Why the Explorers failed in their mission (video)

This fourth sidra of the fourth book of the Torah opens with a question: why does G-d advise Moses to choose people who will be entrusted with a mission and what mission is it?

Why the Explorers Failed in Their Mission (Video)

Another pericope contains this same turn of phrase or rather advice, order: lekh lekha (go for yourself) said Hashem to Abraham and here, G-d says to Moses: Shelah lekha (send for yourself).

In French this sidra is called ” explorers “ and in Hebrew it is about spies « meraguelim » ((מרגלים from the word רגל, foot or someone who goes on foot for the purpose of observing and spying and not like an explorer who will study human, animal or plant species for scientific purposes as an explorer would do but rather like a spy: for logistical purposes: what are the existing structures, who are these inhabitants, and how to fight them to appropriate the country.)

And if we add up the words of Shelah lekha in gematria we get a total of 388 which corresponds to the word חפש whose meaning is ” seek “ therefore, the motivation of these envoys was to ” seek “ everything and nothing: to observe in the smallest details what was happening on this chosen land.

What was the deep reason for this desire to send these missionaries: it was the fear, the dread and the distrust of a people who, despite all the wonders they had witnessed and that G-d had performed for them, refused to trust Him and to “throw themselves into the water” as Nahshon ben Aminadav had done in all confidence, knowing that G-d would not abandon them.

The children of Israel did not say to themselves: since God brought us out of Egypt and performed so many miracles and wonders, we should not worry about how we should act. to conquer this country: G. has a plan and we are therefore part of it: things will be done in their time and according to the divine plan that concerns us.

Instead, they were afraid of their future and that is why it is written further on ויהי which, according to the hazal, always announces negative or even dire things, because the conversive vav which transforms the past into the future or the future into the past shows that the spies drew a line under their future to return to their past as they did in the desert by demanding the onions, the melons and the zucchini…

Here, they wondered how they were going to go about conquering this land of Canaan which, the exegetes tell us Canaan כנען alludes to the character of its inhabitants who are quick to surrender: they נכנעים they surrender easily.

When it is written shelah lekha, the commentators explain to us here the meaning hidden by this word “lekha” that is to say, they say D. did not really enjoin Moses to take one person in charge per tribe and to send them to the land of Canaan, but on the contrary, things would have happened differently: the people, lacking confidence, worried about what this country has in store for them, want to entrust with missions people who, until then, were worthy of their trust : the president of each tribe since the land of Canaan was to be divided between the twelve tribes it therefore appeared logical that each tribe delegated an envoy. It seems that the fear of the unknown and the unconscious admission of their fear of war pushed them to slander the country and to personify this land which they accuse of devouring its inhabitants: to prevent the Canaanites from worrying The presence of these travelers caused an epidemic which caused a crowd movement in the cemeteries. Hence this expression of the Earth which devours its inhabitants.

On the other hand, the fact that the earth produces extraordinarily beautiful and large fruits, instead of encouraging the population who could have interpreted this fact as a prodigy and welcomed it as a miracle, terrorizes them… and that is why where the fault of the “explorers” lies: they disdained and despised the present that G-d gave to His people, they clothed this land with shame.

This took place on 9 BC. They wept and lamented more than reason and D decreed: Since you weep and lament without reason I will provide you with reasons to lament…………….

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