(1) Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, reconnoiter the region of Jericho.” So they set out, and they came to the house of a certain prostitute named Rahab and lodged there. (2) The king of Jericho was told, “Some men have come here tonight, Israelites, to spy out the country.” (3) The king of Jericho thereupon sent orders to Rahab: “Produce the men who came to you and entered your house, for they have come to spy out the whole country.” (4) The woman, however, had taken the two men and hidden them. “It is true,” she said, “the men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they were from. (5) And at dark, when the gate was about to be closed, the men left; and I don’t know where the men went. Quick, go after them, for you can overtake them.”
(6) Now she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax that she had lying on the roof.— (7) So the men pursued them in the direction of the Jordan down to the fords; and no sooner had the pursuers gone out than the gate was shut behind them. (8) The spies had not yet gone to sleep when she came up to them on the roof. (9) She said to the men, “I know that GOD has given the country to you, because dread of you has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land are quaking before you. (10) For we have heard how GOD dried up the waters of the Sea of Reeds for you when you left Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings across the Jordan, whom you doomed.
(11) When we heard about it, we lost heart, and no one had any more spirit left because of you; for the ETERNAL your God is the only God in heaven above and on earth below. (12) Now, since I have shown loyalty to you, swear to me by GOD that you in turn will show loyalty to my family. Provide me with a reliable sign (13) that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death.” (14) The men answered her, “Our lives are pledged for yours, even to death! If you do not disclose this mission of ours, we will show you true loyalty when GOD gives us the land.” (15) She let them down by a rope through the window—for her dwelling was at the outer side of the city wall and she lived in the actual wall.
(16) She said to them, “Make for the hills, so that the pursuers may not come upon you. Stay there in hiding three days, until the pursuers return; then go your way.” (17) But the men warned her, “We will be released from this oath that you have made us take (18) [unless,] when we invade the country, you tie this length of crimson cord to the window through which you let us down. Bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your family together in your house; (19) and if anyone ventures outside the doors of your house, their blood will be on their head, and we shall be clear. But if a hand is laid on anyone who remains in the house with you, their blood shall be on our heads. (20) And if you disclose this mission of ours, we shall likewise be released from the oath that you made us take.”
(21) She replied, “Let it be as you say.” She sent them on their way, and they left; and she tied the crimson cord to the window. (22) They went straight to the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers turned back. And so the pursuers, searching all along the road, did not find them. (23) Then the two men came down again from the hills and crossed over. They came to Joshua son of Nun and reported to him all that had happened to them. (24) They said to Joshua, “GOD has delivered the whole land into our power; in fact, all the inhabitants of the land are quaking before us.”
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַיִּשְׁלַח יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן נוּן וְגוֹ' (יהושע ב, א). וּמִי הָיוּ. שָׁנוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ, אֵלּוּ פִּנְחָס וְכָלֵב...
“Then Joshua ben Nun sent two spies [from Shittim secretly, saying]….” Who were they? Our masters have taught, “These were Phinehas and Caleb.”
שנא' וישלח יהושע בן נון מן השטים שנים אנשים מרגלים חרש. יש אומרין כלי נגרות היו בידן ויש אומרין כלי קדרות היו בידן. ר' שמעון אומר אמר להן עשו עצמכן כחרשין...
Joshua ben Nun sent two men from among Shitim, spies who were Cheresh.
What does the word Cheresh mean? Some say carpentry tools were in their hands and some say pottery tools were in their hands.
R. Shimon Omer said to them, make yourselves like deaf people...
1) Why did Yehoshua send spies after the disaster with the spy incident last time? Didn't he learn his lesson? What were the spies trying to accomplish? Why doesn't Tanach tell us their names? Why do we have to rely on an obscure Midrash to share that information with us?
2) What is the depth behind the three interpretations of the word Cheresh? What difference does it make how they concealed their identity, whether through pretending to be deaf, carpenters or potters?
3) Out of all of the places for the Gedolei Hador to visit, they had to go to a prostitute? Even if one could argue she was indeed the best source of information, how could they allow themselves to enter such a spiritually filthy place with the holy goal of conquering Eretz Yisrael?
A) Sefer Yehoshua is not merely a history book, it is the bridge that connects us to the Messianic era. Everything that happens in this sefer will be brought to light in the Yemos Hamashiach.
