Thursday, June 23, 2022

Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Shelach

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. 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.

R' Frand began tonight's vort by noting how deep and interesting the pasha is because of the episode of the Meraglim. These were all great men as noted by Rashi, but despite their stature, the report they gave of their travels to the land of Canaan caused the 9th of Av to become a day of Bechiyah L'Doros - a day when the Jews will cry for generations due to the many sad events which have happened on the 9th of Av.

R' Frand then discussed how although there were Meraglim from each of the tribes (besides Levi) Moshe only saw fit to give a beracha to Yehoshua, which Rashi teaches us was "Kah Yosheacha M'Atzas HaMeraglim" - loosely translated as Hashem should save you from the plan of the Meraglim.

The famous question is - why did Moshe only daven for Yehoshua?

R' Frand quoted the Sefer Yechi Reuven who had an interesting take on the question. He explains that Yehoshua had a greater Yetzer Hara than all the others and it was for that reason he needed the beracha. This Yetzer Hara was for feeling that he was acting for the sake of Heaven and that for that reason he could do whatever he thought was right, as it was L'Shem Shamayim.

But why was this unique to Yehoshua?

The sefer quoted the Targum Yonasan who writes cryptically that Moshe saw that Yehoshua was an Anav (humble) and that for the reason he needed a blessing.

Where was this seen? R' Frand answered by making reference to last week's parsha. When Eldad & Meidad gave their prophecy that Moshe was going to die and Yehoshua would lead the Jews into the Land of Israel, the reaction of the presumptive new leader would not typically be - Moshe lock them up! The person receiving such news would usually be happy to hear that he would be the leader, but not a humble person like Yehoshua.

Moshe was thus concerned that due to his humility, Yehoshua would be the first in line to speak poorly about the Land of Israel, because he would think that if he did so, the Jews would wander in the desert for 40 years and Moshe would continue to lead them. Even though what he would be saying would not be truthful, Yehoshua would say to himself - this is Lashon Hara for a purpose and therefore permitted, because in so doing I will extend Moshe's lifetime.

It was for this reason that Moshe davened that Yehoshua would be saved from his humility as well as the plot of the Meraglim.

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