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Shlach Lecha Much has been written about the twelve spies sent by Moshe to check out the Land of Israel. What was it that was bothering them that brought about their return to the community in the desert with an inappropriate report about the Land that Hashem had promised the Jewish people? The Passuk identifies them as Ish - a term of distinction, yet when it came down to the practicalities they were willing to distort the reality of the Land and attempted to dissuade the community from appreciating the good which Hashem had promised them. Crying that night - the night of Tisha B'Av - has condemned us to crying every year on that night. When we contemplate the awfulness of that day, the unremitting list of horrors that have been visited upon our people on that day, we become overwhelmed by seeing the hand of Hashem present in our history as reflected on that day. That night of crying was the same as on which the first and second Bais Hamikdash were destroyed in 589 b.c.e. and 68 c.e. On this day Betar was captured and more than 1,000,000 of our brethren killed in the ensuing rampage and terror by the Roman forces just 50 years after the destruction of the second Bais Hamikdash. The expulsions from England, France and Spain could only have happened on this night of crying. And then in our time - the roots of the Holocaust and the decisions that made it happen -could only happen on this night of crying. Why? What did they do that provoked Hashem so? "And G-d said to Moshe, 'How long will this nation provoke Me? How long will they not believe in Me, despite all the miracles that I have done among them.'" What was this "provocation" which lasts for so many generations. The answer may well be - lack of appreciation. We did not appreciate then the good that Hashem was giving us with the Land of Israel. We looked for its faults and problems rather than its wonders and beauty. We saw those who were already dwelling in it and we did not see and appreciate the Land promised to our forefathers and our rights to it. We saw their might - the dangers they would pose us and we did not see or appreciate our strengths and abilities and that the hand of Hashem is with us. And what you do not appreciate - does not remain with you. Let us hope and pray that we do not succumb to the same error. Let us appreciate the Land that Hashem gave us and then returned to us in such a miraculous way. Let us desire the Land that Hashem has given us and make it our own as it was in days gone by. Rav Avrohom Yitzchak Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, once toured the new settlements of Eretz Yisroel where most of the people had forsaken Torah and mitzvos. He asked them to explain what they believed in. They replied, "For two thousand years we have been a religious people and we did not have an opportunity to work the Land. Now we are going to the other extreme, we are working the Land while we abandon the world of religion." Rav Kook responded, "I would like to tell you a story. There was a very wise old man who forgot everything that he had ever learned. To relearn what he had forgotten meant starting all over again with aleph-bais and Chumash. He came to the Cheder and was placed in the first class together with the youngest children learning aleph-beis for the first time. Soon this elderly fellow was joining with the childish pranks and games. The teacher finally called him aside and reminded him, "It is true that you are studying with little children, but do not forget, that you are a respected elder." The same is true here. Ever since we were exiled from our Land we have forgotten how to work it. Now we must start relearning this skill from scratch. At the same time we must never forget that we are an ancient and wise nation. We should not live like the peasants. but fight to retain our heritage." |
