“… it is not enough to acquire a body of knowledge and opinions. It is crucial that this knowledge and these opinions be your own, grown from your own inner spirit.”
“… My visits to TAL TORAH filled me with strength, light and hope. Torah took on a whole different dimension. Wow! I was excited about learning. I couldn’t get enough. I discovered that the Torah was in me and not separate from me. It’s all one. It’s all there!”
~ teen student, sixteen years old
Dvar Torah of Noa Singer written at the time she prepared for her Bat Mitzvah at TAL TORAH.
Hello and welcome to everyone! You are probably wondering about my glasses… Maybe you are asking yourselves whether this is a new fashion. No. These are my glasses, the glasses of Noa Singer. Through them, I see the world from my perspective. Essentially, every one of us has his/her own glasses. And each one of us see things in different and special ways.
For example – there is a serious debate among animal researchers about zebras – some say the zebra is black with white stripes, and others think that the zebra is white with black stripes…
| Two days ago, on Shabbat, I read from Parshat Shlach, famous for its story of the spies. I think that this parsha is also connected to the way in which we see things in the world. The story starts with the choice of twelve leaders from among the nation in order to explore the Land of Canaan. They were supposed to return with a report on the nature of the land and its inhabitants. I would have expected that they would return with a unanimous report since they all saw the same things at the same time. But somehow, their views were split into two: two [spies] vs. ten [spies]. |  |
The first ten spies reported that they saw abundant fruit, and they also brought some back with them. They continued their report though, saying, "Notwithstanding [ANY of the positive elements], the nation sitting there in the land and the cities are huge figures, and we also saw giants among them." They also gave details on all the people and figures in all directions. This report causes chaos among the nation, as the text then says, "Caleb hushed the people before Moses,” [implying that that Caleb had to help Moses quell the murmur that rose from the people as a result of the initial part of the negative report].
What caused the chaos among the nation? According to the commentary of Rabbi Isaac Arama, when the spies added the word "efes" (notwithstanding) after all the positive words, they essentially turned from being spies who report the facts to being advisors who give their opinions -- and this was their sin.
To say "efes" is like saying "but." For example: let's say one day I was in a hurry on my way to an after-school activity, and on the way I saw a nice shirt in the window of a certain store. I ask my friend who lives nearby to see if she could check it out and give me her opinion on its quality, its size and its price. When she returns to report on the shirt in the store window, she could say, "Size 12, good quality and it costs a hundred shekels." Or she could say, "Size 12, good quality, but it costs a hundred shekels!!" The minute she says "but" she expresses her opinion about buying the shirt, and advises me that despite all its good qualities, the price is ridiculous and it's not worth buying the shirt.
The same applies to the spies – with the hint of one word, they bring the entire nation to the conclusion that it's not possible to go up to the land, under any circumstance. After G-d promises the people of Israel that they will enter the land and settle there, the responsibility of the spies was not to advise the people whether to go up to the land, but to report on the land and its inhabitants in order to know in advance how to go up and conquer it. The minute the spies studied the land with the question "whether" it's possible to go up to it, they are essentially removing G-d and G-d's promise from the picture… Perhaps one might argue they did not succeed in seeing G-d's control over the land, and it all looked scary to them, threatening, and impossible.
Despite this, the people of Israel knew already the strong and revealed connection they had with G-d in the desert that was expressed on a daily basis by the pillar of fire, the manna, the well of water and so on. It's possible that the ten spies feared that since they didn't see G-d clearly as they did in the desert, the connection between the People of Israel and G-d would be cut off, and so they didn't want to enter the land.
What is interesting is that when Caleb and Joshua interrupt the report of the ten other spies, they don't negate their report on what they saw. Apparently, they saw the same things, just through a different set of eyes, and therefore, they arrived at a different conclusion.
I think that Caleb and Joshua saw the land through their lens of belief in G-d and His promise. As a result of their belief, they succeeded in seeing the land in a positive way, and more than that, they succeeded in holding onto their connection to G-d and His commitment, despite G-d's hidden appearance in the desert. I asked myself, what gave Joshua and Caleb the ability to see the land in this way? It is said that before they went out to tour the land, Moshe changes Joshua's name from Hoshea bin Nun to Yehoshua bin Nun – and already adds the "yud" which symbolizes G-d's name. I think that because of this, Joshua feels that G-d is always with him.
Later on, when the delegation is already in the land, the midrash explains that Caleb went by himself to Hebron to pray at the gravesites of our forefathers and foremothers, in order to distance himself from the counsel of the other ten spies. Maybe his intention was specifically to connect to Abraham, who was the first one to see the connection between G-d as the world's creator and G-d as the one who is taking care of everything.
During my preparations for this day, on which I became a Bat Mitzvah, I connected more and more with the previous generations of Israel. I learned from Caleb, Joshua, and Abraham – that belief in the connection with G-d gives us strength and an ability to look at things in a more positive light. And in my opinion, it really is important to look at things positively.
But with that, I don't think it's right to look at things with "pink glasses" and to see everything as positive. A mature viewpoint, in my view, is to be able to see things that are negative too. Because if we withdraw from the evil in the world, it will continue to be so, and perhaps get worse. And more than that, we have to be able to identify evil so we can fix it.
Here too, we can turn to a belief that gives us the ability to see the negative, not as an impossible obstacle as was the conclusion of the ten spies, but as a challenge that obligates us to fix the world [tikun olam], which comes from our special connection between us and G-d. Would that we would all strive for this.