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A Spy Story
In Promised Land

DR, RICHARD C. HERTZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

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his week's portion is wide-
ly remembered as being
one of the best spy stories
in ancient literature. Peo-
ple remember how Moses, being
a wonderful general and tacti-
cian, needed to know more about
the land promised to the people
of Israel.
This sedrah describes how
Moses dispatched 12 agents in
disguise to investigate the land
of Canaan. He told them to cross
the Jordan, go up and down the
breadth of the land and bring
back a report. It was the first CIA
operation in history.
The 12 spies scattered to the
four corners of the land and spent
40 days and 40 nights traversing
the land of Canaan. When they
returned, the spies were united
in their opinion that this was a
great country they had just seen.
It was a "land flowing with milk
and honey " with rich ripe fruits
which they brought back to show.
But they were divided on the abil-
ity of the weak and troubled Is-
raelites, former slaves fresh out
of Egyptian bondage, to conquer
so strong a land.
When the people heard that re-
port, they were demoralized.
True, two of the spies, Joshua
and Caleb, dissented. Caleb faced
the people and said, "We should
go up at once and possess the
land, for we are well able to pos-
sess it." But the people were full
of fear. They panicked. They re-
belled. They gathered against
Moses and Aaron in protest.
But Moses realized that if the
people did not take the promised
land, it would be a reflection not
on just Moses and the people of
Israel. Moses knew that the na-
tions who had heard about the
sovereignty of God that God
would be discredited because of
not being able to deliver His peo-
ple into the land that He had
sworn to give them.
The scouts asserted that Israel
could not conquer the land. Caleb
said on the other hand, that the
Israelites could; but if they don't,
the nations will conclude that it
is God who cannot. The Israelites
believed the scouts who saw only
giants among the Canaanites.
Caleb, along with Joshua, ap-
pears to have been the lone dis-
senter to the spies' report. He also
was the lone exception from the
punishment meted out as a re-
sult of the Israelites' lack of faith.

•

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Dr. Richard C. Hertz is
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University of Detroit-Mercy.

Caleb thus became a name
honored in the tradition of the Is-
raelites. As one of the spies sent
by Moses to reconnoiter the land
of Canaan, only he and Joshua
were of the opinion that the Is-
raelites should attempt to invade
Canaan immediately. Caleb in
particular was singled out for his
loyalty. He defended Moses when
the people began to murmur.
Caleb hushed the dismay of the
people and was optimistic about
Israel's chances. But the other
spies said the people whom they
saw were giants in the land.
When the people reacted bitter-
ly and wanted to return to Egypt,
God was angry with them. Moses
appeared to seek divine judgment
on the entire generation. Only
Caleb was excluded.
Although Joshua figures in

Shabbat Shelach:
Numbers 13:1-15:41
Joshua 2:1-24.

this story, Caleb is the real hero.
Caleb destroyed the pessimists
so that the optimists could make
ready to attack Canaan. The gen-
eration of the Exodus had now
been proven unfit for true inde-
pendence and was condemned to
wander in the desert for another
38 years. They would not be per-
mitted to occupy Canaan.
The report of the spies that this
was a "land of milk and honey"
became a phrase that described
ancient as well as modern Israel.
Modern archaeology provides us
with certain clues. The early in-
habitants of the land of Canaan
lived mostly in the valleys and
plains with plenty of water and
rich soil. Extensive agriculture
was easily developed. In contrast,
many hills and slopes were cov-
ered with wild thickets and
forests. Wild goats forged their
natural food supply providing the
flow of goat milk commonly used
in biblical times. The same thick-
ets and bushes produced many
varieties of flowers which fed wild -\
bees who made the honey flow.
What the scouts saw was lit-
erally a land of milk and honey
with forest wilderness inhabited
by wold goats and bees thriving
on wild flowers. That was the Is-
raelites' first opportunity to en-
ter the promised land brought on
by necessity. A reconnaissance of
spies or scouts who were sent out
to explore the land collected in-
formation about the strength and

