Send men for yourself and let them explore the land of ________.
Which land?
Is it “The Land of Canaan” –
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יהוה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (ב) שְׁלַח־לְךָ֣ אֲנָשִׁ֗ים וְיָתֻ֙רוּ֙ אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנַ֔עַן אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִ֥י נֹתֵ֖ן לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אִ֣ישׁ אֶחָד֩ אִ֨ישׁ אֶחָ֜ד לְמַטֵּ֤ה אֲבֹתָיו֙ תִּשְׁלָ֔חוּ כֹּ֖ל נָשִׂ֥יא בָהֶֽם׃
(1)יהוה spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Send agents to scout the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelite people; send one participant from each of their ancestral tribes, each one a chieftain among them.”
or
is it “Land of Your Habitations” –
(ב) דַּבֵּר֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ אֲלֵהֶ֑ם כִּ֣י תָבֹ֗אוּ אֶל־אֶ֙רֶץ֙ מוֹשְׁבֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲנִ֖י נֹתֵ֥ן לָכֶֽם׃
(2) Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land of your habitations, which I give to you to settle in,
?
Midrash Bamidbar Rabbah, Parasha 17, Sign 3, asks about this:
(ג) דָּבָר אַחֵר, כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל אֶרֶץ מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם. אָמַר רַבִּי זַכַּאי דִּשְׁאָב אָמְרוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם בְּכָל מָקוֹם אַתָּה קוֹרֵא אוֹתָהּ אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן, וְכָאן אֶרֶץ מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם
(3) Another matter, “when you will come into the land of your dwellings” – Rabbi Zakai of She’av said: Israel said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, everywhere You call it the land of Canaan, but here you call it “the land of your habitations”?’
God says that this land is named after Canaan son of Ham, it is the land of Canaan, in proximity, the land of Canaan. And in the same parasha, it says that this is the land where Israel will dwell. It will be the land of your habitations. The author of the Midrash draws our attention to the two peoples who hold this land and say "It's all mine." Both people have support for their claim from the mouth of God. Who is right?
The answer given by the Midrash is somewhat distant in my opinion, but the excellent question calls upon us to examine the contexts in which the place is called by each of the names.
At the beginning of the parasha, the spies were sent to a land that was not in our possession. Unknown to us, the land of Canaan. What is the context in which God says that this is “the land of your habitation”? The context is the sacrifices that Israel must offer there. The commandment does not end there, but with the obligation that the strangers dwelling among us be partners.
(יד) וְכִֽי־יָגוּר֩ אִתְּכֶ֨ם גֵּ֜ר א֤וֹ אֲשֶׁר־בְּתֽוֹכְכֶם֙ לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם וְעָשָׂ֛ה אִשֵּׁ֥ה רֵֽיחַ־נִיחֹ֖חַ לַיהוה כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר תַּעֲשׂ֖וּ כֵּ֥ן יַעֲשֶֽׂה׃
(14) And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour to the Lord; as you do, so he shall do.
That is, we must ensure that the livelihood of the strangers living among us is sufficient for them to also bring an offering to the Lord.
The Torah does not stop there, but continues with two verses directed directly at us:
(טו) הַקָּהָ֕ל חֻקָּ֥ה אַחַ֛ת לָכֶ֖ם וְלַגֵּ֣ר הַגָּ֑ר חֻקַּ֤ת עוֹלָם֙ לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם כָּכֶ֛ם כַּגֵּ֥ר יִהְיֶ֖ה לִפְנֵ֥י יהוה׃ (טז) תּוֹרָ֥ה אַחַ֛ת וּמִשְׁפָּ֥ט אֶחָ֖ד יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֑ם וְלַגֵּ֖ר הַגָּ֥ר אִתְּכֶֽם׃ {פ}
(15) One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourns with you, an ordinance for ever throughout your generations: as you are, so shall the stranger be before God. (16) One Tora and one code shall there be for you, and for the stranger that sojourns with you.
And Y.Z. Mushkovitz explained beautifully in his commentary in “Da'at Mikra”:
“The congregation! – A call: You, the congregation, one statute for you! Here the scripture explains the offering of the meal offering and libations by the stranger based on the principle of absolute and eternal equality before the law between the citizen and the stranger.”
As in other places in the Torah and the Prophets, this parasha also warns us that the State of Israel and its citizens must fundamentally change our disgraceful attitude towards strangers and asylum seekers in the land of our habitations. Canaan is remembered in tradition as afflicted with the sin of disrespect for human dignity. If we continue to act like Canaan, we too will not dwell here.
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Ofra Leibowitz Goldberg is a teacher of Jewish thought and Bible at the High School near the University in Jerusalem and a rabbinical student at the Higher Institute for the Training of Jewish Leadership – the secular humanist rabbinical program of the Tmura Institute. She participates in a project of the Tmura Institute to add the Declaration of Independence as the second scroll in the Bible.