Shalom from Beta Vikhali and thank you for joining me in the study of Parachat Shlach. One of the things in Parachat Shlach is not only the story of the Miraglim, the spies, and the outcome of their journey into the land of Israel, but really I will call it the second take, which is a group of people from Amisrael for the nation of Israel, who, after the consequences of the spies, after the major decree that God basically declared that this generation will die in the wilderness in the desert, there was a group of people who decided to do something about it. And the Torah described it. We committed a sin, we transgressed what God really expected us to do, and we are here. Hinenu sounds very much like Avraham with the Akeida, with the binding of Isaac. Even though Hashem told us we will not be able to, but we really would like to repent, we would like to go into the land. And Moshe told this group of people, why do you violate God's orders? It's not going to be successful. Stay where you are. I might appreciate your efforts, but it's not going to be successful, so stay home. Altalu, do not ascend. And you shall not be defeated by your enemies. Because basically, you are trying to go against God's will. God's will was that this generation will die out in the desert and you would like to go into the land of Israel that confronts God's decree. And Hashem will not be with you, and you will not be able to conquer the land. So stay. But this group does not listen. So they are about to ascend to the mountain. And the Aaron, the Ark, and Moshe did not leave the camp. So we have this group who basically decided they are going to be the Ma'appilim, the ascenders, without God's blessing, without Moshe's blessing, they admitted their sin and they are willing to go into the land of Israel. They go without Moshe's blessing, not only without Moshe's blessing, it was really against Moshe's will as well. And really the Canaanite and the nation of Amalek came down, they descended from that mountain, and they basically annihilated this group. This story, which not too many people like to talk about, because many people focus on the first part of the parasha about the Meraglim, the spies, and the outcome of their terrible, terrible report. I would like to focus on this group. This group has a very interesting characteristics. First, they are very courageous. They would like to go and they believe that they can do it. B, they are very independent. They didn't come and ask Moshe. Moshe Rabeinu is in a way approaching them. So you see that they are taking somewhat of an initiative. However, their initiative is not being looked upon as something good, positive, and encouraging, but rather as something negative. And Moshe is trying to discourage them from doing it. But they continue to do what they think they want is the right thing to do, and obviously they are being defeated. So, what do we know about those people? What do we know about this group? What was the end? What can we learn from it? So Rabbiovadias Fono from the 16th century in Italy says the following. Which means Moshe does not see anything positive in what they do. Despite the fact that they basically admitted their sin and transgressions, even though they have quote unquote the courage to go up, Moshe looks at that in a very narrow, but according to the Sfono, the only way you are going to go against God's will, it's not going to be successful, and not only that, your sin will not be something that we will call shogeg, which means unintentionally. But rather, you are going to do something knowing that you are violating God's will. Moses says to them, Why do you want to go into the land of Israel? God told you, you're not going to. Which means there's something very dramatic here. In a way, Moses is telling them many of God's decrees, I was able to convince God to change his mind, so to speak. I tried to basically save you, but from this decree, when God decided that this generation of the desert will die in the desert and will not go into the land of Israel, it includes you as well. You, I mean the group. And therefore, you can't change God's will. So stay where you are. This is maybe one of the only times when Moses is basically telling the people do not take the initiative into your hands. Stay where you are, don't fight God's decree. Vilotitzlach, says Rabbi Yosef Bechhosho, it's not going to be successful. It's impossible that if God says that you will not be able to enter the land of Israel, that you will be. Which means this decree is cemented. It cannot be changed. Nothing will change God's mind. We, the generation who went out from Egypt and committed that sin with the spies, that's it. We are done. There is no way for us, any of us, to go into the land of Israel besides obviously two people, Yehoshua and Caleb, and obviously the new generation that did not really come up from Mitsraim unless he was less than 20 years old. So in a way, there is this drama that the Torah is trying to describe between a group from among this generation that says, you know what? We are going to go. Basically, that was Hashem plan. So we would like to enter the land of Israel. We would like to do what God told us to do. Yes, we believe the spies, but you know what? Now we are changing our mind. We want to go. Most of the times, I think, Moshe will encourage something like that. Moshe will be pretty, maybe even happy with that. If we go, last week Parsha, Parashad be alutha, at the end of this parsha, we read about El Dad and