This week's parasha, Sh'lach L'kha, is one of my least favorite. Hmm... Why didn't I think of that before I signed up for this week? But that little word l'kha has come to my rescue, because it is also found in the name of my favorite parasha, Lekh L'kha. Let's see how that little word works in each parasha.
(א) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ׃ (ב) וְאֶֽעֶשְׂךָ֙ לְג֣וֹי גָּד֔וֹל וַאֲבָ֣רֶכְךָ֔ וַאֲגַדְּלָ֖ה שְׁמֶ֑ךָ וֶהְיֵ֖ה בְּרָכָֽה׃
(1) Now the LORD said unto Abram: ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee. (2) And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing.
Lekh l'kha. Go forth. Get thee. Go for yourself. Betake yourself. Take your pick... Abram is to leave his home and family, and to follow... a voice? an angel? a demon? a god? HaShem? ...and to go... somewhere else, and to become a great nation. He eventually settles in Hebron (with a few digressions along the way), and his 70 descendants do eventually become a 'great nation'.
Perhaps the takeaway here is that Abram chooses to go...
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה 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׃ (ג) וַיִּשְׁלַ֨ח אֹתָ֥ם מֹשֶׁ֛ה מִמִּדְבַּ֥ר פָּארָ֖ן עַל־פִּ֣י יְהוָ֑ה כֻּלָּ֣ם אֲנָשִׁ֔ים רָאשֵׁ֥י בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל הֵֽמָּה׃
(1) And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: (2) ’Send thou men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel; of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a prince among them.’ (3) And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of the LORD; all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.
In this case, Moses is commanded by HaShem to send thou... Was Moses sending the men for his own benefit? Perhaps these men did not want to go?
Friedman comments on 'all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel': "This story is commonly referred to as the episode of the spies, but the men whom Moses sends are tribal leaders, not ordinary scouts. The function of their mission is not espionage but observation, to bring back a description of the land to their people. They are leaders. That is why their negativity when they return is so devastating. It is not just a disappointing bit of intelligence. It is a failure to lead and encourage."
They came to Hebron. The Israelites have come full circle. To the place in which Abraham settled... where the three messengers appeared... where Abraham dared to question God about destroying '10 righteous people'... where the patriarchs and matriarchs are buried...
Certainly these tribal leaders had been raised on stories of Abraham and Sarah and their life in Hebron. Why did their arrival in their ancestral land provoke only visions of Nephilim and fortified cities?
"In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Wow! That's quite a promise! Certainly that promise was also part of Israelite lore. Abraham wasn't just some guy that Ancestry.com put into their family tree somewhere. As Friedman says, "In some way, at some time, the result of the divine choice of Abraham is supposed to be some good for all humankind. We are never told what this good is supposed to be."
(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) וַיּוֹצִ֜יאוּ דִּבַּ֤ת הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תָּר֣וּ אֹתָ֔הּ אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר הָאָ֡רֶץ אֲשֶׁר֩ עָבַ֨רְנוּ בָ֜הּ לָת֣וּר אֹתָ֗הּ אֶ֣רֶץ אֹכֶ֤לֶת יוֹשְׁבֶ֙יהָ֙ הִ֔וא וְכָל־הָעָ֛ם אֲשֶׁר־רָאִ֥ינוּ בְתוֹכָ֖הּ אַנְשֵׁ֥י מִדּֽוֹת׃ (לג) וְשָׁ֣ם רָאִ֗ינוּ אֶת־הַנְּפִילִ֛ים בְּנֵ֥י עֲנָ֖ק מִן־הַנְּפִלִ֑ים וַנְּהִ֤י בְעֵינֵ֙ינוּ֙ כַּֽחֲגָבִ֔ים וְכֵ֥ן הָיִ֖ינוּ בְּעֵינֵיהֶֽם׃
(30) And Caleb stilled the people toward Moses, and said: ‘We should go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.’ (31) But the men that went up with him said: ‘We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.’ (32) And they spread an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying: ‘The land, through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. (33) And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.’
What did Caleb see that the others did not? Or did it involve something other than sight? Did he remember the promise that HaShem had made to Abraham?
Why didn't the others remember the promise? And how many times had they heard about the miracles HaShem had wrought in Egypt? Did they not believe that the Nephilim were part of HaShem's plan?
Could it be that they did not internalize their mission? After all, Moses simply sent them. What would have happened if Moses had gathered the leaders at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and let HaShem give them the directive: " לך לך, go forth into the land of your forefather Abraham and prepare the way for yourselves and your fellow Israelites to return to your Land"?
It's too bad that the author and/or editor of J didn't give us a fitting ending.