your work and for soldiers. And as far as the wars are concerned, I
made the wars, not you! As it says in the verse (Exodus 15:3), Hashem is
Master of war – His name is Hashem.
From here we learn a great lesson. Hashem is the One behind wars. It
is He who guides the leaders to adopt their positions and it is He who
causes them to enter into conflict with an opposing force.
The following verse in Proverbs (21:1) expresses this concept.
ַַּפ ְְלֵגֵי ַַמִיִם ֶלֶב ֶֶמֶלְֶך ְְּבַיַד ְְיָוֹד�ָד ַַעל ָָּכל ֲאֲ ֶׁשֶ ר ַיְַחְ ֹּפֹץ ַיֶַּטֶ ּנּו
1) Like streams of water is the heart of a king in the hand of Hashem,
wherever He wishes, so He directs it.
Although we have a hard and fast rule that Hashem does not meddle in
our personal freedom to choose, when it comes to world leaders who
control the fate of millions, maybe billions, of people, this rule does not
apply. As far as their personal decisions are concerned, they are like any
other person; but as far as decisions that will affect the lives of many
people, they are merely puppets in Hashem’s hands. Hashem does not
entrust the fate of millions in the hands of an individual who may be an
egomaniac, or worse. In those decisions, only Hashem decides which
country is going to war with which country. If Hashem has decided
that there needs to be a war between two countries, He will put an
egomaniac in power to execute His plan.
This sounds very difficult to understand. At any given time throughout
mankind’s history, so many wars were fought between so many different
countries. What could be Hashem’s reason for so many wars?
Perhaps the following analogy may give us a clue.
Hashem created the world with a purpose and a goal. The world’s
purpose is to serve as a playground for man to hone his skills and
perfect himself in his service to Hashem. Man accomplishes this by
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making the right choices and following Hashem’s commandments.
The world’s ultimate goal is that all mankind recognize Hashem as the
world’s Creator and Master. This is what the Mashiach, for whom we all
wait with bated breath, will accomplish. He will bring all humanity to
say, “Hashem, He is Elokim!” This is the end game. This is where we are
headed, full steam ahead!
Think of it as a game of chess. The goal of the game is to checkmate –
destroy – the king of the evil forces in the world. In the course of the game,
the various types of pieces will be moved all over the playing board,
often clashing (warring) with other pieces and removing them from the
game, sometimes being eliminated themselves. The game may go on for
hours, but every move made comprises part of an elaborate stratagem
to achieve the goal of putting the opposing king in checkmate.
To someone who doesn’t understand chess and its goal, the chess
master’s moves have no meaning. They appear to be random pieces
moving to random spots on the playing board for no apparent reason.
The reality, though, is that the chess master has a clear plan as to how
each move will bring him closer to his goal of conquering the King of evil.
This is what Hashem has been doing throughout history. The world is
Hashem’s chess board, and the leaders of the different countries are the
chess pieces. At Hashem’s discretion, Hashem moves them across the
board to clash with other pieces, changing the world’s landscape for a
time, but then, perhaps at some later point, He moves a different piece
into that spot, taking it over. To the uneducated, things look random
and unguided, but the reality is that Hashem is behind every move,
and He has a plan and a purpose for that move. Each move is another
premeditated step in the myriads of steps necessary to bring the world
to the exact configuration it needs to be in for the Mashiach to come.
This is what we are witnessing now.
King David in Psalm 124 foresaw the struggle that we would have with
the descendants of Yishmael. He writes:
לּוֵלֵי ְְיָוֹד�ָד ֶׁשֶ ָָהָיה ָלָנּו ְּב ְ קּום ָעָ ֵלֵינּו ָאָ ָדָ ם
Had Hashem not been with us when a man (adam) rose up against us
(we would surely have perished.)
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Harav Chaim Vital (1542-1620) explains that the man – adam– in this
verse refers to Yishmael, the father of the Arab nations. His source for
this notion comes from a verse in the Torah.