Maydad, two prophets that prophesy in the camp, and Yoshua was very angry. And Moshe told him, Why are you angry? Why are you jealous? I wish that everyone will be a prophet. Which means Moshe, in a way, is encouraging some kind of being independent and take your initiative and to try to aspire for higher levels and to do things. And here Moshe is basically telling the people a very painful truth. We are going to die here in the desert, we're going to wander around for 40 years until this our generation is going to basically fade away. But we know that our children will go into the land of Israel. But you, this group, you can go in. The Midrash Lekartov, which is a bit of an angel of a late midrash, it says, Yashkimu Babukya, this group woke up early in the morning. Why did they do that? Because they thought mitzvah. They thought that they wake up for a mitzvah. So that's why they are waking up early in the morning, which obviously brings the association of Avraham again with the Akeda. When Avraham was basically starting his journey to the binding of Isaac and to go to that mountain, he woke up early in the morning. When you are about to perform a mitzvah, you wake up early in the morning to show your anticipation, your excitement, and they did the same thing. So this perspective is a bit different. Basically, it says that this group did not think that they are doing anything wrong. In their mind, they are doing a mitzvah. Ah, God said you can go. Yes, God said you can go because we didn't believe that He will be able to help us, but now we believe that He will help us. We believe that we can do it. So maybe it's a Dvar mitzvah. Maybe it's a for the purpose of a of performing a mitzvah. So now let's pause here for a second. And let's go back to the spies, the Mehra Glim. After the spies came and gave the report, and then the people believed them, and then Hashem made the decree that this entire generation will just wander around for 40 years and die out. It says, which means that the nation mourned for the decree, and they understood that they basically did something that was intolerable and they are going to pay the price. The Natsif is doing exactly the same thing. He says, here in our Parasha Parashaklach, the Torah says that what? That the people mourned and they cried for what they did, but it doesn't say anything about what they did early in that morning, besides the fact that they said, We are here and we are going to ascend the mountain. However, in Sefer Dvarim, at the beginning of Parashat Varim in Deuteronomy, it says that in the morning the people came along and they said, We are going to fight, we are going to ascend the mountain. And then Hashem told them, Don't. Do not ascend the mountain, do not go on battle with them because you're going to lose. And here it doesn't say anything. It just says, We are here to ascend and we will go up, but it doesn't say that we will fight. So what's exactly going on here? Says the Nazif, this is going to be an incredible insight. The Nazif says, in Parjachlach, this group that says, here we are, we are going to ascend the mountain, but they did not say we are going to fight. Basically, they knew that they are not going to be successful in this battle. They knew that they are going to be defeated. But still, Amru Vealinu. They said we will ascend. They thought that they will be captured and they will be able to somehow survive until all Am Israel will cross the Jordan River and will conquer the land of Israel. Or Al Kolpanim Yamutu beer tzakodesh. Or maybe they will die in their holy land and not in the desert. And it says there are some missing details here in our Pasha. And just if you want to know what are the missing details, go to Sefer Dvarim, go to Deuteronomy, and you will see that they didn't say only in Enu vealinu that we are just here and we're going to ascend, but Venilchamnu and we will fight. And even if we will lose, at least we'll be captured in the Holy Land. And if we will die, we will die in the Holy Land. And based on that, we will need to reinterpret the idea of Vihilot Itzlach that it will not be successful. So they thought that maybe they will be able to go up, to ascend the mountain, to somehow sneak into the land of Israel, and they will sit there quietly until Am Israel, until the nation of Israel will cross the Jordan River and will conquer the land. So let's pause here for a second, let's digress here for a second, let's just think about what the Nazif says in terms of this group. So what did they have in mind? So first and foremost, you can describe them as people who just didn't want just to die in the desert, aimless, purposeless, just wandering around and around and around, die in the desert. At least let's do something active. Let's go up the mountain and let's let's even if we are captured, so we'll be in the Holy Land. Even if we die, at least we die in the Holy Land, in Eretz Israel, in the land of Israel, and not in the desert. So that's one. The second characteristic that they have is definitely that they knew that they are not going to be successful. But they were so desperate and so frustrated from the decree that they are going to wander around for 40 years that everything was much better than that. But it probably was their problem. Moshe is telling them, Vihilot, it's lah. You're not going to be able to even make that. When God says that this generation is not going to go into the land of Israel, he meant it. You might be able to ascend the mountain, but they will