Parshat Shelach-Optional or obligatory?

ב  שְׁלַח-לְךָ אֲנָשִׁים, וְיָתֻרוּ אֶת-אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן, אֲשֶׁר-אֲנִי נֹתֵן, לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל:  אִישׁ אֶחָד אִישׁ אֶחָד לְמַטֵּה אֲבֹתָיו, תִּשְׁלָחוּ--כֹּל, נָשִׂיא בָהֶם.

2 'Send thou men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel; of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a prince among them.'

ג  וַיִּשְׁלַח אֹתָם מֹשֶׁה מִמִּדְבַּר פָּארָן, עַל-פִּי יְהוָה:  כֻּלָּם אֲנָשִׁים, רָאשֵׁי בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל הֵמָּה.

3 And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of the LORD; all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel

These introductory verses to the main story of the parsha already challenge the understanding of what really happened. The first verse suggests that the sending was ‘of your own choice’- שְׁלַח-לְךָ which Rashi immediately explains as optional.

שלח לך SEND THEE (more lit., for thyself) — i.e. according to your own judgement: I do not command you, but if you wish to do so send them

However in the next verse it says “by the command of God’ which implies that it was a mitzvah commanded by God i.e. obligatory. Rashi senses this tension and explains verse 3 as follows:

 בּרשׁוּתוֹ, שׁלּא עכּב על ידוֹ:

'על פי ה With his consent; i.e. that He did not prevent him from doing so. ...

The sending is with God’s agreement, in that He did not prevent the sending of spies. This implies that an actual command to send spies is not part of the meaning of the pasuk, and it all becomes an exercise in terms of a voluntary choice by the people, which Moshe endorses.

Many mefarshim are unhappy with Rashi’s solution to this seeming contradiction, and we will highlight 2 approaches to answer this problem.

The Kli Yakar clearly expresses his dissatisfaction with Rashi’s suggestion and he gives his own interpretation basing his explanation on the context of these verses.

על פי ה'. ' שהרי אמר לו שלח לך לדעתך כו' אלא ר"ל שהשליחות ממדבר פארן היה על פי ה', כי לפי דברי השי"ת לא היה מסכים לשלוח כלל אך לרוב הפצרתם לא מיחה בהם, ומ"מ היה לו לאחר זמן השליחות שהרי ממדבר פארן כמה מסעות עד סמוך לארץ והיה לו לשלוח מחניה אחרת הסמוכה לא"י יותר ממדבר פארן, אלא לפי שחנייה זו של מדבר פארן היתה מיד בבואם מחצירות שקרה שם מעשה של מרים וחשב ה' כי קרוב הוא המעשה ההוא אולי יקחו הרשעים מוסר, ואולי ברוב הימים ישכחו מה שקרה למרים ומ"ש על פי ה' מוסב על ממדבר פארן ולא על עצם השליחות

He explains that the words על פי ה' actually refer to the location from where the spies were sent, the wilderness of Paran. This was very close to Chatzerot which is where Miriam suffered Tzaraat for speaking badly about Moshe. God insisted that the spies be sent from there so that the lesson of Miriam would still be fresh in their minds and this would control their inclination to speak badly about Eretz Yisrael. The actual sending was still optional but the place from where the spies were sent was ‘obligatory’ i.e. to be done quickly, in the hope that the spies would still remember Miriam’s punishment and learn the appropriate lessons from there.

R’Yaakov Kaminetsky in the Emet Leyaakov has a completely different way of answering this apparent contradiction. He quotes from the Mizrachi commentary and other super-commentaries on Rashi (I once heard Nechama Liebowitz zal comment that there are over 200 commentaries on Rashi, most of whom she had seen/read!) who are unhappy with Rashi’s answer to the question. R’Yaakov suggests a different approach which also answers another problem. In the list of spies it mentions Yehoshua as the representative of Ephraim and calls him by his ‘birth name’ Hoshea’.It then tells us 8 verses later that Moshe had prayed for him and had changed his name. In fact we already know this from the story of Amalek, in Sefer Shemot, so why does the list present Yehoshua with his original name and then wait 8 verses before telling us that his name had been changed, which is something we have already known for many weeks?

R’Yaakov explains that the whole episode of the spies represents a fall in the level of emunah/faith of the people (as seen in Rashi’s comments on ch.1 of sefer Devarim).In last week’s parsha, we are told that at a time of war the people just had to blow the shofarot and/or trumpets and God did the rest for them. This is reflected in the verse which we say when opening the Ark:

לה  וַיְהִי בִּנְסֹעַ הָאָרֹן, וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה:  קוּמָה יְהוָה, וְיָפֻצוּ אֹיְבֶיךָ, וְיָנֻסוּ מְשַׂנְאֶיךָ, מִפָּנֶיךָ.

35 And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said: 'Rise up, O LORD, and let Thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee.'

which implies that as soon as the battle begins, the people can call on God and the miracle will happen without Israel having to take hold of any weapons whatsoever. The situation now changed with the spies, as they represent the wish of the people to go and find out how the enemy functioned so that they can prepare for a physical battle. Although it was understood that this would always reflect God’s help (as we see in Jericho later on) the reality was that the people had given up on the notion of a complete miracle in battle. This lowering of their spiritual level is recognized by Moshe and he is now forced to send the spies, as this is part of the new concept of fighting a war through natural means, but with the hope of still infusing the nation with the sense that God will help them in their ‘natural’ battle, if their merit warrants this. In order to reflect God’s involvement and the fact that war was now going to be fought in a natural way, Moshe refers to the Urim Vetumim, the special stones in the breastplate of the Kohen, which was consulted before battle (as seen later with King David and others).The question for the Urim is not whether to send the spies, as this has already been confirmed, but who to send as spies, so that they have a chance of coming back with the correct report as Moshe had hoped for. When this list is relayed to Moshe, it includes Yehoshua by his original name, as the whole list of spies is reflecting the original names of all those chosen to go on the mission. This is Yehoshua’s real name. The fact that Yehoshua’s name is changed is only mentioned at the end of the list, as a reflection of the hope by Moshe that Yehoshua can lead the spies to bring back a good report and not to be influenced in the opposite direction.

We now can answer the question of the term- על פי ה' as referring to the question to the Urim Vetumim made by Moshe , to ascertain who should go on the mission. We find the phrase

על פי ה' used in this context later in sefer Bamidbar when Yehoshua is told that he must consult God before traveling and this is referred to as a request על פי ה'.

כא  וְלִפְנֵי אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן יַעֲמֹד, וְשָׁאַל לוֹ בְּמִשְׁפַּט הָאוּרִים לִפְנֵי יְהוָה:  עַל-פִּיו יֵצְאוּ וְעַל-פִּיו יָבֹאוּ, הוּא וְכָל-בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל אִתּוֹ--וְכָל-הָעֵדָה.

21 And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD; at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.'

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Rabbi Bernstein zal further asks why Moshe didn’t pray for the welfare of Calev as well as Yehoshua. He answers that Calev was married to Miriam and with the influence of such an Eshet Chayil as Miriam there is no need for further prayer. She also understood intimately what happens when lashon hara is spoken and she will be very insistent to her husband that no such bad report should be given which may contain lashon hara about Eretz Yisrael, which is something she had learned, by experience, is not acceptable.

These insights are very important in trying to come to terms with the basic stories that we know but which we have to examine each year with a new depth and appreciation. May we always merit to find new and exciting lessons from our study of our most treasured possession, God’s Torah, as conveyed to us by Moshe.

Shabbat Shalom          SCW/Cherry Hill NJ                 June 2018