Parshat Shelach - A False Front
by Rabbi Lobel

As the Children of Israel were about to enter Israel, they came to Moses and sought permission to first send spies. According to Nachmandies (13:2), Israel claimed the spies were needed to understand the layout of the land in order to prepare for war.

However, as the Ralbag explains (13:3; see also second Toelet on Parshat Shelach), Israel had no need to strategize. After witnessing the miracles in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the Wilderness, surely the Israelites could rely upon G-d to bring them into the Land of Canaan.

Still, Moses asked G-d on their behalf and G-d granted permission.

As the Medrash Rabba (Bamidbar Rabba 16:7) explains, G-d knew the real reason Israel wanted to send spies; they lacked trust that G-d would bring them to a “good land” (Deuteronomy 8:7). However, if G-d did not grant permission for the spies, the Israelites would have said, “the reason G-d is not allowing us to see the land is because it's not a good land.”

The episode is difficult to understand. What were the people thinking? That they could deceive G-d? That G-d would not know they were motivated by a lack of faith? Or that, regardless, they were justified in asking for spies they didn’t need?

The Children of Israel stood at Mt. Sinai and heard the voice of G-d. How could they rationalize their actions?

From here we see the terrible power of the yetzer hara, the evil inclination, how a tiny lack of faith in G-d can push the leaders of Israel’s greatest generation to act irrationally and then make excuses. All the more so, for our own sakes, we must be prepared to critically examine our actions and honestly ask ourselves if we’re doing the right thing.