Ilustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
In our parashah, Moshe retells the story of the sin of the מְרַגְּלִים (meraglim, spies). He remembers Benei Yisrael saying some very harsh words about God:
וַתֵּרָגְנ֤וּ בְאׇהֳלֵיכֶם֙ וַתֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ בְּשִׂנְאַ֤ת יהוה אֹתָ֔נוּ הוֹצִיאָ֖נוּ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם לָתֵ֥ת אֹתָ֛נוּ בְּיַ֥ד הָאֱמֹרִ֖י לְהַשְׁמִידֵֽנוּ׃
You grumbled in your tents and said, “It is out of hatred for us that God brought us out of the land of Egypt, to hand us over to the Amorites to wipe us out.”
Why would Benei Yisrael say that God hated them? Hadn’t God performed miracles and brought them out of slavery to freedom?
אֶפְשָׁר שֶׁהַמָּקוֹם שׂוֹנֵא אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל? וַהֲלֹא כְּבָר נֶאֱמַר "אָהַבְתִּי אֶתְכֶם אָמַר ה'" (מלאכי א:ב)?!
אֶלָּא הֵם שֶׁשּׂוֹנְאִים אֶת הַמָּקוֹם. מְשַׁל הֶדְיוֹט אוֹמֵר מַה דִּבְלִבָּךְ עַל רְחִמָּךְ מַה דִּבְלִבֵּהּ עֲלָךְ.
Is it possible that God hated Benei Yisrael? Is it not written, "I have loved you, said God" (Malakhi 1:2)?!
It is rather Benei Yisrael who hated God at that moment. A common saying is: What is in your own heart about your friend, you say is what’s in their heart about you.
The midrash explains that Benei Yisrael spoke the way they did because they were angry at God. They took the emotions that they were feeling, and they imagined that that’s how God must have been feeling about them. But in fact, God loved them all along.
- It’s easy to make a mistake when you’re trying to figure out what others are feeling. What kind of trouble can that lead to? What can you do to avoid this?
- What does it feel like to learn that it’s impossible for God to hate Benei Yisrael? How does it change the way you do mitzvot or learn Torah when you remember that God loves you?
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