Rabbi Frand on Parshas Shlach
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi
Yissocher Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion:
Tape # 105, Tallis: Does It Cover Only Married Men? Good Shabbos!
Borrowing From the Strength of Sarah our Matriarch
This week the Torah recounts the mission of the spies. The verse
lists the names of the various spies. We all know that one of the
spies was Yehoshua. The verse makes a point of telling us that his
name had been Hoshea bin Nun and Moshe -- at this point in time --
changes his name to Yehoshua.
Many of us are familiar with the teaching of our Rabbis that the
letter Yud that was added to the name Hoshea came from the name of our
first Matriarch. Sarah originally was called Sarai. Moshe took the
Yud that was dropped from her name and gave it to Hoshea.
There is an interesting Medrash in the book of Bereshis: The Yud was
upset at being dropped from the name of our Matriarch and complained
before the Heavenly Throne. The Yud protested, "Because I am the
smallest letter, You took me away from the righteous woman? That's
not fair!"
G-d responded, "Before you were at the end of a name, now I am going
to put you at the beginning of a name... (You are not being
discriminated against, on the contrary -- it is a promotion!)."
This is the type of Medrash that begs for explanation.
In previous years, we mentioned an interesting Targum Yonasan ben
Uziel. He explains that Moshe added an extra letter to Hoshea's name
after witnessing Hoshea's humility.
Moshe anticipated that Yehoshua would need tremendous strength and
assertiveness to stand up against the other spies in defending the
Land and the plan to inhabit it. Moshe felt that because of his
personality traits, Hoshea did not have the resolve necessary to stand
up and fight. That is why he had to give him the new name including
the letter Yud.
But still, what does the Yud from Sarai have to do with protecting
Hoshea? The Menachem Zion says a wonderful interpretation:
If there was one personality in Tanach who had this inner fortitude,
to stand up to adversity and know how to fight ill influences, that
was our Matriarch Sarah. When she saw that there was a Yishmael
growing up with her son Yitzchak and she saw that this person would
provide the wrong type of influence for her son, she knew what type of
action was necessary.
She insisted, "Send this lady out of my house with her son, into the
desert!" When Avraham questioned her how he could act so cruelly, G-d
told him, "All that Sarai tells you, listen to her" [Bereshis 21:12].
That took a tremendous strength. But a mother knew what was right for
her child. She knew that so-called compassion now would end in
cruelty. What was required over here was to say emphatically, "I am
sorry. I will not have my son ruined!"
Yehoshua also required that. There were 10 people, great and worthy
leaders. It would be necessary to stand-up to the Gedolei HaDor, in
effect. Where does one get that strength? One gets it from what
Sarah our Matriarch had.
Sarah was the Torah prototype when it came to standing up to the wrong
crowd. That is what G-d told the 'Yud'. "I need you, Yud. You
represent the strength of personality that will be needed by
Yehoshua."
There is a powerful Medrash in Mishlei. In the chapter of the Woman
of Valor (Chapter 31) we read, "...she seeks out wool and linen..."
The Medrash Tanchuma says, "This refers to Sara who told Avraham 'Send
out this hand-maiden and her son.'"
What is the interpretation of the Medrash?
We know that wool and linen is Sha'tnez -- they cannot be mixed
together. Wool by itself may be fine. Linen by itself may be fine.
But together they are no good. The woman who "expounded concerning
wool and linen" -- who knew that certain combinations are no good --
was Sarah, who insisted that Hagar and Yishmael be sent away.
Yehoshua needs this ability to recognize when to take action and this
strength of personality to persevere and stand up for what is right.
That is why it was the Yud from Sarai that was given to Yehoshua.
A Timely Enactment: Aleinu L'Shabeach (We Need to Give Thanks...)
Later in the Parsha the verse tells us that the Meraglim came back and
reported, "And we were like grasshoppers in our eyes, and so too we
were in their eyes" [Bamidbar 13:33].
"We heard them saying, 'There are people-ants crawling around in the
fields.'" [Rash"i ibid.]
Rav Yaakov Kamenesky, z"tl, explains that the reason they looked like
ants to the inhabitants of the Land was because they saw themselves as
ants in their own eyes.
Rav Yaakov says, "If you hold yourself to be a rag (shmateh), others
will hold you to be a rag as well!" If one thinks he has no chance,
he will, in fact, have no chance.
We have a mesorah [tradition] that before Yehoshua took the Jews into
Israel he instituted the prayer "Aleinu L'Shabeach" in which we thank
G-d that "He did not make our portion as their portion and did not
make us like the families of the earth." We are not like idol
worshippers, we are not like the misdirected of other nations -- they
bow down to vanity and nothingness, to a god that will not save!
Rather, we bow down and give thanks to the King, King of Kings, the
Holy One Blessed be He. We are special. We are Jews.
This is the only attitude with which they would be able to conquer an
Eretz Yisrael. The tefilah that the new generation was given was an
antidote for the inferiority complex of the old generation. The old
generation held themselves to be like ants. So long as they
maintained that view of themselves, it would be impossible to do
battle with the 31 Kings of Canaan. The cure for that was to go in
with the attitude -- we must thank G-d for not making us like the
nations.
Personalities & Sources:
Menachem Zion --Rabbi Menachem Ben-Zion Zachs
Targum Yonatan ben Uziel -- Aramaic translation of the Torah,
attributed to Yonathan ben Uziel
(circa 50 c.e.)
Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky -- (1892-1986) Rosh Yeshiva of Mesifta Torah
VaDaath, New York City.
Glossary
Meraglim - Spies
Gedolei HaDor -- Greats of the generation
Sha'tnez -- forbidden species
This week's write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi
Yissochar Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tapes on the weekly Torah
portion (#105). The corresponding halachic portion for this tape is:
Tallis: Does It Cover Only Married Men? The other halachic
portions for Parshas Shlach from the Commuter Chavrusah Series
are:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection
of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
