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 # 243, The
Concept of Prison in Jewish Law. Good Shabbos!
Sarah's Message Passes to Yehoshua by Way of the Yud
Many of us are familiar with a very famous Chazal, a statement of our Sages,
in this week's parsha. Before Moshe sent out the spies, he changed the name
of 'Hoshea' bin Nun to 'Yehoshua'. The letter 'Yud', which was added to the
start of the name, symbolized 'G-d' -- as if to say "May G-d save you from
the plan of the spies". Our Sages tell us that this 'Yud' was the same 'Yud'
that was dropped from Sarai's name when Avraham's wife's name was changed
to Sarah.
Virtually everyone who has picked up a pen to write a commentary on the
Torah discusses this Rabbinic teaching. Why Sarah? I would like to share two
insights into what it was about Sarah's name that might have been beneficial
to Yehoshua at precisely this time.
Rav Elyakim Schlesinger, in his commentary Beis Av, suggests that Yehoshua
was in need of strength to help him avoid falling in with bad company. Sarah
exemplified such strength. When Yitzchak was a young boy, Sarah realized
that he was falling under the influence of Yishmael, and she insisted that
Hagar and Yishmael must be sent out of the house. She knew what type of
influence the 'wrong crowd' could have on a person. As cruel as it might
have seemed at the time -- to force Avraham to send out his own son -- Sarah
realized that it was absolutely necessary -- because of the power and
influence of the wrong associations. This is what Sarah stood for.
When Moshe Rabbeinu suspected that Yehoshua would need the inner fortitude
and strength to go against the crowd, he imbued Yehoshua with a portion of
the name of Sarah -- so that he should gain this aspect of Sarah's own
strength of personality.
Rav Nissan Alpert suggests a different interpretation. There is another
difficulty in this Parsha. When Moshe Rabbeinu sent out the spies, he gave
them a variety of instructions. First, he asked them to make a military
assessment of the people and cities of the land. In addition, Moshe asked
them to assess the land itself -- in terms of its fertility and intrinsic
goodness. When spies are sent on a mission, we usually view them as a
strategic tool. We can readily understand the instructions to assess the
military potential. However, the instructions to investigate the land itself
in terms of the quality of the fruit and its fertility seems out of place in
a spy mission.
The explanation is that Moshe Rabbeinu was not only sending them as
strategic spies. Moshe was also trying to instill an attitude in them -- the
attitude that "This is your land". Moshe did not want them to go as mere
spies, but as "Ba'alei Batim" -- the owners of the land. "Go check out
_your_ land -- where your homes will be located. Check out the real estate,
check out the farming, check out the productivity." Why? "Because this is
going to be your land. You must look at it as if it is already yours."
Approaching Eretz Yisroel [Land of Israel] with the attitude "this is mine"
is totally different than the attitude of a normal strategic spy. A spy
thinks in terms of _whether_ we will be able to succeed; the owner thinks
in terms of _how_ -- what method should we use. That is the spirit that
Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to instill in the spies -- that the question is not
"whether" -- the question is "how".
Moshe Rabbeinu considered it vital for Yehoshua to understand this idea.
There will be no compromise. There is no question. It is ours. Who, in
Tanach, said that Eretz Yisroel is ours, lock - stock - and barrel? It was
Sarah: "This one will not inherit with my son" [Bereshis 21:10]. Yishmael
will not have a portion in this land. It belongs completely to Yitzchak,
with no partnership and no compromise. Eretz Yisroel belongs to the Jewish
nation. It does not belong to Ishmaelites [descendants of Yishmael]. It is
_ours_.
Therefore, Moshe Rabbeinu took the 'Yud' from the Matriarch Sarah and gave
it to Yehoshua. One must enter the Land of Israel with Sarah's attitude.
I am not here to make political statements. This is not an endorsement of
any political position. But this is the attitude that we must have --
regarding true ownership of Eretz Yisroel. It is _ours_ because G-d gave it
to us. This is the attitude that the spies needed to have upon entering the
land -- "Look over _your_ real estate. It is _yours_ and it does not belong
to anyone else." That is the only way to conquer Eretz Yisroel.
This week's write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tapes on the weekly Torah portion (#243).
The corresponding halachic portion for this tape is: The Concept of Prison
in Jewish Law. The other halachic portions for this parsha from the Commuter
Chavrusah Series are:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
and is available through your local Hebrew book store or from Project Genesis, 1-410-654-1799.
