| GEDOLIM ARE NOT INFALLIBLE
We never cease to be amazed when Parshat Shelach is read, exposing as it does the true colors of the nation's leaders. The very same people who were to lead the Jewish people into the Promised Land suddenly scorn it. They brazenly turn their backs on the Holy Land promised to them by G-d and, to our amazement, are even prepared to find a substitute for it.
How could these Jewish leaders make such a total about-face? How could they ignore the destiny of the Jewish people? How could they reject the very land for which G-d redeemed them from Egypt?
We will address these questions momentarily but first, the fact that such great leaders (see Rashi on Numbers 13:1) spurned heaven's plans for the Jewish people teaches us that we must ALWAYS examine the positions of our leaders -- no matter how righteous they may be. We must NOT be robots, blindly trusting that our leaders or 'gedolim' will "take care of everything" while we rest easy. Even the most reliable leader can, at one point or another, betray himself and his ideology as a result of normal human weakness. The Talmud (Berachot 29a) relates that even though Yochanan served as Kohen Gadol for 80 years, he embraced heresy at the end of his life.
We must be especially wary of leaders who lead us around by the nose from one corner to the next. We must break off the shackles of such leadership and not hesitate to defy it. Particularly in this orphaned generation, in which a gadol isn't so 'gadol', and a leader isn't much of a leader, it is OBLIGATORY to go to all these heads of the people and ask them the difficult questions that need to be asked. And if they have no answers, let us recognize this fact and start searching for the honest truth the hard way.
Why did the spies betray their destiny? The Rabbis offer several reasons, but they all boil down to one factor: lack of faith. After all, how can grasshoppers stand up to giants? Yes, the G-d of history who created heaven and earth made them a promise, but they didn't believe He was capable of making good on it. Without question, the leaders of that generation piously read the 13 principles of faith and gave shiurim in yeshivot on trusting in G-d. But when it came down to "practicalities," when they had to practice what they had been preaching every day, when their faith was put to the test -- "Who is stronger: G-d or Sichon and Og?" -- they selected Sichon and Og.
As the Israeli government hands over the Land of Israel to the Arabs piece by piece, it is CRUCIAL that we study Parshat Shelach carefully. For the sin of the spies -- "and they despised the holy land" -- is repeating itself in grand fashion in our time. And once again, the basic problem is LACK OF FAITH!
But our sin is worse than that of the spies. After all, unlike the spies, we are already IN the Land of Israel. We have already conquered it through great wonders and miracles. We don't need to muster such tremendous faith when G-d has already made HIs providence over this land crystal clear in Israel's wars. Trusting Him should not be that difficult for us. And yet, we insist on groveling to the Assads and Arafats of this world, continuing to perceive ourselves as grasshoppers instead of giants.
May G-d give us the faith and mesirut nefesh to save ourselves from awesome punishment.
Darka Shel Torah, 1993 | 
