This entry is this substack's original intent: Raf's Dvar/Riff Torah -- Recently redirected for the "Is Raf OK?" series (at the well advised impetus of sister Tanya).
Select Parsha Highlights
Scouts are sent into Canaan to check it out.
The report they come back with is… apparently not one of the expected ones.
And much more.
ב: שְׁלַח לְךָ֣ אֲנָשִׁ֗ים וְיָתֻ֨רוּ֙ אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנַ֔עַן אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִ֥י נֹתֵ֖ן לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אִ֣ישׁ אֶחָד֩ אִ֨ישׁ אֶחָ֜ד לְמַטֵּ֤ה אֲבֹתָיו֙ תִּשְׁלָ֔חוּ כֹּ֖ל נָשִׂ֥יא בָהֶֽם
[G-d to Moses]: “Send out men, if you wish, who will inspect Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. You must send each man as a representative of his fathers’ tribe; every prince among them.”
When the scouts come back, the first part of their report is:
כז: וַיְסַפְּרוּ־לוֹ֙ וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ בָּ֕אנוּ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר שְׁלַחְתָּ֑נוּ וְ֠גַ֠ם זָבַ֨ת חָלָ֥ב וּדְבַ֛שׁ הִ֖וא וְזֶה־פִּרְיָֽהּ
And they told him, and said, We came to the land where thou didst send us, and indeed it flows with milk and [date/fig] honey; and this is the fruit of it.
[Koren translation]
In a learning group this week, some questions were posed by the commentaries. One of them: Was there a delta in the intents of Moses and the spies?
For example, is Moses sending the spies with a desire for them to "make the sale" to the people: E.g. Moses might want the people to hear positive reports from their family leaders, where, conversely, the clan leaders themselves (e.g. the scouts) want to intimidate the people into inaction (e.g. “conservatism” — maintain the status quo).
Or, at a spiritual level: Is it easier to stay spiritually focused in a state of poverty? Would entering a land of plenty result in spiritual decay? Or, conversely, would material plenty be an appropriate, even necessary, spiritual challenge? That the point, developmentally, is to internalize the lessons of Bamidbar (the wilderness years), when Plenty (think: collecting overmuch manna) was a problem.
A member of our group said, "Wait, [modern day] Israel is not a rich land. It is dry, hot, hard. What is the Parsha talking about, when it says the land flows with bounty?" To this I answered, "There were more forests and natural variety here a couple thousand years ago. Also, modern history has shown that the land, whatever it's “as-is” attributes, can, via husbandry, become wildly productive. We have unlimited peaches and strawberries!"
There is no promise that life should be/will be easy or the land effortlessly productive.
Maybe that is the lesson.
The world, and our life within it, is often intimidating.
Some aspects are attractive. Others repellant.
We deal with it best by diving in.
Side Note:
One of the places the spies went is "וַיָּבֹ֜אוּ עַד־נַ֣חַל אֶשְׁכֹּ֗ל" -- the valley of Eshkol -- which seems to be a place of vineyards, as they collected a "זְמוֹרָה֙ וְאֶשְׁכּ֤וֹל" -- branch with a cluster of grapes. One of our sons is named Eshkol, a concept from this Prasha and a modern Israeli name. (C.f. Levi Eshkol, Second Prime Minister of Israel.)
(Thanks to A.K. and the Lachgog BChaim kehilla)