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June 30, 2000/27 Sivan 5760, Vol. 52, No.43
Jews vs. Israelis: an ideological struggle
Torah Study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Shelach/Numbers13:1-15:41
Ever since the Exodus from Egypt, setbacks have plagued the nation - disillusionment, complaints, rebellions - but the reconnaissance mission in this the Torah portion of Shelach is the straw that breaks the camel's back: the egregious sin of the spies.
The tragedy of the evil report of 10 out of 12 "princes" of Israel reverberates throughout Jewish history. How can a people whose raison d'etre was to enter the land of Israel to unfold their destiny as a holy nation, suddenly turn around and subvert this goal because of an intelligence report?
Consider the figure who on his own resisted the trampling of the defectors, Caleb the son of Yefuneh. When the report of the scouts was finally presented to the nation, the wondrous fruits of a land of milk and honey were rendered meaningless in light of the dangerous types who inhabited the terrain, the giant Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites. Alone among the spies, Caleb stepped forward and "hushed the people before Moses and said, 'Let us by all means go up, and we shall gain possession of it, for we shall surely overcome (the land) for we shall surely overcome it' " (Numbers 13:30).
Caleb emphasized "it," the land, ignoring the daunting inhabitants who already lived there. From his perspective, "it" was our homeland. The Israelite masses responded by switching the subject away from the land and back to the strength of its inhabitants: "We cannot attack that people, for it is stronger than we" (Numbers13:31).
This exchange is an early manifestation of a significant problem in Jewish life: two antithetical attitudes that are apparent in the ideological debate threatening to tear apart the fabric of contemporary Israeli society.
In biblical times, the events in Egypt apparently were so overwhelming, that the majority of the people came to consider the Exodus as the beginning of their existence. And as a new nation, the Israelites had little time for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; their immediate concern was whether they had a military advantage.
Except for Caleb.
When Moses directed the tribal leaders to embark on their spy mission, every reference was in the plural, indicating the 12 scouts. Then mid-verse, the text changes, reading: "They went up into the Negev, but he came to Hebron" (Numbers 13:22). Rashi explains: "Caleb alone went there, and prostrated himself on the graves of the ancestors." Clearly our sage interpreters were attempting to explain that Caleb's nation was born not in Egypt but in Hebron, Israel.
In the next chapter, when God punished the entire generation because of the sin of the spies, God made one notable exception: "But my servant Caleb, because he was imbued with a different spirit and remained loyal to me - him will I bring unto the land" (Numbers 14:24).
With what kind of spirit was Caleb imbued? I understand it as the spirit of the love of the land and Patriarchs of Israel.
This love of land and tradition is slowly vanishing in modern Israeli post-Zionist society, a crisis discussed in detail in "The Jewish State," a groundbreaking book by Yoram Hazoni. Hazoni questions the post-Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir leaders who are urging rapprochement with the Arab world, even if it means giving up Jewish settlements fraught with historical significance like Hebron, Bet-El and Shilo.
The ideological struggle today in Israel can be seen as a great divide between the Jews - whose, sense of history goes back to Abraham, and to Hebron - and the Israelis - for whom the year 1948 represents a new beginning and a new culture, and whose epicenter is Tel Aviv.
Only if we recognize our 4,000-year-old roots to this land do we deserve to have finally come home - and no nation willingly gives up its homeland.
The 10 scouts were Exodus Israelis; Caleb and Joshua were also Genesis Jews. Caleb looked back to Abraham. Today, we need Israeli- Jewish leadership which will look back to Caleb.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the spiritual leader of Efrat, Israel.
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