Parshah Sh'lach L'Cha: Afterthoughts or Of Spies, Grapes and Am Yisrael Chai

 - It's not Moses who sends the spies but God who directs Moses. Important distinction, since this means the One who initiates the reconnoiter already know the eventual outcome of the future campaign for Canaan. Therefore this mission is not to inform military strategy (because, grapes?*) but to inform God (and the Israelites?) the measure of the Israelites' faith.

 - (Num. 14: 2): "Why is Adonai taking us to that land to fall by the sword?" "Our wives and children will be carried off!"

How does the spies' fear make any sense to the Israelites? You've seen a slew of plagues in Egypt, a whole sea split in half, dew-dropped manna left for you every morning, followed pillars of fire, the rage of God made manifest in a myriad of delightful ways (sarcasm alert) yet NOW you think you've been brought to this place to die? How does that even make sense?

Of course, it doesn't. The idea of the impossible should have been left on the far shore of the sea you crossed over - ahem, walked through - two years prior. If nothing else, Parasha Sh'lach L'Cha is a powerful sociological case study on the spread of fear as a poisonous contagion. (Note to Great Britain post-Brexit and the United States in this Election Year of 2016.)

 - It occurs to me that the Israelites have a unique blessing in that God has shown them where and what their Promised Land looks like.

This is not always a given.

 - Um, much like the whole Golden Calf "incident", the idea that an enslaved and traumatized people should (never) show no fear seems uniquely obtuse. ow different things might have been if someone had just sat them down and said, Look, it's okay to be afraid; courage isn't the absence of fear but to move forward with it and through it? I'm sorry, we're out of time for this week.
(Psychology FTW!)

(And yes, you could counter with how The Torah isn't concerned with human psychology, modern or otherwise, as much as it is concerned with a particular [masculinist/patriarchal] idea of faith for a particular [masculinist/patriarchal] people at least three thousand years gone.)

 - Wow, can we talk about the resilience of the Israelites and their investment of future generations here for a moment?

Seriously.

God just condemned everyone (with the exception of Caleb and Joshua) to death in the desert. For doubting their eventual claiming of Canaan, they will all die. Now, what I find simply amazing is that, according to The Torah, no one calls God's bluff here. not a single Israelite says, "Oh really, God? Take away the one thing that has kept us alive and going all these miles and years? Fine. Then I quit. Ciao, bella."

No one, not a single one of these very flawed (very human) Israelites acts in a dysfunctional way, as understandable as that may be. Yes, they DO try to storm Canaan anyway, but being spurned so completely (Num. 14: 44) they must have collectively understood their shared fate. Which leaves me to wonder, what is their motive to keep moving forward now? They know they will never enter Canaan, they will never return to Egypt, they will die in the most foreign, strangest and hostile of lands. Why take one more single step?

The one answer - perhaps the only answer? - I can think of is the next generation. To keep going for the future of Israel as a people, as a nation.

That, I think, is amazing. In the face of divine condemnation, to keep moving forward, speaks to a communal resilience that leaves me breathless, stirred, inspired, and continually in love with my people. Am Yisrael Chai, indeed.

And finally, wow, God - you just condemned a whole people to death in their wilderness wandering, and then go on to instruct Moses to tell the Israelites"When you enter the land to which I am taking you..." (Num. 15: 18). So obviously this is a message for the next generation, which You are implicitly directing their parents to givethem.

In other words: I (God) have just condemned all of you to death - but before you die at my command, give this message to your children.

And still the Israelites move forward, step by step...

(* Toda Raba Rabbi Sharon Sobel for pointing out how the grapes are the current symbol for the Israel Ministry of Tourism. What fertile discussion could that lead to?)

(And, as always, an insightful d'var on Sh'Lach L'Cha from BimBam, formerly G-dcast.)

Parashah Pinchas

14 Tammuz, 5771

While there are multiple interconnected story-lines going on here this week – another census with an eye on an upcoming battle(?), the Daughters of Zelophehad stepping up for some gender equality, and sensing his time is nigh, Moses picks a successor in Joshua – it’s the continuation of the Pinchas story that leaves a leaden ‘ugh’ in the pit of my stomach. I am not sure what bothers me more, that an over-zealous Jew thought the best way to handle sexual dalliances with another tribe was to get all pre-medieval on the offenders and, um, er, ah, well kill them or that God could look down upon this spontaneous summary execution and give it a thumbs-up blessing. Dude, good deal! Let’s talk priesthood for you and yours. Call me!

Here’s another disturbing detail – or lack thereof: We have no idea exactly what Simeon Zimri or his Midianite girl Cozbi were actually doing, do we? Had he brought her to the Tent of Meeting to meet the parents or were they working their way through the Kama Sutra inside that tent when they were interrupted? Either way, it’s disturbing to think that the most functional way to reach some sort of conflict resolution here was for Pinchas to shove a spear through their bellies. Nice.

I have found some discussions that spin Pinchas’ act as so much reactionary righteousness that not only manages to satisfy the indignant God (who just last week ordered mass impaling and sent down a plague that wipes out tens of thousands) but manages to keep the burgeoning nation from falling apart as they are about to enter Canaan. Um, really? Redemption through murder and execution?

But then I am examining an ancient text about an ancient people with modern eyes and sensibilities, which is no way to appreciate their topics, themes, and tones. While I have no way of really knowing why the Torah’s editors ultimately included this story, the functionalism-minded sociologist in me sees how the inclusion of Pinchas imparts to the ancient reader (and ancient critic) the passion HaShem can invoke in the Israelites. Dude, do *not* mess with us or we’ll get all Pinchas on you!   

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Meanwhile, from around the internet:

Tablet Magazine: In which columnist-blogger Liel Leibowitz deftly ties together the Daughters of Zelophehad and Queer activists who recently won Marriage Equality in NY and has to ask, if God can change God’s mind what is the irony that supposedly devout Republicans can’t. 

G-dcast: Have I mentioned here before how much I love this site? If I have a dozen times, I need to a dozen times more. So often they find not only a satisfying discussion on the week’s parshat but find the best voices amongst the Jewish community to be the weekly storyteller – or singer. (I was humming Naomi Less’s “The Ten Commandments – A Song of Shavuot”  for weeks.) This week they also focused on Mahlah, Noa, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah 

Punk Torah also discusses the fearless five.