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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Shlach Lecha
The tragic tale of the Meraglim – the spies sent to scout out the Land of Israel for conquest – not only ends bad, it reverberates eternally throughout our history. Our lack of faith in Hashem - & our own low self-esteem – result not only in our wandering for 40 years in the desert until that generation died out, it "replays" every year on Tisha B’Av. As we mourn the loss of both Batei Mikdash – on the very date the spies gave their report, 9 Av – we sit low in semi-darkness to simulate that low self-esteem.
But there is some light in this dark story, too. Calev & Yehoshua courageously attempt to rally the nation & restore their confidence with a memorable double-set of words, "Aloh-Na’aleh" & "Yachol-Nuchal, we can ascend, we can succeed."
Now, most commentators see the double-phraseology as a form of accentuation, indicating power & certainty, as if to say, "we surely can go up; we definitely can do it!" But I have another thought about these words.
When a rabbi receives his Semicha, the degree is usually called "Yoreh-Yoreh." This is a kind of question & answer: "Can he teach? Yes, he can teach!" I suggest that Calev is also posing this question to the nation, but with a twist. He asks the question in the singular, "can he go up?" but he answers it in the plural, "yes, we can go up!" "Can he do it?" "Yes, we can do it!"
Calev, I suggest, is admonishing the people that perhaps as individuals, these tasks are formidable – a former slave people dislodging 7 large, indigenous nations. But as a people, united, when we – both man & Hashem work together - there is no limit to what we can achieve.
Israel is the most challenging of nations. We are surrounded by enemies, & it often seems as if the whole world is breathing down our necks. We wonder, "how can we survive; how can we meet these challenges?" The answer is by doing it together, as one unit. Because when we operate in unison, we skew all the graphs, we beat all the odds, we confound all the experts.
True, I cannot always succeed; but we will always find a way. I alone cannot always bring miracles down from Heaven, but we have the ability to move Heaven & Earth.
So next time you ask yourself the question, "Can I do this?" be sure to answer, "Yes, we can do this!"
Rabbi Stewart Weiss
Was ordained at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, and led congregations in Chicago and Dallas prior to making Aliyah in 1992. He directs the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra'anana, helping to facilitate the spiritual absorption of new olim.
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