B) The ultimate goal of life is to raise up the Klipas Nogah, the neutral items in the life to the side of Kedusha.
C) The three stage process in which to do that is:
Hachnaah - humbling oneself
Havdalah - separating the good from the bad
Hamtaka - sweetening the negative and raising it up to the side of holiness.
With that in mind, let us suggest that the whole process of Yehoshua sending spies was NOT to find out what was going on in the Land of Israel. Yehoshua knew very well from the previous episode that sending in spies on a military mission was a fruitless, faithless endeavor and have counter-intuitive effects on their ability to conquer the land.
His desire to send in spies this time was to in fact create spiritual merit, but not for now. Hashem promised them that they would be able to conquer the land. It was a spiritual merit for the future, for the days of exile that would give the Jewish people the merit to conquer Eretz Yisrael once again, after spending millennia in the exile.
In order to truly understand what Yehoshua was trying to accomplish, let's see a powerful Gemara that reveals to us what the true mission of exile is really about...
וְאָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: לֹא הִגְלָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל לְבֵין הָאוּמּוֹת אֶלָּא כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּתּוֹסְפוּ עֲלֵיהֶם גֵּרִים...
And Rabbi Elazar said: The Holy One, Blessed be He, exiled Israel among the nations only so that converts would join them...
He understood that even in the darkest, most depraved societies, their existed sparks of Kedusha. Their desire to visit Rachav was not to merely glean military information, that was only a ruse. The really purpose of their mission was determine whether Rachav, this lowly prostitute in fact had one of the most exalted inner souls of all time that would be worthy to marry Yehoshua himself.
And low and behold, they were right...
דְּאִיגַּיַּירָא וְנַסְבַהּ יְהוֹשֻׁעַ...
For Rahab converted and married Joshua...
ורבותינו ז"ל אמרו (קידושין כ"א:) אשת איש, ודבריהם אמת אלא שאם לדבריהם לבד יכוין היה לו לומר אשת איש לא אשת יפ"ת, אלא באה להעיר שבאמצעות היותו עוסק במצוה יגלה ה' את עיניו להכיר בגויה שיש בה יפת תואר שהיא נשמה הקדושה הנקראת יפת תואר, כי זוהר נשמות הקדושות מופלא ועצום הוא, וזאת האשה קנתה בה חלק זה הטוב, ולזה קראה הכתוב אשת יפת תואר והכרתה הוא על ידי שאתה רואה שאתה חושק בה בזמן שאתה דבוק בשכינה באמצעות היותך עסוק בשליחות מצוה כאמור זה יעירך שלדבר טוב חשקת:
Clearly, the Torah's choice of the expression אשת יפת תאר is meant to alert us to the fact that G'd opened the eyes of this soldier who is still engaged in performing the מצוה to recognise something spiritually beautiful within the soul of that female prisoner. It is this soul which the Torah describes as יפת תאר. Holy souls are able to radiate a beautiful spiritual light. The soldier is able to recognise the spiritual light which emanates from that prisoner as he is still enveloped by the שכינה, being still engaged in the performance of a holy task himself.
(See his full comment on Devarim 21:11 for more details)
1) Hachnaah - Humility - Rachav humbled herself and her people to Klal Yisrael and the power of Hashem that was clearly with them...
(9) She said to the men, “I know that GOD has given the country to you, because dread of you has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land are quaking before you. (10) For we have heard how GOD dried up the waters of the Sea of Reeds for you when you left Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings across the Jordan, whom you doomed.
(12) Now, since I have shown loyalty to you, swear to me by GOD that you in turn will show loyalty to my family. Provide me with a reliable sign (13) that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death.
With Rachav's incredible declaration of faith in the Passuk below, she came to greater recognition of Hashem then Yisro or Naaman.
She raised her life from the gutters of prostitution and brought them right under the wings of Shechinah in one moment!
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: אַרְבַּע נָשִׁים יְפֵיפִיּוֹת הָיוּ בָּעוֹלָם: שָׂרָה, וַאֲבִיגַיִל, רָחָב, וְאֶסְתֵּר...
To complete the discussion about the prophetesses, the Gemara cites a baraita in which the Sages taught: There were four women of extraordinary beauty in the world: Sarah, and Abigail, Rahab, and Esther.
The Torah considers other women beautiful as well!
