Although Rabbi Frand did not give his shiur this evening, he did post a pre-recorded Parsha vort on OU Torah which I have summarized here. This week's vort can be found at https://outorah.org/p/256062, and I have attempted to reproduce the vort to the best of my ability in this post. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to the maggid shiur.
Rabbi Frand noted that the Parsha has one of the seminal events which effects us until this very day - the Meraglim. As a result of their crying about not wanting to go into the land of Israel, Hashem decreed that all those over the age twenty would die out and would not be allowed to enter the land of Israel.
In Bamdibar 14:34, the Torah states בְּמִסְפַּ֨ר הַיָּמִ֜ים אֲשֶׁר־תַּרְתֶּ֣ם אֶת־הָאָ֘רֶץ֘ אַרְבָּעִ֣ים יוֹם֒ י֣וֹם לַשָּׁנָ֞ה י֣וֹם לַשָּׁנָ֗ה תִּשְׂאוּ֙ אֶת־עֲוֹנֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם אַרְבָּעִ֖ים שָׁנָ֑ה וִֽידַעְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־תְּנֽוּאָתִֽ - the Jews would be required to wander the desert for forty years because the Meraglim had spent forty days on their journey to spy out the land.
R' Frand quoted R' Shlomo Kluger who asks - their sin was for speaking Lashon Hara. But the speech took a manner of minutes, not forty days! He answered that the sin of Lashon Hara does not begin with the mouth. Instead it begins with the eye and ends with the tongue. Lashon Hara is based on perception and how you interpret what you view is the basis of Lashon Hara.
R' Frand gave an example based on Bamidbar 13:32 in which the Meraglim report - אֶ֣רֶץ אֹכֶ֤לֶת יֽוֹשְׁבֶ֨יהָ֙ הִ֔וא - its a land which eats its inhabitants. Chazal explain that wherever the Meraglim went they saw funerals. They interpreted this as the land could not sustain its residents. But instead, Hashem caused people to die so that the residents would not be paying attention to the Meraglim.
R' Frand summarized this by stating the sin of Lashon Hara is based entirely on the perception - its up to you to see the good or the bad. R' Frand quoted an unidentified German philosopher who said that in the jungle it is survival of the fittest. The lion hunts and eats and the buzzards eat the leftovers. In the sea, the large fish each the little fish. This is the perception of the animal world.
However the Gemara gives a different perception of the animal world as the Gemara states that if Hashem had not given the Torah, we would have learned Middos from the animal world. The Gemara gives an example of learning modesty from the cat. Why? Because when a cat needs to relieve itself, it goes to a private place.
The Gemara continues we would have learned the concept of not stealing from the ant. Why? Because one ant will not take from another. We also would have learned about not straying in marriage from the turtledove. Why? Because they mate for life. The animal world teaches these concepts
R' Frand closed the vort that even when viewing the animal world, its all a matter of perspective. So to when we view others.
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