TORAH PORTION

The Power Of Words

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

E

ven just a few words can
And they said to one another, 'Let
produce a major impact.
us head back for Egypt.'" (Numbers
An insult or embarrass-
14:1-4)
ing rumor can destroy a human
It is the words of a few which
life, if not physically, then certainly
lead a whole community to a state
emotionally. On the other
of panic. As a result of
hand, a brief expression
utter lack of faith in God,
of kindness, a compli-
this entire generation
ment, or an offer of hope
is denied entry into the
or encouragement — can
Promised Land.
revitalize the human
The Mishnah (Ta'anit
spirit.
26b) teaches that this
Quite literally, words
event occurred on the
are the building blocks
Ninth of Av, the same date
of creation. In the morn-
that would later be associ-
ing prayer service, we
ated with the destruction
recite each day: barukh
Ra bbi Elliot
of the First and Second
she'amar v'hayah ha'olam
P achter
Temples in Jerusalem.
— Blessed is the One who
Spe cial to the
Therefore, the simple
spoke and the world came
Jew ish News
message of 10 scouts, "We
to be. The Torah's descrip-
can't do it," and the ensu-
tion of Creation is as simple as that
ing reaction, result in a situation
— through mere words God forms
comparable to the destruction of the
the world, and also through words
Holy Temple.
human beings have the opportu-
Contrast the addictive pessimism
nity to add to God's
of the 10 scouts to
Creation or to detract
the optimistic short
from it.
phrase of Theodor
This week's parshah
Herzl (from his
addresses this chal-
Altneuland-The Old
lenge directly. Moshe
New Land): im tirtzu
sends 12 men, one
ein zo agaddah — if
from each tribe, to
you will it, it is no
scout out Canaan.
dream.
Upon their return,
With a small num-
the scouts begin with a fact-based,
ber of words, hope in a Jewish state in
objective description of the land.
Israel was jeopardized. With a differ-
When Caleb, one of the scouts,
ent brief set of words, that hope was
declares his confidence in Israel's
restored and became a reality. I I
ability to conquer the Promised
Land: "Let us by all means go up
Elliot Pachter is the rabbi of
(to Canaan), and we shall gain pos-
Congregation B'nai Moshe and a
session of it:' 10 of the other scouts
Bible instructor at the Frankel Jewish
respond: "We cannot attack that
Academy, both in West Bloomfield.
people, for it is stronger than we."
(Numbers 13:30-31)
What appears at first to be a
Conversations
simple debate, a mere difference of
When has your choice of
opinion among individuals, is so
words brought help (or harm)
much more. After hearing the pes-
to another person? In what
simistic report of the 10 scouts, we
situations should we be wary
then read:
of the wisdom, "the majority
"The whole community broke
rules?" Since God had already
into loud cries, and the people wept
intended the Promised Land
that night. All the Israelites rallied
to us, why did we need to have
against Moses and Aaron. `If only
scouts in the first place?
we had died in the land of Egypt' ...

Quite literally,
words are the
building blocks
of creation.

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June '18 • 2009

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