By Rebbetzin Lauren Levin
Parshat Shelach changed Jewish history forever. Contrary to the plan, none of the Jews who had left Egypt as adults would enter the Promised Land. They were destined to die out in the desert during a forty-year period of wandering.
It seems a disproportionate punishment for sending spies. After all, anxiety in the face of a total change of lifestyle and terrifying opponents is surely understandable. When they went against one of the most fundamental tennets of our faith and worshipped a golden calf they were forgiven. And yet here, despite the understandable challenges, even after they were forgiven, the decree against their entry remained.
Any army would send spies ahead of a military mission. What incriminated the spy mission? Rashi contends that their intent was malicious from the start, as they went with a view to demonize Israel. Ramban contends that there was nothing wrong with their mission; indeed it was a valiant fact finding assignment. Their downfall was in their lapse of faith as they contemplated what lay ahead of them.
There is one particular line which indicates what was the stumbling block for the entire nation.
“There we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, descended from the giants. In our eyes, we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes.” (13:33)
The men who were sent as spies were leaders of the generation. They come back defining themselves as grasshoppers. It is unsurprising that the rest of the nation started to become anxious. A succinct report would have just said that the inhabitants were giants, and therefore they appeared as small grasshoppers in their eyes. Yet the bridge was how they perceived themselves. Every time this word grasshopper is used in the Tanach it denotes insignificance. Their lack of belief in their own self-worth was transparent in the way the Canaanites perceived them.
This ‘grasshopper mentality’ continues to affect us as Jews today.
Firstly, it is not always easy to be a minority. Living as Jews in multicultural British society has its challenges. Yet As Lord Sacks says: “Some people look down on Jews. They always have. In which case we have to walk tall so that to see our face they are forced to look up…Non Jews respect Jews who respect Judaism”.
Secondly, many Jews have grappled with how to overcome the anti-israel sentiment in the press and elsewhere this year. When my grandfather Rabbi Maurice Lew z’l wrote in in June 1948, he lauded the newly founded state of Israel where, unlike the generation of the desert, we had echoed the words of Joshua and Caleb who had stood against the crowd saying, ‘the land is exceedingly good’; We can surely go up and take possession of it, for we can indeed overcome it.” Just two years later, writing in 1950, he lamented the ‘grasshopper mentality’ that had begun to ripple through the Jewish world. As people travelled to Israel for the first time they brought back reports. Many focused on all the hardships and disappointments. More than seventy years later, the challenge remains much the same. Political instability, poverty, violence and social divides exist. As British Jews, this verse from our parsha reminds us how much of an impact our positive attitude towards Israel can have on society. Our own self-perception will shape the perception of others.
Finally, when it comes to wellbeing, the amount of negative self talk we hear from even young children is astounding. The sages teach us that one should ‘carry around’ two sayings. In one ‘pocket’ we should carry the phrase ‘I am dust and ashes’, cultivating humility and negating arrogance. In the other ‘pocket’ we should carry the saying ‘ The universe was created for Me’, cultivating self confidence and purpose. There seems to be a default notion for many young people of being ‘dust and ashes’. Our message as friends, parents and as a community needs to be one of love and validation to emphasise ‘the world was created just for you’.