The desire for honor is a destructive force of immense power and Luzzatto cites numerous examples of great men who were ruined by it. Most tragic of all is what happened to the national leaders sent by Moshe to spy on the Land of Canaan.
According to the sages, this is what caused the spies to speak negatively about the land, bringing death upon themselves and their entire generation. They were afraid lest their honor be diminished after entering the land, since they would no longer be princes of the tribes and others would take their place (cf. Zohar 3:158).
In short, in a vain attempt to save their jobs, the spies rebelled against God and very nearly destroyed the Chosen Nation. Luzzatto quotes this explanation from the Zohar and it is indeed difficult to see how it fits into the plain reading of the story. Before setting out on their mission, these men were “distinguished” and “kosher” (Rashi to Bamidbar 12:3). According to the Zohar, they weren’t kosher, they were narcissistic low-lives! Moreover, we are told that intense prayer was needed to save Yehoshua and Kalev from joining the plot (cf. Rashi to 12:16,22). If the treason of the spies was merely a political game to hold on to power, they are guilty of a transparent and brazen act of evil! How could men of the caliber of Yehoshua and Kalev be suspected of such degradation? Another question. Why does this interpretation appear in the Zohar? The motivation of the spies should be recorded in the Revealed Torah, in the Talmud or Midrash. Why is it classified as part of the Hidden Torah?
The answer is that we are dealing with an unknown. No one knew what was motivating the spies. Not Moshe, not Yehoshua, and not the spies themselves. The fear of losing face was buried deep within their psyche. It is a hidden Torah.
The negative spin the spies put on the Land of Israel had every appearance of being intellectually honest. The arguments were robust and there was no visible agenda other than national security. The idea that these distinguished leaders had a personal agenda was unthinkable and Yehoshua and Kalev were challenged to hold their ground.
The spies were not guilty of blatant lies, they were guilty of subconscious fear; fear of demotion, fear of the return to ordinary citizenship. As they struggled against God, they lacked the self awareness to recognize the true source of their behavior. That was their sin.
The spies were not guilty of blatant lies, they were guilty of subconscious fear; fear of demotion, fear of the return to ordinary citizenship. As they struggled against God, they lacked the self awareness to recognize the true source of their behavior. That was their sin.
The Mussar of Miriam
Rashi introduces the story of the spies with a new angle on their sin.
Why is the episode of the spies juxtaposed with the episode of Miriam? The answer is that [Miriam] was punished for the negative speech she spoke about her brother, ורשעים הללו ראו ולא לקחו מוסר, and these evil people saw and did not “take Mussar,” they did not learn the lesson.
The spies’ negative report was undoubtedly a failure of faith, but what exactly were they supposed to learn from Miriam? Not to speak Lashon HaRa? That lesson is easily refuted. Miriam was punished for speaking against Moshe. Disparaging people is wrong, especially if the person in question the leader of the nation and the greatest human being who ever lived. Why does it follow that it is also prohibited to speak against the inanimate Land of Israel?
The meaning of the Midrash quoted by Rashi will become clear when we understand the error that caused Miriam to sin.
Miriam criticized her brother for practicing asceticism and separating from his wife. “Does Hashem only speak with Moshe?! He also speaks with us!” (12:2). Ordinary prophets are permitted to marry, and due to her brother’s unassuming character – “The man Moshe was more humble than any person on the face of the earth” (12:3) – Miriam assumed he was no different. Hashem castigated Miriam and revealed the truth about Moshe.
“Listen now to My words! If you will have a prophet, I, God, will make Myself known to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moshe! … With him I speak mouth to mouth… Why were you unafraid to speak against My servant, against Moshe?” (12:6-7)
The Torah could not be clearer. Miriam’s criticism of Moshe was misplaced because she was ignorant of his exalted spiritual level. The takeaway is no less clear. There is more to people than meets the eye. We cannot judge their behavior, we cannot know the nature of their relationship with Hashem, and we cannot divine their motivations.
This was the lesson the spies missed. Had they had spent some time thinking about what happened to Miriam, it might have led to an epiphany: If Miriam does not know her brother, maybe we do not know our selves? Maybe we should not be so confident? Maybe we should question our motivations? Had they done so, the spies may have discovered what it says in the Zohar. Their anti-Israel sentiment was not principled. They were simply afraid of losing their jobs.
Self-knowledge is the very definition of Mussar. This was the lesson the spies failed to learn from Miriam.
This d'var Torah is very interesting. However, there is a logical leap from Miriam misjudging Moshe's caliber to the Meraglim misjudging their own motivations. Is it possible that Miriam misjudged her own motivation in speaking to Aharon about Moshe (i.e. She was doing so "for Moshe's own good") and the Meraglim should have learned from that to carefully assess their own motivations? Granted this means they would have to intuit that Miriam's motivations must have been pure (given her own righteousness) and still she was punished, but I think this provides more of a parallel between the two.
ReplyDeleteYour suggestion would indeed bring the sin of Miriam more in line with our understanding of the sin of the spies, however, I do not know what might have motivated Miriam other than Moshe's own good. Unless Miriam thought Moshe was behaving arrogantly? And she was unaware of feeling put-off?
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