Insights Parshas Shelach from Yeshiva Beis Moshe Chaim/Talmudic University

All Courtesy goes to Rabbi Zweig's Yeshiva

Parshas Shelach Sivan 5780 Based on the Torah of our Rosh HaYeshiva HaRav Yochanan Zweig Weekly Insights Printer Friendly Format  Click Here This week's Insights is dedicated in loving memory of Yisroal ben Aryeh Lieb, HaLevi, Stanley Schwartz. "May his Neshama have an Aliya!"    To Sponsor an Issue of Insights Click Here   Mob Mentality   These are the names of the men whom Moshe sent to spy out the land. And Moshe called Hoshea son of Nun "Yehoshua" (13:16). This week's parsha opens with the infamous incident of the twelve spies who were sent to explore Eretz Yisroel. The spies conspired to convey a very grim interpretation of what they observed during their forty day journey. This led to Bnei Yisroel questioning whether or not going into Eretz Yisroel was a good idea, which inexorably ended with Hashem's decreeing that Bnei Yisroel should wander the desert for forty years. This incident also led to the ninth day of Av being marked as a day of tragedy for all future generations. Only two of the original twelve spies refused to participate in the conspiracy of the others. Rashi cites the Gemara (Sotah 34b), which explains that Calev ben Yefunah traveled to Chevron to pray at the tombs of the patriarchs that he would not be ensnared in the plot of the others. Rava (ad loc) says that Moshe added a letter to Hoshea's name (a letter "yud" making his name Yehoshua, and creating Hashem's name with the first two letters) so that his name could be understood as meaning "Hashem should save you from the scheme of the spies." Why did Moshe only see fit to pray for Yehoshua? At the very least he could have also prayed for Calev, the other spy who didn't participate in the plot. This very same question seems to be bothering Targum Yonasan ben Uziel. The Targum comments on this very verse (13:16); "When Moshe saw his humility, he changed his name from Hoshea to Yehoshua." Yehoshua was a on a very high level and clearly was the greatest of all the heads of the tribes. He shadowed Moshe and was permitted to go on Mount Sinai where others were not. He also eventually succeeded Moshe Rabbeinu as leader of Bnei Yisroel, and as Rashi points out (Devarim 31:29), as long as Yehoshua was alive Moshe felt as if he himself was alive. Yet, Moshe saw Yehoshua's humility as a potential problem. Why? As we saw in last week's parsha (12:3), Moshe himself was the most humble person on the face of the earth! What was the problem with Yehoshua's humility? Moshe was concerned that Yehoshua's humility would prevent him from taking a stand against the other spies. The principal character trait of someone being modest and humble is the understanding that other people see things that he doesn't and that their perspective has some validity. Moshe was concerned that Yehoshua would be complicit with the other spies because his humility would prevent him from condemning them outright. Moshe himself had been vested with the responsibility of leading the Jewish people. Leadership requires making decisions that you feel are proper regardless of what others may think or say. Therefore, his responsibility to act in the best interest of Bnei Yisroel superseded his humility and it was thus not detrimental to his leadership ability. On the other hand, Yehoshua had not yet been chosen to be the leader of the Jewish people. Hence, his humility could possibly prevent him from taking a stand against them, so Moshe felt compelled to daven for Yehoshua.   Looking for more inspiration? Join one of Rabbi Zweig's live broadcast classes on RabbiZweig.com WYSIWYG Speak to Bnei Yisroel and say to them that they shall make themselves tzitzis on the corners of their garments...And they shall place upon the tzitzis of each corner a thread of turquoise. It shall then constitute tzitzis for you and shall see it and you shall remember all the commandments of Hashem... (15:38-39) This week's parsha ends with the instructions to make tzizis on our garments. This mitzvahis so precious and significant that all five verses have been incorporated as the final paragraph of the shema, which is said twice daily. Rashi (ad loc) says that the mitzvah of tzitzis reminds us of all the mitzvos in the Torah because the numerical value of the word tzitzis is 600 and there are 8 strings and 5 knots on every corner, equaling 613 - the number of mitzvos that Bnei Yisroel have to perform. Tosfos (Menachos 39a) points out, that in actuality, the Torah spells the word tzitzis without the second "yud." This renders the numerical value of the word tzitzis as 590 - not 600 as Rashi claims. Incredibly, Tosfos goes on to explain that the third instance of the word tzitzishas the letter "lamed" in front of it; if one divides the numerical value of 30 into the occurrences of the word tzitzis then we have an extra ten for each and we are back at Rashi's