And what is meant by this comment anyways? Is this some sort of a Talmudic beauty pageant rating the attractiveness of the most holy women to live?
שָׂרָה בִּפְנֵי חַוָּה – כְּקוֹף בִּפְנֵי אָדָם.
Even though Sarah was exceedingly beautiful; Sarah compared to Eve is like a monkey compared to a human;
שֶׁבַע נְבִיאוֹת מַאן נִינְהוּ? שָׂרָה, מִרְיָם, דְּבוֹרָה, חַנָּה, אֲבִיגַיִל, חוּלְדָּה וְאֶסְתֵּר.
§ The Gemara asks with regard to the prophetesses recorded in the baraita: Who were the seven prophetesses? The Gemara answers: Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah, and Esther.
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וַתֹּאמֶר לָהֶם הָהָרָה לֵּכוּ. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים שֶׁשָּׁרְתָה עָלֶיהָ רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ עַד שֶׁלֹא נִכְנְסוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל לָאָרֶץ, וְכִי מֵהֵיכָן הָיְתָה יוֹדַעַת שֶׁחוֹזְרִין לִשְׁלשֶׁת יָמִים, מִכָּן שֶׁשָּׁרְתָה עָלֶיהָ רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ.
“She said to them: Go to the mountain” (Joshua 2:16). Some say that the Divine Spirit rested upon her before Israel entered the Land. How did she know that they would return in three days? From here [it may be derived that] the Divine Spirit rested upon her.
The four most beautiful women: Sarah, Avigail, Esther and Rachav.
The first three were prophetesses and Rachav had a spark of prophecy called Ruach Hakodesh.
But there were other female prophetesses on the list, Devorah, Miriam, Channah and Chuldah, why didn't they make the list? And there were other beautiful women like Rochel and Chava that also didn't make the list?
I would like to suggest that real spiritual beauty means maintaining ones sense of holiness, splendor and grace even when one is sunk into a world of darkness, hedonism and corporality.
The common denominator behind Sarah, Avigail, Esther and Rachav is they were all taken for their beauty into relationships that were beyond their choosing.
Sarah was captured by Avimelech and Pharoah.
Avigail is taken to be the handmade of Dovid Hamelech.
Esther by King Achashverosh.
And Rachav is financially captured by the world of prostitution at the age of 10 by the lowly and immoral Canaanite nation she finds herself within.
But despite this, for all of these women, this murky or defiled past, they maintain their absolute faith, self respect and feminine honor.
They still maintain their high levels of spiritual potential and maintain their prophetic insight.
This is the real beauty that the Talmud is referring to.
And Rachav is second to none.
Her ability to transform her tragic past to a glorious future, to leave everything behind and literally marry the Gadol Hador was exactly the shining light that Yehoshua saw to send in the spies to begin with.
He saw that this would be a spark in history that would carry the Jewish people forward, many centuries later, when they would engage in their wars and ultimate exile they too would be blessed with the ability to attract these hidden gems of holiness right back to their Source.
Calev and Pinchas are the seeds of the Moshiach himself. They were hidden in their true nature in the generation that they lived. Calev from the tribe of Yehuda, Malchus of Beis Dovid and Pinchas who sages recognize as Eliyahu Hanavi, the same figure that will announce the coming of Moshiach.
The sending of the spies wasn't for that generation. They knew they could conquer Eretz Yisrael and nothing was standing in their way. Yehoshua was planting the seeds of the Messianic process that would unfold many millennia later.
And with this, perhaps we could suggest a deeper understanding of the Midrash that described the three interpretations of the disguise of the spies... deaf, carpenters or potters?
According to the 3 stages of the Baal Shem Tov to refine Klepas Noga, it makes perfect sense.
Being deaf is the ultimate process of nullification, Hachnaah.
A carpenter represents Havdalah, someone who can sift through pieces of wood and put them together to make something useful.
And the final stage of Hamtaka, sweetening is represented by a potter. A potter starts off with one unified piece of clay, molds it, shapes it, and reveals it's raw potential to become a vessel to hold anything, and in this case, the sparks of the Moshiach itself.
Ahhhh... Tanach, Chassidus, Penimius, nothing sweeter!
Until next time where we further explore the deeper relationship between Yehoshua, Eretz Yisrael and the Final Redemption.
Doron Lazarus
Ramat Bet Shemesh