When Hagar became pregnant from Avram when Sarah couldn’t, she
started treating Sarah disrespectfully. As a result, Sarah caused Hagar
to run away. An angel found Hagar and told her that she should go back
to Sarah and humble herself to her. At that time, the angel also told her
that she was expecting a child and he gave her some information about
the child (Genesis 16:12).
ְְוהּוא ִִי ְְהֶיה ֶֶּפֶֶרא ָאָ ָדָ ם ָיָדֹו ַַבֹּכל ְְוַיַד ֹּכל ּבֹו ְְוַַעל ְְּפֵנֵי ָָכל ֶֶאָחָ יו ִִי ְְׁשֹּכֹן
12) And he shall be a wild-ass of a man …
Even though he is called a wild man, he nevertheless acquired the name
man. R’ Chaim Vital gives two reasons for which he merited to be called
an adam, man. The first is that he was the child of the great and beloved
Avraham, and, secondly, at the age of 13 he received a brit milah –
circumcision.
R’ Chaim reveals the deeper meaning behind the words “when a man
(adam) rose up against us.”
From the beginning of time, the Jewish nation was destined to be exiled
under four empires. The second verse in the Torah alludes to them, and
the Midrash on that verse lists the four; the Babylonians, the Persians,
the Greeks and the Romans. An exile places the Jewish nation under a
foreign king. Hashem’s intention was that the Jewish nation be under
the Kingdom of David so as to model Hashem’s kingdom to the world.
And, indeed, this took place during the golden era of the Jewish nation
under King David and his son King Solomon. During the 80 years that
these two holy and righteous kings reigned, the Jewish nation was
recognized by all other kingdoms as Hashem’s kingdom. King Solomon
built the first Holy Temple, and, for 410 years, it stood as a testament to
Hashem and his special holy nation. Unfortunately, the Jewish people
abandoned Hashem’s Torah and mitzvot and the Babylonians then
arrived to destroy the Holy Temple. At this point, the Babylonian Empire
usurped the kingdom from King David, and the Jewish people became
subjects of a foreign kingdom (exile), the Babylonian Empire.
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The same pattern followed with the other empires. Hence the Jewish
people were the subjects of a foreign empire – in exile.
Although we are suffering greatly at the hand of Yishmael, Yishmael is
not an exile because he has no empire. They have no king or kingdom
and never did. On the contrary. For thousands of years they were
bedouins who lived alone in tents in the desert leaving their tents only
to plunder travelers.
This verse also clearly refers to Yishmael’s descendants. “When they rose
up against me” implies that they suddenly rose from being the lowest of
the low to a position of prominence. They used to be a non-entity, but
suddenly, when Mohammad came on the scene, they became a force
to contend with.
The next verse in the psalm is also very telling.
ֲאֲ ַזַי ַחִ ַ ִּיים ְְּב ָָלעּונּו ַּבֲַחֲ רֹות ַַאָּפָם ָּבָ נּו
3) Then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was
kindled against us.
R’ Chaim explains that Yishmael is different than the four exiles. The
four empires sought to subjugate us and to convert us to their religions.
Yishmael wants to swallow us up so that we no longer exist. Just as
when you swallow something it virtually disappears, so too, that is what
they want: Nothing less than our complete eradication from the surface
of the earth.
If Yishmael isn’t an exile, why is Hashem allowing him to oppress us?
What is his role in history?
It is worthy to note that unlike Catholicism, Islam does not constitute
idol worship. On the contrary. When they prostrate themselves on their
carpets, they are praying to the very One and only Hashem that we
pray to. They also believe in Hashem Echad, viz, that there is only one
G-d (Monotheism). Mohammad was a false prophet who taught that
his teachings superseded Moshe’s, but he is still telling them to serve the
One and Only Hashem.
Knowing that, we can easily connect the dots and understand the
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lesson Hashem is trying to teach us through Yishmael.
The job of the Jewish people in this world is to teach the world about
Hashem. Looking at the world today, one could mistakenly say, that
there is a small “fanatic” sect of Jews called the “Ultra-Orthodox” who
keep the archaic laws of the Torah. They are kind of like the Amish
who won’t come out of their antiquated world. The majority of Jews
today, however, embrace the “modern world” and reject the “outdated”
traditions of old. “Those rules and regulations,” they say, “are irrelevant in
today’s high-tech fast-paced world.”