calculation of 600 as the numerical value of tzitzis. This Tosfos seems almost surreal; Tosfos doesn't usually give us far fetched explanations that sound like something made up by a school child. What does Tosfos mean? Remarkably, for something that is repeated twice every day of our lives, most of us fail to see that the simple translation of these verses do not seem to make sense: "they shall make themselves tzitzis on the corners of their garments...And they shall place upon the tzitzis of each corner a thread of turquoise. It shall then constitute tzitzis." What does the Torah mean they shall make tzitzis on the corners of their garments, then add a turquoise thread on the corner, and only then it shall constitute tzitzis? We already made it tzitzis in the first part of the verse! What does the Torah mean that after we add the techeles then it shall be tzitzis? Rashi (15:38) says that the word tzitzis has two meanings; the first meaning is tassels. By adding threads to the corner we now have tassels on each corner. The second explanation of tzitzis is to peer; as tzitzis are something to look at, as the possuk says; "and you shall look at it" (15:39). Rashi is giving us an incredible clue on how these pesukim are to be read: You should put tzitzis on each corner of your garment. Now you have tassels on each corner known as tzitzis. But that isn't enough. When you add the blue thread you are changing the essence of the tzitzis from merely tassels on a garment to something that you gaze at. As the Talmud (Menachos 43b) teaches, "The color blue is similar to the sea, which is like the clear blue sky, which is the color of the God's heavenly throne." In other words, gazing at the techeles reminds us of Hashem and, presumably, our obligation to keep all His mitzvos. Adding the techeles changes the very essence of the tzitzis. This is what Tosfos is telling us. The third occurrence of the the word tzitzis, which follows adding the techeles to each corner, refers to the change of the very essence of the tzitzisfrom tassels to something to gaze at to remind us of all the mitzvos. That's why the "lamed" that precedes it is divided with the other two to give each one a value of 600. Coupled with each one's 8 strings at 5 knots gives us 613 which, as the possuk so clearly states; "you will see them and be reminded of all the mitzvos of Hashem." Did You Know... In this week's parsha, the meraglim scout Eretz Yisroel, return with some huge fruit, and give a terribly slanderous report of the terrors that awaited Bnei Yisroel in Eretz Yisroel. Exactly how big were the fruit that they brought back? The Gemara (Sotah 34a) and the Me'em Lo'ez (Shlach 1 13:23) cite Sefer Yehoshua (4:2), that men had to carry a stone that weighed 40 se'ah each (even though those weren't the same men, they're assuming all men could lift that). The Me'em Lo'ez (Shlach 1, 13:23) explains that since a se'ah is about 17 pounds, each of the meraglim was able to lift about 680 pounds. In any case, the fact that one man was strong enough to carry this tremendous burden shows the great strength the Jews of time possessed (Tosofos Chadashim, pe'eh 6:6). In the Gemara (Sotah 34a) it explains that we can calculate how heavy the cluster of grapes were since we know eight people carried it. Additionally, we have a rule that a person can lift three times more than he can lift by himself when he's carrying it with other people. Therefore, the Me'em Lo'ez (ibid) explains that each person was able to carry over 2,000 pounds, which makes that one cluster a grand total of over 16,000 pounds, or 8 tons. To understand the enormity of this, the average car weighs around a measly 4,000 pounds. The Me'em Lo'ez continues and explains that this is why the place they cut them was called "the river of the cluster." The amount of wine that came from these grapes literally made a river. Besides the eight people who carried these grapes, one person carried a pomegranate and another a fig. Yehoshua and Calev refused to carry anything as they realized it would be used to slander Eretz Yisroel. When the giants saw them picking fruit, Talmai (one of the giants) roared at them, making them fall down unconscious out of terror. The giants woke them up gently and told them not to be afraid, as the "God of the Jews owns everything." The giants let them leave in peace, and were rewarded with long life until the destruction of the second Beis Hamikdash. The Me'em Lo'ez cites another opinion, which says that the spies didn't want to take the fruit back, but Calev drew his sword and threatened to kill them if they didn't bring back the fruit to show how blessedly luxuriant they were (Tanchuma, Yalkut Shemoni). This Week's String of Reminders Parsha Breaks are short Divrei Torah (generally 5-7 minutes long) given by the Rosh HaYeshiva between Mincha and Maariv at one of the Yeshiva's daily minyanim.  These links can easily be downloaded on your smartphone.