come down from the mountain, which means you are not going to get to the top. You will not even be able to see the land. And they will destroy you. In a way, what we have here, according to the Naziv, is the human desire to try to do something that he it was basically prohibited on him, and God's will that this generation is not worthy to even see the land of Israel. It's obviously a confrontation, a conflict between this group and God's decree, and obviously God's decree win. So that's what the Natsif. The Natsif continues and he says, they woke up in the morning. This is an incredible description. Meaning they know that Moshe is not in agreement with them. They know that the ark is not going to go with them. They know that it might be that Hashem is definitely not going to help them, but they are willing to be Moser Nefish. They are willing to give their lives in order to touch, to see, to sense the land of Israel. Their rationale was, we committed a terror, terrible sin. When the spies came along and they gave the report, they said, I don't think, we don't think that Hashem will be able to help us to defeat the Canaanite nations. They sit in fortified cities, they have giants there, they are very strong, we will not be able to defeat them. They say, we are. It sounds very much like Kalev. Kalev in the beginning says, Alona Aleh, we can, we can do it. Obviously, we can defeat them. We can defeat them by ourselves, and obviously, when Hashem is going to help us. This group, in a way, is a very courageous group. Yes, they are not doing what Hashem wants them to do. That's for sure. And Moshe is telling them that. But from their perspective, they are doing the right thing. And this is based on the description of the Naziv in Ahmek Davao. And he continues. So the Natsiv, in a way, is very well aware of what he created. Because based on his interpretation and his description, this group should get praises, not criticism. They are willing to correct what they committed the sin with, which was basically lack of courage, lack of faith in God. They are basically showing that they are willing to go and fight, even if it means that they will die. And they are willing to give their lives. So what's wrong with them? Answer. Many times we encourage people to do more than they think that they can do. But this one is not accordance with God's will. Hashem says, I am not going to allow anyone from this generation to go into the land of Israel. So by trying to correct one sin and creating another one, that will not be acceptable. Says the Nazif, it's not going to be successful. Even if you will go straight to the land of Israel and you don't need to ascend the mountain, which is obviously dangerous because the enemy is sitting on the top, so they can see you and they can defeat you. So you're going to be defeated. Stay home. In the Naziv interpretation, we do hear something more positive than what we saw in previous commentators. But still, even that the Natsiv criticized them by saying, you know, the will, the intentions were great. The problem is that if you're going to do it, you will go against God's will, and that will not work. So even the Natsiv, in a way, has at the end a negative perspective on this group. The Natsiv continues and he says, They misinterpreted what Moshe is telling them. Moshe told them, Don't go, it's not going to be successful, stay home, you will die. They thought that Moshe is trying to deter them in order for them to really show that their desire is authentic. Meaning, despite the fact that the leader tells me, don't go because it's dangerous and you will go to be defeated, in a way they read it, they listen to it in a totally different way. They say, no, no, no, Moshe is probably just telling it to us, just to test us. So we're going to prove Moshe that we are really sincere about going and ascending the mountain. Like we found in a different Midrash, it's when Khanania Michael and Azariah. The three prophets they came to ask Ycheskel, Ezekiel, are they going to be saved if they will throw themselves into the furnace when King Nevuchad Netzar said that he will do? And Yhezkel says to them, No, God is not going to help you. And what did they do? They jump into the furnace and God helped them, which means tried to test them. So this group also thought that when Moshe basically says no, it's not a no, it's a yes. But prove yourself. So this entire discussion, I would say, between this group and Moshe Rabinu, according to the Naziv, which is a very original commentary and interpretation, it's really amazing. You have a group of people who are willing to give their lives. And they hear Moshe is telling them, don't go, and they see when they go up the mountain, they see Moshe remains in the camp, the ark remains in the camp, the rest of the people just look at them. Probably some people look at them as like, what are they doing? Are they crazy? And some people look at them and say, Wow, courageous people, brave people. So we don't know what's going on in the camp, but they go up the mountain, thinking that they will be able to go to fight, maybe to fall into captivity, or even to die, but they will be in the land of Israel. They have a desire, they have a want to be there. But it's not going to happen. It's not going to be successful because they will transgress another God's will, which was this generation will die in the desert. So overall, even if we find some components that create some kind of a positive perception on them, in a way, at the