Shlach(Numbers 13-15)

Of Spies and Men

The main episode which takes place in Parshat Shlach is the story of the men sent by Moshe to scout the land. Although these men are referred to in rabbinic literature as "spies,"⁽¹⁾ it is interesting to note that in the Torah, and certainly in this section, they are never called spies. They are called men; their mission is to tour the land. Only in Moshe's retrospective telling of the story does the word spy enter the narrative.

"And you came near me every one of you, and said, 'We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by which way we must go up, and to what cities we shall come. And the saying pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one from each tribe. And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came to the valley of Eshkol, and spied it out." (Devarim 1:22-24)

It is true that what the men did was to spy, but perhaps this is part of the problem. While in Shlach they were spies though they were not called so by name there is another section in the Torah where men are called spies though they deny it vehemently:

"And Yosef knew his brothers, but they knew not him. And Yosef remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said to them, 'You are spies; to see the nakedness of the land you have come.' And they said to him, 'No, my lord, your servants came to buy food. We are all one man's sons; we are honest men, your servants are not spies.' And he said to them, 'No, to see the nakedness of the land you have come.' And they said, 'Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.' And Yosef said to them, 'That is what I spoke to you, saying, You are spies; Hereby you shall be tested; By the life of Pharaoh you shall not go from here, except if your youngest brother comes here. Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there is any truth in you; or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.' And he put them all together under guard for three days." (Bereishit 42:8-17)

At first glance there is absolutely no connection between these two sections, they are opposites; one deals with spies (who are called men) the other deals with men (who are called spies!). Nonetheless upon analysis there may actually be a profound relationship between these sections. The first element which strikes us as a common theme is the number of people involved. While it is true that Moshe sent twelve men, only ten of them were spies. The others Calev and Yehoshua were not included in the nefarious plot. Of Yakov's twelve sons only ten were accused of being spies. Binyamin was at home and Yosef was the unknown accuser. Aside from the number of participants there are other common elements that perhaps will take us to the very core of the issue.

What was the sin of the spies? If we carefully analyze the report and the subsequent punishment we see a multistage report and response. When they first return they say:

"They reported to him and said, 'We arrived at the Land to which you sent us, and indeed it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. But - the people that dwells in the Land is powerful, the cities are very greatly fortified, and we also saw there the offspring of the giant.' " (Bamidbar 13:27,28)

The land is described as a wonderful land, though the inhabitants are frightful. They imply that militarily the conquest is not feasible. But they do not insult or degrade the land of Israel. Caleb challenges them on their point and assures the people that indeed a conquest is do-able.

"And Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it."

The spies having been challenged take a new approach; they reiterate their previous point and introduce a new one:

"But the men who had ascended with him said, 'We cannot ascend to that people for it is too strong for us.' They brought forth to the Children of Israel an evil report on the Land that they had spied out, saying, 'The Land through which we have passed, to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants! All the people that we saw in it were huge.' " (Bamidbar 13:31,32)

Now they attacked the land itself, in their words it is a "land that devours its inhabitants." The Torah introduced this slanderous remark by stating that they brought forth an evil report. Significantly when the punishment is meted the Torah does not relate to the earlier remarks; (that they would be unable to conquer the land,) it is only the slanderous words against the land itself which provokes God's ire.

"But as for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the Land, and who returned and provoked the entire assembly against him by spreading a report against the Land. The people who spread the evil report about the Land died in a plague before God." (Bamidbar 14:36,37)

It seems that God is willing to "overlook" the questioning of His (or Moshe's) ability to bring the people to the land, but a direct attack on the Land is unforgivable. The word used to describe the sin of the spies, is dibbah, which implies slander.⁽²⁾

This is not the first usage of this word. That distinction takes us back to the episode of Yosef and his brothers. The starting point of the enmity which existed, and the impetus for the breakdown in the relationship is the reports that Yosef brought to his father about his brothers:

"These are the chronicles of Jacob - Yosef, at the age of seventeen, was a shepherd with his brothers by the flock, but he was a youth with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Yosef would bring evil reports about them to their father." (Bereishit 37:2)

This is what led to the sale of Yosef. Yaakov, despite the situation which was percolating, asked Yosef to go and seek out his brother's welfare and bring back a report. Apparently Yaakov was not completely against Yosef's reporting, otherwise sending him on this mission would seem absurd, on the other hand given the eventual result and long-term consequences perhaps he was mistaken. On a certain level especially considering the consequences – years of wandering from home – this mission does bear similarity with the mission on which Moshe sent men.

