There are times when you can see the writing on the walls; the subject matter is so clear that you just stop and wonder: How is it possible that so many smart people make such obvious mistakes?
We see this with corporations that don’t make obvious changes that are necessary to be successful. So, too, does it happen in our own personal lives.
In this week’s Torah portion, Shlach, we read the famous episode that explains why the Jews had to wander in the desert for forty years: The mistake of the spies.
What went wrong?
Here is the story in short: Moses turned to G-d and said that the Jewish people wanted to scout out the Land of Israel before they entered. G-d said, Send scouts if you please (i.e., do so of your own accord). Moses decided that it would be the appropriate thing to do since that way there would be more “buy-in” from the Jewish people. He chose the best available men of the time, one per tribe, and sent them on their way, hoping that they would come back with a good report. Deep down, Moses also knew that once you give people the autonomy to think on their own, there is a risk that their personal bias could influence their thinking, and he worried that a bad outcome could ensue. Hence, he prayed that at least his pupil Joshua would not be corrupted by that kind of collective thinking.
Moses was right. They came back with a report which recommended that they stay in the desert. They stated that the people living in Israel at the time were too strong and the Jewish people could never conquer them.
What went wrong? How could such smart, capable men make such an error? Did they not remember the miracles that G-d performed for them since leaving Egypt? Did they really think that G-d would abandon them? Of course not. They simply didn’t have intellectual honesty. They were biased. They wanted to remain in the desert because life was good – more spiritual – in the desert. So they fabricated reasons why the Jewish people couldn't go into Israel, where life could be a greater challenge.
The lesson that we can take from this story is that the importance of approaching every challenge by first stopping and thinking really hard about what motivates us to draw certain conclusions. Are we biased? Are we being intellectually honest? What is the real truth?
At Mount Sinai we called out Na’aseh v’nishma, we will do, and we will hear. Yes, we must act, but we also must understand. However, the process of understanding should not undermine our call to action.
Had the spies had a desire to connect to G-d and to enter the Land of Israel, nothing would have held the spies back.
If we have the desire to connect to G-d, nothing can hold us back, either.