end of the day, the outcome is not something positive. The Rabbi Milubavich says the following. Thus, even while the people were voicing their skepticism, they still believed in him. Their belief was just temporarily overshadowed by their emotions. Therefore, as soon as God rebuked them and informed them of the severity of the consequences of their actions, their inherent faith was awakened. The Rabbi Mirubavic also found a positive insight into this group. He's basically saying, Jews always believe in God, even when they tell you they are not. Sometimes he's just overshadowed by all different types of emotions, experiences, tribulations, afflictions, sorrow, pain. But after the episode fades away, the core soul of every Jew is there. He believes in God. This group was obviously part of the Jewish nation of Amish, of the people of Israel who believed to despise and didn't think that God will be able to take them into the land of Israel. And they obviously they committed a terrible sin. But after a few hours, early in the morning, they went back to who they are, truly. Believers. And they really truly had the faith that they will be successful, despite what Moshe is telling them, despite the fact that the ark remains in the camp. This group, in a way, shows tremendous faith. They are not successful. To believe and to have faith does not mean always that it will lead you to a successful journey. But the Rebbe was able to look at the positive and to look at this group, that they are truly believers. Their problem was obviously that they went against God's will. And he says the following. He asked a different question. He says, I don't understand them. You already believe in Moshe. And what Moshe told them, now everyone believes in what Moshe has to say. So when Moshe is telling them, don't go into the land of Israel, don't ascend the mountain, why didn't they believe him? What does that mean? So I'll give a short introduction here. The Talmud says that everything that Balabait that your host tells you to do, you need to do. Besides what? Besides if he tells you to get out, that you don't do. You don't believe him until he really is asking you. But you don't believe him. And the same thing here, Baalabait, the host is Hashem, and he tells us that to go out from his land. Meaning when you dare to do something against someone, in a way you show leadership. It might be a negative leadership, but you do show that you have that strength to stand up for what you believe, even if the odds are against you. Meaning you are in a way crowning yourself as a leader even despite all your um opposition, with karvut kneset israel meatzmam. This group who dared to do something against Moshe and against God, yeah, they did something that was not good. But there is a seed of goodness and of positiveness, and not only something that is positive, it's leadership. It might be the right leadership, but it's a sense of leadership, of them wanting to do what is ultimately Hashem's plan, that Am Israel will be in the land of Israel. And they were not successful in it because it was premature, it was not the right time. Which, by the way, it means that if it was the right time, they didn't need to wait for someone to tell them to ascend. They should do it by themselves, despite the ans. That in the time of Mashiach of the Messiah, chutzpayasge. So we always interpret it as, oh, everyone will be chutzpan, everyone will have here, they will be disrespectful, they will not honor people, they will not know how to talk to each other. Says Ribbzaduk, no. Chutzpayaske means wa etlaze, vehuzmanenu, zeshu ikve meshika. Ribzaduq here is almost like in a prophetic vision. He says, our time, he's talking already about his time, even more so, our days. This is the time of the days of the Messiah. He says, Chutzpayazge, it means take leadership, even against all odds, dare to do things that you didn't do before. Rethink about your life, rethink about your nationality, rethink about your Judaism, rethink about how we are going to lead yourself and the rest of the world with you. Says Rebtsaduk Akoen, in the times of the days of the Mashiach, don't wait for others to tell you what to do. Ascend the mountain. Go up, say Hinenu, here I am, Vealinu, and I will ascend and I'll go and be in the land of Israel. I think what Rebzaduk is saying, he says, even though this story of this group obviously has a terrible outcome, it was against Moses, it was against God, he says, all of it it's true, but it was because it was not the right timing. But there is a time for that. There is a time for people to do, to come as a group, and to go against all odds. And when is that? Our time. If you look at the establishment of the State of Israel, it was against all odds, against all the advice that Ben Gurion received not to establish the State of Israel. But he did. 78 years later, see Baruch Hashem where we are. Sometimes in life, you need to dare. Sometimes in life you need to take leadership against all odds. Sometimes you need to make decisions that are not maybe not the most popular ones. Maybe the statistics are against them, but the time is now. So this story is complicated. Not being looked upon so positively by most commentators. But Reptok is able to take the story, to empty it from the negative perception and sides that and components in it, and to look at the action itself. And to say the action itself is blessed. Not the right timing. Was the wrong thing to do back then. But now, now it's the time. Thank you.