Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Shlach Lecha
Yet the reaction to these two incidents is radically different. After the Egel HaZahav, there was a strong reproach from Hashem & some bloodletting, but then we moved on. Yet in the wake of the Meraglim, an entire generation of 600,000 souls would die out & our entrance into Israel would be delayed by 40 years of wandering!
Why the huge discrepancy between the two incidents?
One suggestion is that the sin of the Calf was an error in faith - we thought we needed a go-between in order to reach Hashem - while the Spies episode was essentially a failure of morals & Midot, primarily our lack of self-confidence. And while you can teach people the basics of faith & religion in relatively short order (just witness the rapid metamorphosis of ba’alei teshuva!), changing the personality traits of a nation was a monumental task & would take much, much longer.
But there is another fundamental difference between the Egel & the Meraglim. In the case of the Egel HaZahav, who were the primary perpetrators? The general public, the rank-and-file, the "man in the street" (note that the women heroically did not take part!) They were the ones that agitated for & built the Calf; Moshe was busy up on the Mount & Ahron couldn't stop them.
Yet who perpetrated the sin of the Spies? The Princes, the leaders, the creme-de-la-creme of each & every Shevet! These were men chosen to be our heroes & role models, yet they turned into spineless wimps with neither the spirit nor the strength to do the job. Somewhere down the line, they lost their nerve, their faith, their sense of historical purpose. And they failed us.
While G-d can forgive the average person for sometimes failing to live up to all of his or her potential, leaders are special & they are judged by infinitely higher standards. The nation depends upon them, & they dare not lose their will. For if they fall, then many will fall with them, & so the penalty for their failure will be very severe.
If you lack that inner courage, if you can't take the heat, better not to become a leader - & certainly not to stay in that position when you do waver.
Good advice - then and now.
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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Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part I
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Our King on Rosh Hashana, Our Father on Yom Kippur.
Based on Aroch Siach, p. 221 (Rav Shaul Yisraeli)
