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One of the Torah's most dramatic episodes is found in this week's Torah portion. The 12 spies and their evil report of the Land of Israel: "They are a mighty nation that dwells in the Land, and the cities are heavily fortified," they said (13/28).

There were two spies who opposed the other ten and spoke in defense of Israel and G-d. One of them, Kalev, responded that the Jews would indeed be able to conquer the Land. Rashi states that Kalev began to list many of G-d's miraculous deeds for the sake of the Jews-all to demonstrate that nothing can hinder G-d's will.

The spies continued their attack, "We will not be able to conquer the people because they are stronger mimenu-[than us]" (13/31). The Levush explains that the word mimenu can also be pronounced mimeno-'than Him', referring to G-d. The spies inferred that G-d would be unable to conquer Israel. This claim seems surprising considering that all the Jews had witnessed G-d's miraculous victories over the Egyptians, and yet they were persuaded by the spies! What did the spies say to cause such doubt in G-d's abilities? They spoke of having seen the 'Nefilim' in Israel (13/33).

Who were the Nefilim that they instilled such panic? Nefilim comes from the word 'to fall'. These Nefilim were originally angels who 'fell' from Heaven to dwell among humans at the time of Enosh, 235 years after creation of the world. They were extremely powerful angels who came to the physical world in that corrupt era before the flood to prove that temptation and evil could be resisted. Unfortunately, they fell further into spiritual corruption than their mortal neighbors and eventually led rebellions against G-d. The Jews understood that physical barriers were no obstacles for G-d. However, these spiritually charged Nefilim seemed to pose a real threat.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains the inner reason for the spies opposing the entry into Israel. The desert represented a spiritually oriented lifestyle; Israel denoted physical reality. The spies were the leaders of the Jews and were concerned for the people's spiritual welfare. They saw how very lofty angels, the Nefilim, had tried and failed to overcome the potent lure of materialism. These pure beings 'fell' from spiritual heights to the most base depths.

A fortiori, the assumption was that if angels couldn't make it, how much more so we humans. We have no hope standing up against the odds of a physical existence in Israel. In Israel the Jews would be compelled to work the land, engage in business, cook, sew, do laundry, etc.-time consuming mundane tasks they did not perform in the desert. The spies saw the desert as ideal for spiritual pursuit. Entering Israel and tending to physical matters could be of spiritual harm and a temptation to the Jews, so, if possible, better to avoid it completely. (Ultimately, the Jews were punished for believing the spies. They were decreed to wander, and the men to perish, in the desert for the next 40 years)

Yehoshua and Kalev recognized the mistake of the other spies and answered, "...do not fear the nation of the Land" (14/9). We are more capable than the angels. G-d has placed a G-dly soul within each Jew thereby giving us the ability not only to withstand the temptation of physicality but also to instill the world with spirituality. This is what Yehoshua and Kalev knew: that every Jew is not only strong enough to overcome the lowest physical elements but can even transform them to vessels for serving G-d. May each and every one of us succeed in making the factors of our life -including the smallest details- vehicles for holiness, and may this lead to the immediate redemption.

Shabbat Shalom, Shaul

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For last year's essay by Rabbi Leiter on this week's Reading, see the archive.

from the Chabad Master series, produced by Rabbi Yosef Marcus for

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FROM THE SAGES OF KABBALAH

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Specifically, for an overview of the recommended articles in the columns:
Holy Zohar, Holy Ari, Mystic Classics, Chasidic Masters, Contemporary Kabbalists, and more,
click to

Shelach

one sample:

Contemporary Kabbalists

Ascend and Conquer

From the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe; adapted by Moshe-Yaakov Wisnefsky

Moses had commanded the spies to first check the details necessary to wage the war, and only afterwards to ascertain the extent of the reward, the fertility of the land. The spies began their report by saying, "The land flows with milk and honey ". Caleb immediately silenced them as he realized that their focus was upon the reward.

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this week's:

KOL Magazine, Vol. 7, No.40

This week's Torah reading, Shelach, is built around the sad rejection of the Jewish people in the desert to "making aliyah" to the Promised Land.
The antidote is to arouse in ourselves love and fondness for the Land and for life in it.
The third article is an excerpt from "Tuv HaAretz", a mystical 17th century book explaining about the holiness of the Land as understood in Kabbalah,
highly relevant to the Reading. The last two articles (6-7) also relate to the same subject.

Sample:
The Heavenly Root of Animals — Consuming Quail

Adapted from the works of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi

Jewish philosophy teaches that the flavors of plants and fruit, and the physical substance of foods like meat, are actually rooted in a higher plane of spiritual existence than is humankind. In a nutshell, the meaning of this derives from the fact that G-d is infinite and this physical world is finite; there is quite a distance, in a manner of speaking, in between.

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