Parshat Devarim
6 Av 5764

July 24, 2004
Daf Yomi: Bechoros 42

Guest Author:
Rabbi David Rabhan

Young Israel of Manalapan, NJ

 

In this week's portion we are confronted with one of the two versions (the first version can be found in Parshas Shelach) of the story of the Spies and the terrible calamity that ensued. Moses charged the Spies to bring back a report of the land and the Spies proceeded to spread a "false" report of the land to the Jewish people. As a consequence, the Jewish people were commanded by G-d, to wander the Desert for forty years.

When we compare and contrast the two sections of the Spies there are many surprising differences between the two versions of the story. In the 13th Chapter of Numbers, the decision to send the Spies emanates from G-d and only from G-d alone. "Shelach lecha Anashim", you (Moses) should send Men (spies) to spy out the land of Israel.

In Deuteronomy 1:22, the idea to send the Spies emanates from the people. "Vatikrevun Aylay Kulechem Vatomroo nishlecha anashim lefananu", �All of you approached me (Moses) and said let us send men ahead of us.� In the following verse Moses states that he concurs and agrees with the idea. What is fascinating is that in the account in Deut. With Moses as the speaker, G-D'S ROLE IS NOT MENTIONED AT ALL.

To add to the difficulty, when we refer back to Numbers 13 with G-d, so to speak, as the speaker, Moses' and the people 's role as originators of sending the Spies is completely omitted. From Numbers 13 it is G-d and G-d alone who decides to send the spies and in Deut.1 it is the people who request the Spies and their request is supported by Moses. The obvious question is quite simply, what happened? Whose idea was it to send the Spies?

Our Rabbis explain that the two accounts are to be understood as two pieces of the same puzzle. Initially, the idea to send the Spies emanated from the Jewish people. Moses, for various reasons, concurred. He asked G-d for permission to send the Spies and G-d granted permission, which is recorded in Numbers 13. Thus the order of the accounts are backwards. In reality, Deut. 1 initially transpired and then subsequently, Numbers13 occurred.

The question then emerges, Why is the Torah written A) out of order B) why are there two fragments of the story? Why didn't G-d include the role of the people and Moses, and why didn't Moses include the role of G-d.

I believe that the Torah is teaching us a very important lesson about how we approach and relate to failures. Success in life is sweet and enjoyable. We pray for success and we yearn for it. When we are successful there are invariably many people who feel, and oftentimes rightfully so, that they were part of the process.

In situations of failure the opposite often occurs. Invariably there is a scramble to distance oneself from the failure and to find a convenient scapegoat to take the responsibility away from us.

To quote the popular maxim: Success has many fathers, while failure is a lonely orphan.

In the Torah there are many examples of this phenomenon, particularly at the beginning of Genesis. Adam is confronted by G-d and G-d asks Adam, have you eaten from the fruit of the tree of Knowledge? Adam responds that it wasn't his fault. Adam proceeds to blame Eve directly and G-d indirectly for his indiscretion.

It was G-d who created Eve and without this creation, Adam would not have sinned. Consequently, according to Adam, it's G-d's fault that he, Adam ate from the forbidden fruit.
Eve ate from the forbidden fruit first. She gave the fruit to Adam. Had Eve not been present then Adam would not have sinned. Consequently it is not Adam's fault that he, Adam violated G-d's only commandment.

In the next chapter when G-d confronts Cain, G-d asks Cain where is your brother. Cain, like his father Adam can not admit that a sin has been committed. Cain, like his father Adam could not admit to failure and Cain tried to distance himself from the catastrophe.

I believe that the selection of Judah and David for the Torah Monarchy relates to their general willingness to accept responsibility and their capacity to admit publicly to their sins and mistakes.

King David accepts responsibility for his actions and their consequences. When the Prophet Nathan confronted King David concerning David's role in the Bathsheba incident and said "Atah HaIsh," (you (King David) are the man who committed an immoral act), King David responds �Chataseeh� (I sinned)

To accept responsibility in a situation of failure is the prerequisite for leadership and the monarchy. King David is a shining example that G-d does not expect perfection, rather he expects us to admit our mistakes and to take responsibility for our actions.

G-d himself teaches this principle in recounting the story of the Spies. When we are first introduced to the story, G-d does not mention that the initial idea to send the Spies came from the people. This crucial omission creates an initial perception that it was G-d's idea to send the Spies, when it clearly wasn't.
G-d teaches us through the means of this omission, not to blame others when a plan or idea fails. The silence screams to us, that although the idea originated with the people and the idea found favor in the eyes of Moses, however G-d went along with the idea, and he does not hide his participation in this failure.

In Deut. Moses reviews the history of the Jewish people during the desert era. The purpose of this review is to learn from the mistakes and sins of the past 40 years to prevent their repetition in the future. As the speaker throughout Deut., Moses obviously learned from G-d's example that one not avoid taking responsibility when a plan or course of action fails.

When Moses recounts the story of the Spies he omits G-d's involvement. Why? Since Moses agreed with the idea to send Spies, he takes responsibility and does not try to obfuscate his own involvement. (The Jewish people's involvement is mentioned because in the context of Deut. Moses' purpose is to teach the Jewish people not to repeat the mistakes of the past.)
It's not easy to admit failure. It can be excruciatingly difficult to take responsibility for mistakes. But when one does take responsibility one is performing a noble, G-dly activity. This course of action is so dear to G-d that I believe it is a prerequisite for Monarchy. [With a little Homiletic license I would like to apply an opinion of Rabbi Joshua, who simply said that all Jews are the sons of Kings. It is time to act as such.]

Good Shabbos.

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