PARSHAT SHELACH – WHO ARE YOU SPYING FOR? · Sukkat Shalom B'nei Noach

Parshas Shelach begins with a mission: Moshe sends leaders of Israel to scout the Land of Canaan. The Torah emphasizes that these were not ordinary men; they were “heads of the Children of Israel.”1

Yet these leaders returned with a report that broke the nation’s spirit. They said that the inhabitants were too strong and that “we cannot go up.” On the simple level they meant: the nations are stronger than us. But the Gemara reads the word mimenu more sharply: they spoke as if, G-d forbid, the nations were stronger than Hashem. Chazal express this as if they had said that even “the Master of the house” could not remove His vessels
from there.2,3

How could leaders who had seen the Exodus, the splitting of the sea, the manna, and the clouds of glory say such a thing? Chassidus explains that their fear was not only military. They feared spiritual involvement. In the desert, everything came from Above. In Eretz Yisrael, bread would come from the earth. The manna would cease; the people would have to plow, plant, harvest, build, govern, fight, trade, and create society.4

The spies thought: in the desert Hashem is openly present, but in the Land we will be swallowed by nature. Their mistake was to place Hashem above the world but not within the world. The Rebbe explains that the purpose is not to escape nature, but to sanctify nature — to make the finite, familiar world into a dwelling place for Hashem.5

The Desert and the Land

The desert represents holiness received from Above: bread from Heaven, water from Miriam’s well, clothing that did not wear out, and a life protected from ordinary material pressure.6

Eretz Yisrael represents a deeper mission. It is not a descent from holiness into the ordinary. It is an ascent into the purpose of creation: to reveal Hashem inside the ordinary. This is why, after the story of the spies, the Torah speaks about eating “from the bread of the Land” and separating challah. Even bread made through human effort must be raised up to Hashem.7

The maamar Vehayah Be’acholchem MiLechem Ha’aretz explains that there are two kinds of bread: lechem min hashamayim, bread from Heaven, and lechem min ha’aretz, bread from the earth. Bread from Heaven is revelation from Above. Bread from the earth is the work of refining the physical world from below. Entering the Land means that human effort becomes the vessel for Divine blessing.8

This is the balanced point: Hashem acts both beyond nature and within nature. But man must enter the world and do his avodah. The Torah says, “Hashem your G-d has blessed you in all the work of your hands,” and “Hashem your G-d will bless you in all that you do.” The hands must work; the blessing comes from Hashem.9,10

Are We Spies for Hashem or for Ourselves?

In a deep sense, we are all spies. A spy is sent into a place, observes reality, and brings back a report. Every soul is sent into the world and sees business, family, money, politics, illness, fear, power, opportunity, and responsibility. Then each person gives a report: what does this world mean?

There are two kinds of spies. A spy for himself asks: Will I be safe? Will I lose comfort? Will I be respected? Can I control the outcome? Is this good for me?

A spy for Hashem asks: What does Hashem want from me here? How can I bring truth, justice, dignity, and Gdliness into this situation? How can my work, speech, family, money, and choices become part of Hashem’s purpose?

The meraglim were sent to discover how to enter the Land, but they returned arguing not to enter. This is where a meragel becomes close to a boged: a scout gathers information; a traitor betrays the mission. The tragedy is that they may have sounded responsible. But their report served fear rather than Hashem’s mission.

“Hashem is with us; do not fear them.”11

Calev and Yehoshua saw the same facts. They did not deny the giants, the fortified cities, or the danger. They denied that these were the final truth. Their report was not self-interest. It was mission.

The Self-Image of a Spy

The deepest line of the spies is:

“We were in our own eyes like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes.”12

Their failure began with “in our own eyes.” Before the giants defeated them, they defeated themselves. They were leaders, sent by Moshe, carrying a mission from Hashem. But when they looked at themselves, they saw insects.

This is not humility. It is a broken self-image. True humility says: I am small, but Hashem is great. False humility says: I am small, therefore Hashem’s mission is impossible. Moshe Rabbeinu was the humblest man on earth, but he was not passive. His humility made him a vessel for Hashem, not a grasshopper.13

For this reason the teaching of tzelem Elokim is central. A human being must never see himself as an insect. Every person is created in the image of G-d. Rabbi Akiva taught that “Love your fellow as yourself” is a great principle in the Torah. Ben Azzai taught that “This is the book of the generations of Adam” is an even greater principle, because before love there must be dignity: every human being descends from Adam and is created in the likeness of Gd.14,15,16

This is true for Jews and for Bnei Noach. A person is not a grasshopper. A person is a moral being, created by Hashem, responsible before Hashem, and capable of choosing good

The Fox Inside the Argument

The spies did not sound crude. They sounded practical: the cities are fortified, the people are strong, and the land will consume us. This is why Hayom Yom, 23 Sivan, is so relevant. The Rebbe brings that the animal soul is not called “animal” because it is always coarse. Sometimes it is like a fox — clever, subtle, and dressed in the clothing of humility, sincerity, or righteousness.17

That was the danger. Their fear sounded like wisdom. Their lack of emunah sounded like responsibility. Their broken self-image sounded like humility. But not every cautious argument is truth. Sometimes the yetzer hara says: “Be realistic. You are too small. The world is too strong. Do not take the risk.”

The answer is not fantasy. Torah does not ask us to deny reality. The answer is to see reality with Hashem in it. The spies saw nature as a place where Hashem is absent. Calev and Yehoshua saw nature as the place where Hashem wants to be revealed

Which Clothing Is the Real You?