Because of Yosef's proclivity for telling tales another connection is discerned; when the names of the men sent are enumerated an oddity appears in the list. Yosef has two sons whom became tribes Menashe and Efraim. When the "tourist" from Efraim is named no identification with Yosef is offered, however when the representative of Menashe is named he is described as being from the tribe of Yosef.⁽³⁾

Rashi explains⁽⁴⁾ that being that the "spies" spoke slander and Yosef spoke slander, only the descendant of Yosef who slandered is identified with Yosef, while Yehoshua who was silent and was not guilty of slander is not identified as a descendant of Yosef.

"From the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun." (Bamidbar 13:8)

"From the tribe of Yosef, that is, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gadi the son of Susi." Bamidbar 13:11

We now realize that the term "spies" and the word "Dibah" relate these sections, although on both occasions there are subtle differences.

The Ibn Ezra (Bamidbar 13:32) notes that Yosef brought⁽⁵⁾ the slander to his father's attention, though he did not manufacture the content. On the other hand (according to the reading of the Ibn Ezra) regarding the spies the Torah states that they were telling lies and created the slander.

There is one more connection worth noting. When the men travel we are told that they ascend the mountain.

"They ascended in the south and he arrived at Hebron, where there were Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the offspring of the giant. Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan of Egypt." (Bamidbar 13:23)

There is a peculiarity in the text which is sometimes obscured by the translation. It states that they ascended (in plural) while it states that he came to Hebron (in the singular). According to tradition only one of the men made his way to the old family home and burial ground: Calev.

"And he arrived at Hebron'" Caleb alone went there and prostrated himself on the graves of the Patriarchs, offering prayer that he might be helped not to give way to the enticement of his colleagues and join them in their counsel; You may see that it was Caleb who went there, for so indeed it (Scripture) states, (Deut.1:36) "[Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it] and unto him will I give the land upon which he hath trodden!" and it is written, (Judges 1:20) "And they gave Hebron unto Caleb." (Sota 34b) (Rashi 13:23)

It is not surprising that upon visiting his native land one of the tourists wishes to see the place where his family had lived. This tradition alone may indicate the different purposes the various travelers saw in their trip. One desires to connect to ancient family plots and holdings while the others are essentially spies.⁽⁶⁾ But there is a deeper point to this particular excursion in Hebron. The Torah states that they ascended from the south. Those familiar with the geography and topography of the land of Israel will know that Hebron is on a mountain.

We are told that when Yaakov sent Yosef to seek his brothers, the Torah states that he was sent from the Valley of Hebron:

"And he said to him, 'Go now, look into the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring me back word.' So he sent him from the Valley (depth) of Hebron, and he arrived at Shechem." (Bereishit 37:14)

Rashi explains:

"From the valley of Hebron." But was not Hebron situated on a hill, as it is said (Num:13:22): "They ascended in the south and he arrived at Hebron" why then does it state that Yaakov sent him from the emek, [the vale, the deep part] of Hebron? But the meaning is that Yaakov sent him in consequence of the necessity of bringing into operation the profound thought of the righteous man who was buried in Hebron in order that there might be fulfilled that which was spoken to Abraham when the Covenant was made "between the parts" (Bereishit 15:13), "thy seed shall be a stranger etc." (Rashi, Bereishit 37:14)

Rashi teaches a profound lesson, the sale of Yosef, the exile of the tribes, the slavery of the people, the glorious Exodus and revelation at Sinai were all part of a larger Divine plan. A covenant had been forged between God and Avraham, slavery was part of the deal but so were liberation and a return to the land. Now Calev comes back home to the place from which the exile had begun. As far as Calev is concerned, they have gone full circle and it is time for this terrible exile to end. It seems significant that the two renegade men who refused to be spies – Calev and Yehoshua – were from the tribes of Yehuda and Yosef respectively. These were the main protagonists in the sale of Yosef. After all, it was Yehuda who had said to sell Yosef in the first place.⁽⁷⁾ Perhaps Calev was therefore intent on going back to the place where all this began; perhaps that is the reason that a confederation was formed between these two great leaders. Unfortunately the other men became spies, and as one painful chapter came to a close a new one opened.

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