Torah Study Blog

This week’s Torah portion begins with the story of the twelve spies, which can be found in the book of Numbers. To summarize, the Israelites were encamped in the wilderness, somewhere near Canaan. Moses was instructed by God to send twelve men on a reconnaissance mission to, “see what kind of country it is. Are the people who dwell in it strong or weak, few or many? Is the country in which they dwell good or bad? Are the towns they live in open or fortified? Is the soil rich or poor? Is it wooded or not?” (Numbers 13:18-20) The men scouted for 40 days and returned to the camp with a haul of fresh fruits.

Although they found fresh fruit, the report of the spies was not optimistic. Ten of the spies reported to Moses that, “the people who inhabit the country are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.” Then, in order to bolster their opinion, those ten spies whispered among the people that, “All the people that we saw in it are men of great size ... we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them.” (Numbers 13:28-33)

The two dissenting spies, Joshua and Caleb, said that God, “will bring us into that land, a land that flows with milk and honey and give it to us.” (Numbers 14:8) But the damage had been done and the Israelites were afraid. They believed the reports and whisperings of the ten and would not gather to attack Canaan. For their lack of faith in God, the Israelites are doomed to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, and none of the ten spies who expressed doubt would be able to enter the Promised Land.

The Torah does not give a narrator’s overview of what the spies actually found when then scouted Canaan. We are forced to rely on the words of the spies upon their return. Ten of the spies say that they land is excellent, but the Israelites will not be able to oust the current inhabitants. Two of the spies say that God will lead the people to victory.

Rabbi Roberts led our Torah Study session today by asking what might have made the ten spies so uncomfortable. A better translation for the term spies, in this story, is actually princes. The men that were sent out were the

sons of the leaders of each tribe. They were men destined to eventually be leaders of their people. But, clearly, they saw something they did not like. The Torah tells us that spies saw the men of Canaan as men of “great size.” But we are unsure if they were literally tall, strapping, giant-like people, or they were normal-sized people who exuded an air of power and un-conquerability.

Rabbinic sages of the past focused in on the comment from the spies that, “We looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them.” The spies entered the land of Canaan as princes, but they left Canaan feeling very small – calling themselves grasshoppers – all because of what they believed others would think of them. These preconceived ideas hindered the scouts, and when they gave their report, hindered the rest of the community.

The spies could not possibly know the thoughts of the Canaanites. Whatever they reported was pure conjecture. Rabbi Roberts led us in a discussion of how all people are quick to evaluate situations based upon our personal perceptions of ourselves and of other people.

In this time of political angst in our country, it may be useful to recognize that how we perceive others influences how we act and how others might perceive us. A microaggression is defined by the Oxford-American Dictionary as a statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group. Our group shared their experiences with microaggressions, such as either being told they don’t “look Jewish” or that they do “look Jewish” – depending on the setting. Or they look like a “shiksha” or have a “Jewish nose.” These comments were not made in a hurtful way, nevertheless, the speaker is pointing out that the receiver of the comments does not quite belong. They are, somehow, different. And, the question from the speaker may actually be, “What are you doing here?”

As a people, Jews have the experience of being targeted. Let’s take time to remove microaggressions from our own thought-processes and to call out microaggressions we may witness. We can all try to do better and, more importantly, be sincere about it. In the story of the spies, the Israelites realized the error of their ways in not being steadfast to God and tried to get on his good side again. However, God did not believe the people were

sincere in their apology, which is why they were left to wander in the desert for 40 years.

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misquotes or misunderstandings in what Rabbi Roberts taught us are the responsibility of Tara Keiter