Two Failed Missions and Their Impact
and Their Impact
Shalom,
This Shabbat we will read the Torah Portion “Shlakh” in the book of Numbers – Ba’Midbar.
It tells us about Moses sending twelve tribe leaders as spies to the Land of Canaan.
Forty days later, they return, carrying a huge cluster of grapes, a pomegranate and a fig, to report on a lush and bountiful land.
But ten of the spies warn that the inhabitants of the land are giants and warriors “more powerful than we”;
Only Caleb and Joshua insist that the land can be conquered, as G‑d has commanded…
The people of Israel weep that they’d rather return to Egypt.
G‑d decrees that Israel’s entry into the Land shall be delayed forty years, during which time that entire generation will die out in the desert.
The Israelites wept on the date of Tish’a Be’Av, which turned to be the date of many tragic events in the history of the People of Israel.
Here is a very partial list:
- Destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians
421 BC) - Destruction of the Second Temple by Romans (70) and beginning of the current Diaspora.
- Expulsion of Jews from England (1290)
- Expulsion of Jews from the Iberian Peninsula (1492)
- Deportations from Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka concentration camp (1942)
Thus, the mission of the spies failed, and the heavy impact of this failure continues to this very today.
The Torah portion of Sh’lach opens with the verse:
שְׁלַח לְךָ אֲנָשִׁים וְיָתֻרוּ אֶת אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן… תִּשְׁלָחוּ כֹּל נָשִׂיא בָהֶם
“Send men for you, that they may spy out the land of Canaan …send every leader of them.” (13:2)
Rabbi Moshe Haim Ephraim, the grandson of the Ba’al Shem Tov, comments on this verse in his book Degel Mahaneh Efraim:
In the word “leader” (NASSI – נשיא) it is possible to find the letters of the word “there is” – YEISH יש
נָשִׂיא
but it is also possible to find the letters of the word “there is not” – EIN אין.
נָשִׂיא
This implies that there exist two types of leaders:
There exists a leader whose essence is:
“there is.”
A leader like this is constantly emphasizing his own importance.
In contrast, there exists a leader whose essence is
“there is not.”
A leader who behaves like a “there is” – being prideful and showing off – is actually a “there is not” person and does not receive honor from all the people.
A leader who behaves like a “there is not” – humble and modest – he is actually a “there is” and receives honor from all the people.
A leader like this remains a humble and modest person. Moses, our teacher was such a leader.
After the sin of the spies and the refusal for the people of Israel to enter Israel, G‑d decreed that the Israelites wander the desert for the next 40 years.
A group of people insisted on entering Israel anyway and prepared to launch an attack the next morning.
וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה, לָמָּה זֶּה אַתֶּם עֹבְרִים אֶת-פִּי יְהוָה; וְהִוא, לֹא
תִצְלָח
אַל-תַּעֲלוּ, כִּי אֵין יְהוָה בְּקִרְבְּכֶם; וְלֹא, תִּנָּגְפוּ לִפְנֵי אֹיְבֵיכֶם
(Num 14:45)… וַיַּעְפִּלוּ, לַעֲלוֹת אֶל-רֹאשׁ הָהָר
וַיֵּרֶד הָעֲמָלֵקִי וְהַכְּנַעֲנִי, הַיֹּשֵׁב בָּהָר הַהוּא; וַיַּכּוּם וַיַּכְּתוּם, עַד-הַחָרְמָה
Moses warned that their campaign would be unsuccessful, but they took no heed.
As the fellowship climbed the mountain to enter the Promised Land, Amalekites, Amorites and Canaanites successfully quashed their attempt and beat them back to Hormah.
The mission of the Ma’apilim failed as well…
The war was lost, but the Midrash offers us some consolation. “‘Like bees’—just as a bee dies instantly after stinging a person, the Amorites died upon touching you.
When bees feel threatened, they will swarm and attack; these nations did the same.
Likewise, the Amorites successfully chased the Israelites away but did not manage to cut them down
In the verse (Num 14:45) a unique Hebrew verb וַיַּעְפִּלוּ – VA’YA’APILU is used.
There are several translations and interpretations of it
- But they presumed to go up…
- … went to the top….
- … ascended to the top…
The people who went up the hill are called מעפילים – MA’APILIM.
In this context this word has a negative connotation, because they did not obey G-d’s words.
There are some explanations that the defiant men were willing to sacrifice their lives to enter Israel. They interpreted G‑d’s discouragement as a test of their resolve.
The ma’apilim may have failed, but they meant well, and, they left their courage and their audacity as a legacy to the modern Ma’apilim.
In our modern history Illegal (by the British law) immigrants to Israel were known as “ma’apilim”.
Before and during World War II, thousands of Jewish people were fleeing their homes trying to escape persecution and concentration camps.
Many coming from Europe and northern Africa chose to seek refuge in Palestine, which was under British Mandate. More than 122,000 people came to Israel despite the blockade.
Those who did not have a valid permit to be in the country were detained and placed in camps like the one in Atlit.
Some people were in these camps close to one year. The Atlit Detainee Camp was in place until 1945 when Jewish forces broke into the camp, allowing all the detainees to escape.
Now it serves as a museum.
Listen to the HA’MA’APILIM song by Levin Kipnis below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COC4u4LdQcs
And now a little bit of Modern Hebrew:
Cloud (biblical) – נשיא – (NASEE) actually means being above and it is the same word for Leader, president.
It implies that a true leader should act as a cloud, first collect small vapor drops from below – not to retain for himself, but to give those back as nourishing rain.
- To raise, to carry – לשאת (LASET)
- Carries (v) – נושא (NOSEH)
- Topic – נושא (NOSEH)
- To qualify for the finals – להעפיל לגמר (LE’HA’APIL LA’GMAR)
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Wishing all of you a peaceful and healthy weekend.
Shabbat Shalom,
Yoel & Orly
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