“Send out for yourself men who shall spy out the land of Canaan which I am giving to the children of Israel. You shall send out one man for each paternal tribe, and each one shall be a leader among them” (Numbers 13:2)
The Hebrew word for leader here is ‘nasi’ (Nun-Alef-Seen-Yud). These letters can spell out the words “ain” (nothing) and “yesh” (something). According to the Degel Machaneh Ephraim, this teaches us that a leader who regards himself as a ‘nothing’ is truly a ‘something’. But if he considers himself a ‘something’ – he’s really a ‘nothing’.
.By Rabbi Michael Skobac
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