The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts on the parsha that R' Frand spoke about in his shiur tonight. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
Rabbi Frand began the vort by noting that the tribe of Levi were counted from the age of one month, whereas the remainder of the Jews were counted from the age of twenty. R' Frand quoted a Rashi which states that the reason that the Levi'im were counted from this age was because He knew that there would be a decree that everyone over the age of twenty would die in the desert because of the Cheit HaMeraglim and Hashem did not want them to be counted with them because the Levi'im did not sin at the Egel.
The Sifsei Chachamim asks the obvious question - what is the connection with the Egel? We are talking about the Meraglim! He answers that the Levi'im did sin at Cheit HaMeraglim...and that the reason that the remainder of the Jews died in the desert was because they sinned at the Egel and with the Meraglim.
But why did the Levi'im sin at Cheit HaMeraglim? R' Frand quoted the Chofetz Chaim in the Sefer Shmiras HaLashon who explains that the Cheit HaMeraglim came as a result of the nature of the Yetzer Hara. The Yetzer Hara convinces a person that he should not strive to be better spiritually because he is not worthy. He asks - why do you want to observe that? You are not that holy.
This is why the Meraglim were successful - they said to the Jews - you are not worthy of making it into the Land of Israel - Hashem will not perform miracles for sinners. You have just sinned by complaining about not having the foods of Egypt - you are not going to make it into Israel.
R' Frand remarked that this exact argument is what Calev tried to counter. He said them - Hashem knows that you sin and that people sin. As long as it is not a sin of rebellion, Hashem will still help.
R' Frand said that perhaps this explains why the Levi'im did not sin at the Egel, but they did sin with the Meraglim. The Levi'im said - we will not worship avoda zara - thus they did not partake at the Egel. But when faced with the Meraglim and their statement that Hashem wont save sinners, the Levi'im looked at themselves and said - we have sins too, maybe we wont be worthy to make it into the Land of Israel.
R' Frand quoted a Medrash Rabbah which discusses the pasuk in Bamidbar 13:23 - וַנְּהִ֤י בְעֵינֵ֨ינוּ֙ כַּֽחֲגָבִ֔ים וְכֵ֥ן הָיִ֖ינוּ בְּעֵֽינֵיהֶֽם . Hashem said - I understand why you felt that you were grasshoppers compared to them, but why do you think that THEY thought you were grasshoppers in THEIR eyes? Maybe they thought you were angels in their eyes?
R' Frand tied this into a Sfas Emes who cited the Gemara which states that the Jews heard the people of the land saying they saw ants. The Sfas Emes explains that a person thinks that someone else has an opinion about him, based on what he thinks of himself. They thought the inhabitants were saying they were lowly, because they themselves thought that they were lowly.
R' Frand closed the vort by telling a story of R' Ya'akov Bokst whose father was a Rosh Yeshiva in Detroit. He said that when he was 22 years old his father hit him. Why? Because they were visiting Israel and he saw some scrawny vegetables in the marketplace. He said to his father - look at these vegetables, they would never sell such scrawny produce in the United States. His father gave him a potch saying - you don't speak negatively about the Land of Israel.
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