JUNE 27 • 2024 | 37
J
N
Indiscretion
and Distortion
T
welve respected leaders,
each representing a
different tribe, left on a
journey to scout out the land of
Canaan, the land promised to
their ancestors. They
were to bring back a
report about the land’s
fertility and resources,
the inhabitants and
their strength, the cities
and their fortifications.
They returned 40
days later with produce
demonstrating the
land’s richness and fer-
tility. What could have
been a moment of joy,
exuberance and excite-
ment quickly turned
into doubt, disappointment and
disbelief. How did things go
“downhill” so quickly?
The leaders presented the
fruit they had returned with;
they declared that the land was
indeed fertile: It “flowed with
milk and honey.
” The inhabi-
tants are powerful, and the cities
are protected, they relayed. “We
can do this!” declared one of
the 12 with exuberance. “It’s not
possible,
” said his fellow scouts;
“they are stronger than we are.
”
The optimism of two
scouts was no match for the
overwhelming pessimism of
their peers. The Torah states
(Numbers 13:32) that the scouts
then “brought out (and spread)
an unfavorable report” (vayotziu
dibat ha’aretz) saying, “the land
consumes its settlers, and the
inhabitants are massive.
” The
effect of the negative report
quickly took hold, eroding the
hope of the Israelites, setting off
hysteria and igniting fears.
Commentaries on the verse
(Ibn Ezra, Nahmanides) hone
in on the phrase “brought out”
(vayotziu dibat). Nahmanides
explains that “bringing out”
meant that the scouts embel-
lished and went from indi-
vidual to individual to
foment opposition. By
promulgating and spreading
unfavorable false reports
about the promised land,
they generated opposition
that resulted in the death
of an entire generation and
a 40-year delay in reaching
our homeland.
The destructive nature of
“bringing out” unfavorable
reports is abundantly clear.
Certainly, if there are genuine
concerns, there are direct,
discrete and constructive ways of
addressing them. However, how
we speak, what we say and to
whom we express it, have enor-
mous implications. As the Torah
points out, it’s not only what we
say about each other that matters,
it’s what we say about what mat-
ters, like our homeland, that we
need to safeguard.
In our modern world, with
the ability to communicate in
compelling and persuasive ways
to audiences all over the world,
Israel’s enemies have a powerful
weapon in their arsenal. The
lesson of this week’s parshah is as
urgent as ever; if our relationship
with each other, our families
and friends and our everlasting
bond to our homeland ought to
be informed at all by the events
of the scouts some 3,400 years
ago, we, too, should exercise the
utmost sensitivity and discretion
in how we utilize the power of
speech and communication.
Rabbi Azaryah Cohen is head of
school at Frankel Jewish Academy in
West Bloomfield.
SPIRIT
TORAH PORTION
Rabbi
Azaryah
Cohen
Parshat
Shelach
Lecha:
Numbers 13:1-
15:41; Joshua
2:1-24.