This is illustrated by the story of the businessman-chassid of the Rebbe Maharash. He was a successful businessman and felt uncomfortable conducting business in standard chassidic clothing, so during the year he wore modern business clothes. But when he came to Lubavitch, he would wear his chassidic garments. Eventually he felt this was hypocrisy and came to the Rebbe in his business suit. He explained that he did not want to fool the
Rebbe; this was what he wore all year. The Rebbe answered that he knew what the chassid wore outside Lubavitch, but had hoped the chassid understood that the modern clothes were fooling the world, while the chassidic garments expressed his true self.18

This story answers the question: where is the person real? The world says: you are real when you are in business clothing, fighting for money, survival, honor, and success; prayer and learning are the costume. Chassidus says the opposite: your real self is the soul, the person standing before Hashem. The clothing of the world may be necessary, but it must not define who you are.

The problem is not wearing the clothing of the world. The problem is forgetting who is inside the clothing. A Jew must go from the “desert” of prayer and learning into the “Land” of business and responsibility — but he must know that the prayer-self is the real self, and the business-self must serve that truth.

For the Jew

Every Jew experiences the desert and the Land every day. The Rebbe explains that the morning is the wilderness:
learning, prayer, and inner connection. Then a person enters the “land” of business, livelihood, and labor. The challenge is whether he will leave Hashem in shul, or bring Hashem into every human transaction.19

The Jewish mission is not only private spiritual elevation. It is to sanctify the world. A Jew must live so that “the Name of Heaven becomes beloved through him,” as Chazal explain on the verse “You shall love Hashem your Gd.”20

This means that business must be honest, speech refined, money handled with integrity, family life elevated, and worldly involvement used as a vessel for Hashem. The Jew is not meant to remain in the desert. He is meant to enter the Land as a shaliach.

For all Mankind

For a Ben Noach, the message is equally powerful. A Ben Noach is not commanded to live as an angel in a desert. His mission is in civilization: courts, family, business, speech, food, morality, justice, and respect for life.

The Seven Noahide Laws are not only prohibitions; they are the foundation of a world that recognizes Hashem. Do not worship idols: do not give independent power to nature, money, politics, fear, or violence. Do not blaspheme: speak of G-d with reverence. Do not murder: protect life. Do not steal: respect what belongs to others. Do not commit forbidden relations: guard family and morality. Do not eat from a living animal: reject cruelty. Establish courts: build justice.21

The Rambam writes that free choice is given to every person. If a person wants to turn himself to the good path and be righteous, the choice is in his hand; and if he wants to turn toward the bad path, the choice is also in his hand.22

Therefore a Ben Noach must not say: the world is too corrupt, the giants are too strong, politics is too powerful,business is too dirty, and I am only a grasshopper. A Ben Noach must say: the world has a Creator; I am created b’tzelem Elokim; I have free choice; I can build justice; I can make Hashem’s Name respected in the world.

The question of Shelach is not only what the spies saw. The question is who they were serving when they saw it.Were they spies for Hashem, or spies for their own fear and self-interest?

The same question faces every Jew and every Ben Noach. The world has giants. The cities are fortified. Nature feels powerful. Work can consume a person. Fear can sound intelligent. But the world is not ownerless. The world has a Baal HaBayis, your Creator. The desert teaches that Hashem is above nature. The Land teaches that Hashem
is within nature. The mission is to take the clarity of the desert and carry it into the Land.

Do not worship fear. Do not betray the mission. Do not call yourself a grasshopper. Enter the world as a messenger of Hashem. Work the land. Build society. Choose good. Create justice. Refine nature. Reveal the One G-d inside daily life.

The spies looked at the world and saw giants. Calev and Yehoshua looked at the same world and saw Hashem. That is the difference between a spy for himself and a spy for Hashem.

By Rabbi Avriel Rabenou

1 Bamidbar 13:2-3.
2 Bamidbar 13:31.
3 Sotah 35a; see also Chabad.org, Torah Studies: Shelach, “The Spies’ Despair.”
4 Chabad.org, Torah Studies: Shelach, “Fear of Involvement,” based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 4, Shelach.
5 Chabad.org, Torah Studies: Shelach, “The Mistake.”
6 Ibid., “Fear of Involvement”; see Devarim 8:4 regarding clothing in the wilderness.
7 Bamidbar 15:19-20.
T8 he Rebbe, Maamar “Vehayah Be’acholchem MiLechem Ha’aretz,” Shabbos Parshas Shelach, 28 Sivan 5722;
9 Devarim 2:7.
10 Devarim 15:18.
11 Bamidbar 14:9.
12 Bamidbar 13:33.
13 Bamidbar 12:3.
14 Bereishis 1:27.
15 Vayikra 19:18.
16 Bereishis 5:1; Sifra Kedoshim 4:12; Yerushalmi Nedarim 9:4; Bereishis Rabbah 24:7.
17 Hayom Yom, 23 Sivan.
18 Chabad.org, “Are We Being True to Ourselves?” by Rabbi Naftali Silberberg, story of the chassid of the Rebbe Maharash.
19 Chabad.org, Torah Studies: Shelach, “The Wilderness of the Day.”
20 Yoma 86a on Devarim 6:5.
21 Rambam, Hilchos Melachim 8:10-11; 9:1.
22 Rambam, Hilchos Teshuvah 5:1-3.

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