(ל) וַיַּ֧הַס כָּלֵ֛ב אֶת־הָעָ֖ם אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר עָלֹ֤ה נַעֲלֶה֙ וְיָרַ֣שְׁנוּ אֹתָ֔הּ כִּֽי־יָכ֥וֹל נוּכַ֖ל לָֽהּ׃ (לא) וְהָ֨אֲנָשִׁ֜ים אֲשֶׁר־עָל֤וּ עִמּוֹ֙ אָֽמְר֔וּ לֹ֥א נוּכַ֖ל לַעֲל֣וֹת אֶל־הָעָ֑ם כִּֽי־חָזָ֥ק ה֖וּא מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃ (לב) וַיֹּצִ֜יאוּ דִּבַּ֤ת הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תָּר֣וּ אֹתָ֔הּ אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר הָאָ֡רֶץ אֲשֶׁר֩ עָבַ֨רְנוּ בָ֜הּ לָת֣וּר אֹתָ֗הּ אֶ֣רֶץ אֹכֶ֤לֶת יוֹשְׁבֶ֙יהָ֙ הִ֔וא וְכׇל־הָעָ֛ם אֲשֶׁר־רָאִ֥ינוּ בְתוֹכָ֖הּ אַנְשֵׁ֥י מִדּֽוֹת׃ (לג) וְשָׁ֣ם רָאִ֗ינוּ אֶת־הַנְּפִילִ֛ים בְּנֵ֥י עֲנָ֖ק מִן־הַנְּפִלִ֑ים וַנְּהִ֤י בְעֵינֵ֙ינוּ֙ כַּֽחֲגָבִ֔ים וְכֵ֥ן הָיִ֖ינוּ בְּעֵינֵיהֶֽם׃
(30) Caleb hushed the people before Moses and said, “Let us by all means go up, and we shall gain possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.” (31) But the men who had gone up with him said, “We cannot attack that people, for it is stronger than we.” (32) Thus they spread calumnies among the Israelites about the land they had scouted, saying, “The country that we traversed and scouted is one that devours its settlers. All the people that we saw in it are men of great size; (33) we saw the Nephilim there—the Anakites are part of the Nephilim—and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them.”
(במדבר יג, לג) ונהי בעינינו כחגבים וכן היינו וגו' אמר רב משרשיא מרגלים שקרי הוו בשלמא ונהי בעינינו כחגבים לחיי אלא וכן היינו בעיניהם מנא הוו ידעי
The spies said: “And we were like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and so were we in their eyes” (Numbers 13:33). Rav Mesharshiyya says: The spies were liars. Granted, to say: “We were like grasshoppers in our own eyes,” is well, but to say: “And so were we in their eyes,” from where could they have known this?
Cantor Josee Wolff
Moses’s instructions divide the world into either/or categories that ignore the nuances within a complex reality. Instead of asking such specific questions, what if he had said to them, ‘When you return, tell us what you see. How did you experience this new place? What was the land like? How were the people?’ Perhaps these kinds of open-ended questions would have led the scouts to bring back a different report. At least these sorts of instructions might have given them more room to develop their own stories in a less dualistic fashion; the scouts might have been inspired to bring back a different description of what they saw...the challenge is to perceive the world in all its nuanced complexity--and not reduce it to simplistic either/or, black/white categories.
Moses’s instructions divide the world into either/or categories that ignore the nuances within a complex reality. Instead of asking such specific questions, what if he had said to them, ‘When you return, tell us what you see. How did you experience this new place? What was the land like? How were the people?’ Perhaps these kinds of open-ended questions would have led the scouts to bring back a different report. At least these sorts of instructions might have given them more room to develop their own stories in a less dualistic fashion; the scouts might have been inspired to bring back a different description of what they saw...the challenge is to perceive the world in all its nuanced complexity--and not reduce it to simplistic either/or, black/white categories.
Rabbi Jeffrey J. Sirkman
Sometimes, we just have to go on faith—certainly, faith in ourselves. But likewise, we need faith in something greater than who we are and what we see. How else do we ever expect to attain life aspirations far beyond our reach? Without that visionary faith, how will we confront the persistent problems that plague our world? Only Caleb and Joshua understood: becoming Israel means believing not only that we are more than ourselves collectively, but also that"we can reach higher," aloh naaleh (Numbers 13:30), for the Promised Land awaits.
Sometimes, we just have to go on faith—certainly, faith in ourselves. But likewise, we need faith in something greater than who we are and what we see. How else do we ever expect to attain life aspirations far beyond our reach? Without that visionary faith, how will we confront the persistent problems that plague our world? Only Caleb and Joshua understood: becoming Israel means believing not only that we are more than ourselves collectively, but also that"we can reach higher," aloh naaleh (Numbers 13:30), for the Promised Land awaits.