In this week’s Parsha we read about the story of the מרגלים. Rav Shamshon Refael Hirsch asks a fascinating question: The פרשה starts off with משה רבינו giving the מרגלים detailed instructions on what to look out for as the explore the land.
וראיתם את הארץ מה היא, ואת העם היושב עליה, החזק הוא הרפה המעט הוא אם רב. ומה הארץ אשר הוא יושב בהנה הטובה היא אם רעה.
They were told to see what kind of people live there, strong or weak, and what kind of land it is, good or bad. When the מרגלים came back they gave their answers to these questions based on what they saw. What then was wrong with their if all they did was give the answers to the inquiries they were told to?
To answer this questions says Rav Hirsch we need to take a closer look at the words of the תורה.
וישלח אותם משה לתור את ארץ כנען.
The word לתור translates literally ” to tour” When a tourist visits a country he’s coming only to see the interesting and beautiful sites the place has to offer. He’s not there to explore the negative aspects of the country. We find the opposite idea in פרשת מקץ. When the שבטים stand in front of Yosef he accuses them:
מרגלים אתם, לראות את ערוות הארץ באתם.
You are spies who came to seek out the weakness of the land. A spy comes to view the country’s weak points. A tourist on the other hand comes to see only the good points.
This was the mistake of the מרגלים. They were sent to see the good parts of the land and instead, looked for its weaknesses. What משה רבינו was telling then was: “See how the land treats its natives. Are they strong? That will show you how הקב”ה will help you conquer even strong nations. Are they weak? That’s a sign that הקב”ה punishes the רשעים. Is the land good? Look what a wonderful land you’re going to inherit. Is it bad? See what happens when people don’t live as they should.” So in essence, the mission of the was to give them חזוק as they prepared to enter ארץ ישראל, so that they would be better prepared. And instead they looked at things the wrong way and only saw the vulnerabilities of the land. And for that they were punished. They were sent to be tourists, but instead became מרגלים- spies.
We see from here how the way we view things makes all the difference in how we act, and that we should always try to view things through a positive lens.
We’ll conclude with a beautiful story. In February 2020 Italy was ravaged by the 1st wave of the Coronavirus. An elderly Italian man was rushed to the hospital and placed on a ventilator, hovering between life and death. Thankfully after several weeks he recovered and was weened off the machine. After spending time recovering he was finally ready to be released and was presented with his hospital bill. The man took 1 look at the bill and burst into tears. The clerk tried to calm him down by promising to work out a payment plan for the hefty bill. To which the man responded ” I’m not crying over the bill. Rather, as I looked at it I realized that here I’m being told to pay a large sum for a few weeks of being given oxygen to breath with. And my entire life until this point I was given oxygen from G-d for so many years and it was completely free! I finally realize His great kindness.”
The way we look at things makes all the difference in the world.
Weekly Parsha Shiur 