OF GIANTS, MEN AND GRASSHOPPERS

     

“There we saw the Nephilim, the
sons of the giant

                        from
among the Nephilim; and it came to pass that in our eyes

[we
were] like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes.”  Bamidbar, 13:33

 

                                                                                                          
‏ד’–אייר–תשס”ז                                                                                        

 

               

             The military reconnaissance of the Land
presaged a battle that  appeared hopeless
as it would pit  the weak and small  against the strong and mighty. The spies –
meraglim – in  answering the questions
posed to them upon their return, seemingly did no more than state the obvious
danger;  yet we know that they committed
a grave sin in so doing.  What can we
learn from this tragic event in order to avoid the errors of the meraglim?

The first step is to understand the nature of
their failing. The commentators acknowledge that the meraglim recognized  Hashem’s power but suggest that the spies
thought that Hashem was going to limit Himself and act in accordance with
nature and therefore B’nei Yisrael would be unable to triumph.

 Yehoshuah
and Caleb, men of complete faith, demonstrated what it takes to remain men –
anashim – even in the face of  vastly
stronger and more powerful enemies. Yehoshua faced the distraught assembly that
was weeping and entreating Moshe to return to Egypt and told them a simple but
profound truth.  He did not deny the
obvious size and strength of the giants, but exhorted that “If  Hashem is pleased with us then will He bring
us into this land  and will give it to us
. . . and you , you should not fear the people of the land for
they are our bread; their protective shadow is departed from them as G-d is
with us . . . “ (Bamidbar 14: 8-9).

           It all depends on the lens
through which we view the test. The meraglim saw the inhabitants of the land as
being too daunting and the land as being unconquerable, because they used their
own personal discernment, Yehoshua and Calav viewed the inhabitants of the land
through the lens of daas Torah and thus perceived them as presenting no
meaningful obstacle.  

Unless a Jew sees himself as a representative of
G-d who is All Powerful, he will see himself  not as a person facing his adversary, but
rather as a “grasshopper” facing a “giant”. The way in which we perceive our
relationship to  Hashem is the deciding
factor in how we view ourselves.

 Referring
to the spies’ encounter with the giants, the 
Torah says “vanehi b’eineinu k’chagavim” and   “and in our 
eyes [too] we were like grasshoppers.” 
“Nehi” connotes weeping or crying and suggests a diminished, disheartened
and despairing emotional state.  Although
the  meraglim were initially described as
‘anashim’  righteous men — heads of the
tribes of  Israel,  their lack of faith now surfaced transforming
them from human beings into a more demeaning form of life.  

As is all too apparent from our experiences during
this long difficult galus, if our belief in Hashem weakens, our Jewish self
esteem is diminished undermining our ability to see and appreciate our unique mission
in this world.

            The
Kotzke Rebbe explains: The spies had no right to consider how the giants viewed
them. As Jews and emissaries for the Jewish people, they should have thought
only of their mission, not of what anyone else thought of them.  
How many times do we become discouraged
because of what we feel or perceive that other people think?

When, in that diminished psychological state, if we should be confronted by
a difficult challenge, it takes on the hugeness of a giant in our eyes and as
such has the power to discourage us from achieving our true potential and fulfilling
our destiny. How can we overcome this challenge?

First we should realize that there is no barrier so
 large or overwhelming that we cannot
hurdle it,  if it is Hashem’s will  that we do so. The Maraglim saw themselves as
grasshoppers. Why grasshoppers? Perhaps to teach us that every challenge gives
us the opportunity to choose our direction and destiny in life. When threatened,
the grasshopper can  jump away, as did
the meraglim who counseled the nation to jump far away from their  “giant” challenges.  The grasshopper however has another option. It
can leap over the barrier that lies before it. 
When we take up a challenge for Hashem’s honor,  He will empower us to easily hurdle the
barriers in our path.

The Torah is teaching a profound lesson in
attitude and choice. Does challenge bring with it retreat and despair or does
it elicit feelings of courage and optimism? It all depends on our connection to
Hashem and His will.

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia

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