Parshas Shlach
No Pain No Gain
By Rabbi Elly Broch
After more than a year in the wilderness - receiving the Torah, building
the Mishkan (Tabernacle), forging the foundation of our nationhood - the
Children of Israel were prepared to go into the Promised Land. But the
scouts they dispatched to spy the land returned with a damning report that
deflated the nation. "The entire assembly raised up and issued its voice;
the people wept that night. All the children of Israel murmured against
Moshe and Aaron, and the entire assembly said to them, 'If only we had died
in the land of Egypt.Why is G-d bringing us to this land to die by the
sword?'" (Bamidbar/Numbers 14:1-3)
How could the spies inform them that they would not be able to conquer the
land after all the miracles that they had seen in Egypt, when leaving Egypt
and at Mount Sinai? It should have been obvious to them that nothing is
impossible for the Master of the Universe.
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1) explains that there is a great difference between
individuals who have developed a faith in and loyalty to G-d through labor
and toil, and those who experience an epiphany through miracles and
wonders. The generation of the wilderness gained their awareness of G-d
through the miracles that they witnessed over the prior two years.
Although this generation had the greatest awareness of the Creator in the
history of the world, they were accustomed to believe only in that which
their eyes saw. Since they had only seen supernatural miracles, but had
not yet observed G-d's providence manifest in nature, such as His
intervention to assure victory in battle and conquest, they could not
fathom this type of miracle. Without supernatural intervention, they would
have to engage in a war that they could not naturally win. Since their
faith was rooted in G-d's obvious wonders they lacked a developed
awareness of G-d and the spiritual world, maintaining an attitude of "I'll
believe it when I see it". This generation believed because they did
actually see wonders, but they had not been trained to use their
intellectual faculties and rational thought to have faith even before any
sign of assistance or respite were apparent.
Rabbi Avigdor Miller (2) expounds that gaining a strong and authentic trust
in G-d takes a lifetime of effort. One must invest much time and effort
contemplating the design and complexity evident in Creation, the laws of
the Torah and its Prophesies, and accurate historical events on the world
level and individual level. Judaism does not embrace blind faith and a mere
utterance of "I believe". There must be honest and careful study of the
facts that result in an informed decision and a developed understanding of
our Creator.
Have a Good Shabbos!
(1) 1895-1986; Rosh Yeshiva/Dean of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem in New York
City; the leading Halachic/Jewish legal decisor of his time and one of the
principal leaders of Torah Jewry through much of the last century
(2) 1908-2001; a prolific author and popular speaker who specialized in
mussar (introspective Jewish self-improvement) and Jewish history, Rabbi
Miller commanded a worldwide following through his books and tapes: of the
tens of thousands of Torah lectures he delivered, more than 2,000 were
preserved on cassettes
Text Copyright © 2005 by Rabbi Elly Broch
and Torah.org.
Kol HaKollel is a publication of The Milwaukee Kollel Center for Jewish Studies · 5007 West Keefe Avenue · Milwaukee, Wisconsin · 414-447-7999