So who is making the world aware of Hashem? I am sorry to say that
it is the Arabs who are prepared to kill themselves (and others) in His
name. “Allah Akbar!!” is their cry! The Koran teaches them that they must
rid the world of all unbelievers, and they are prepared to readily give
up their lives to accomplish that goal. They see themselves as Hashem’s
messengers more than we do. This creates a strong critique against the
Jewish people and gives the Arabs an edge over us allowing them to
rise up against us and kill us.
So, what is the antidote to Yishmael? That we, instead of the Arabs,
increase belief in Hashem in the world. This applies to us – to increase
our relationship with Hashem- and to our fellow Jews, by making them
more aware of Hashem and His amazing kindness.
This is why the psalm about Yishmael concludes:
ֶֶע ְְזֵרֵ נּו ְְּבֵׁשֵ ם ְְיָוֹד�ָד ֹעֵֹׂשֵ ה ָָׁש ַַמִיִם ָוָָאָ ר ֶֶץ
Our help is through the Name of Hashem, Maker of heaven and earth.
R’ Chaim
explains:
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Therefore, we don’t know what we should do to deal with him. We have
no other hope other than to have trust in Hashem’s great name that He
will save us from their hands. This is why King David ended the psalm
with these words. That means to say that the reason that we put our
trust in Hashem is because He created the heavens and the earth.
R’ Chaim goes on to explain that since heaven and earth are dependent
on the existence of the Jewish people, if we perish, so, too, do the
heavens and earth. Therefore, Hashem must save us to save His world.
The Midrash teaches us.
פרקי דרבי אליעזר ונציה ש“ד – פרק לב
ששה נקראו בשמותן עד שלא נולדו ואלו הן יצחק וישמעאל משה ושלמה ויאשיהו ומלך
המשיח ישמעאל מנין שנ‘ ויאמר לה מלאך ה‘ הנך הרה ויולדת בן וקראת שמו ישמעאל
ולמה נקרא שמו ישמעאל שעתיד לשמוע הב“ה באנקת העם ממה שעתידין בני ישמעאל
לעשות בארץ באחרית הימים לפיכך נקרא שמו ישמעאל
Six people were named before their births: Yitzchak, Yishmael, Moshe,
Shlomo, Yoshiahu, and the Mashiach. How do we know that Yishmael
was given his name before he was born? Because the angel told [his
mother] that she was expecting a child and that she should call his
name Yishmael. Why Yishmael? Because Hashem is destined to hear
the cries of the people from what the children of Yishmael are going to
do to them in the end of days, and קל ישמע – Hashem will listen – and
bring the salvation.
We see that Yishmael’s mission in the end of days is to cause the Jewish
people to turn to Hashem and cry out because of the pain that they are
causing us. And we are doing that!
However, in light of the current events, this may be a very daunting task.
With the Israeli army so well trained and their tactics so sophisticated, it
is easy to think and believe that they are the reason for their exceptional
success. Who needs Hashem, when they have it so well planned out?
The reality is without Hashem blessing their endeavors, they could
accomplish nothing. As we said, the “best laid plans” are so often ruined
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by the silliest things. When everything goes as planned, you know that
Hashem is behind it.
On the home front as well. With the hundreds and hundreds of missiles
that were shot into Israel, there should have been so many more
casualties. Hashem is protecting His people every second, and, with all
that has happened, and as tragic as it is, very few have been killed.
Hashem is helping us to see Him. We must take the cue and increase
our trust in Him. We can demonstrate this by increasing our prayers
and mitzvot. We should also be Hashem’s ambassadors to spread this
message to our fellow Jews. This is what this is all about! The more
people who come around and recognize Hashem, the closer we get to
an end to the war. And with more people that believe in Hashem, the
closer we get to the coming of the Mashiach, may we merit to see his
coming speedily in our times.

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