Love Gone Too Far

Knowledge is power. This week Torah portion Shlach, the Jews are to embark on a military operation, they must gather intelligence. Moses selects twelve men, the best and brightest from each tribe, to scout out the land and return with a report: what is the land like, the people, the fortifications?

But what was seemingly a formality going terribly awry. The spies return divided. Ten of them speak of a terrifying land, filled with imposing giants, grotesque produce, and fortified cities. Only two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, protest and defend the land. “Caleb silenced the people… and he said, ‘We can surely go up and take possession of it, for we can indeed overcome it.’”

In the morning, they refused to continue the journey. G-d grants their ill-conceived wish: the entire generation will never leave the desert; they will die there. Only their children will enter the Land of Israel under the leadership of Joshua.

The people wander the desert for forty years, tantalizingly close to their intended destination, but never do they set eyes on the promised land.

The question is asked repeatedly: How could 12 of the nation’s leaders, handpicked by Moses, fail so spectacularly? To disparage the land, to flippantly dismiss G-d’s ability to make their mission successful, to contradict G-d and Moses and say we cannot go up into the land?

For them, believing in miracles did not require faith; it was their daily reality. What happened to them?

I would like to share one fascinating interpretation. It is deeply moving and beautiful and was laid down by the Arizal, Rabbi Yitzchak (Isaac) Luria, he did not write his own teachings; he trusted only one unconditionally devoted student with transcribing his teachings. This student was Rabbi Chaim Vital (1542-1620). Later Reb Chaim moved to Damascus, where he served as rabbi and spiritual leader. Rabbi Chaim’s son, Rabbi Shmuel.

The core of Kabalistic teaching, of course, is to explore and discover that not all it is as it seems. This is the reading of Rabbi Shmuel Vital: the spies' sin was that they loved too much.

The Arizal has an interesting question. Why did only Caleb respond to the spies’ damning accusations? Where was Joshua, the second faithful spy? Why did he also not speak up?

Why was Joshua so distraught?

The sages explained that the prophecy was dire indeed: “Moses will die, and Joshua will bring Israel into the Land.” Hearing this, Joshua was so alarmed at the absurd notion of Moses dying and leaving Joshua as his successor, that he rushed to silence the prophets.

So, the Arizal explains, when the spies claimed that the people could not conquer the land of Canaan, Joshua could not open his mouth in protest, because anything he said would be discredited as self-serving. Joshua is not objective in this arena. “If we enter the land,” the people would say, “then that means Joshua becomes our leader. We can’t trust Joshua’s enthusiasm; he just wants power for himself.” That is why it was Caleb who silenced the mob, and not Joshua.

This is also why Moshe prayed specifically for Joshua’s success, because he needed extra protection due to his perceived personal interest in entering the land.   

Entering the Land of Israel would come with a terrible price. Their shepherd, Moses, would have to die before the nation stepped foot into the Holy Land. Is it even worth it?  

What if we can do something, they thought, that would keep Moses with us and with the entire nation? So, they decided to derail the plan.

They acted out of longing and love. Moses was a father to them, a teacher, a redeemer, and a Rebbe. It was an act of irrational love. If entering Israel means leaving behind Moses, then let us stay in this desolate desert, and Moses our Rebbe will remain alive.

And guess what? They succeeded! As a result of the spies, the Jews did not enter Israel for another forty years, and thus, Moses remained alive for another forty years. Imagine!

Yet, a sin it was. Noble perhaps, but still wrong.

Love can be a dangerous drug. Rabbi Adin Aven Yisroel, makes a distinction between two types of love.

The first he calls “subject-oriented love:” This is a love that is centered around the sensations and feelings that you, the subject experiencing the love, feel. This love can be all consuming, it can become obsessional. You want them with you, you want to be as close to them as possible.

But this love is all about the subject, You.

But there is a second type of love.

“It is a love that is entirely the lover does not care what benefit or enjoyment he gains from the Beloved. I love something, and I love it as it is, just because it is. I do not need to possess it, or even have a response from my beloved.

There is a fascinating tale in the Talmud about the death of one of the greatest sages.

Rabbi Judah the Prince, known as Rebbi, was the compiler of the Mishnah, the sage singularly responsible for the preservation of the Oral law. He lived around 70 years after the destruction of the Second Temple. Rebbi lay deathly ill. The Rabbis, decreed a fast day, begged for mercy, and prayed for an impossible recovery. Rebbi’s maidservant ascended to the roof and offered a prayer of her own: “The angels want Rebbi to ascend, and the mortals want him to stay.

But then she saw Rebbi suffering. So, she returned to the roof and and prayed: “May it be the will of G-d that Rebbi ends his agony and that the higher realms prevail.” But if the Sages prayed Rebbi lived. She took a heavy earthenware jug and heaved it off the roof. It crashed upon impact, startling everyone into silence. With the prayers momentarily paused, Rebbi’s soul escaped from his body.

Deep within this enigmatic story is the tension between these two loves.

The sages thundered, “whoever says that Rebbi died shall be stabbed!” These are the anguished words of a person who cannot let their lover go. Rebbi personified life itself.

But Rebbi’s maid disagreed. Not because she loved him less, but rather because she loved him more. A servant who serves his master, is devoted entirely to the needs and desires of the master.

This was the holy and spiritual sin of spies. They loved Moses, were simply obsessed with him, and refused to live another day in this world without him.

Who remained faithful to their mission? Joshua and Caleb. How?

These two men stood out in one thing: they were selflessly devoted to Moses like servants to their master.

The Arizal writes another fascinating nugget. Caleb was a reincarnation of the soul of Eliezer, the famed servant of Abraham. This lends deeper significance to the teaching of the sages that Caleb visited the gravesite of the patriarchs to pray for assistance in his mission.

Joshua and Caleb were the two spies who truly went on Moses’ agenda.

Caleb and Joshua’s secret was their true devotion, commitment, and love. I don’t want you because of me; I want you for you. I want to become one with you, with no separateness and ego. And therefore, if this is what you want—I am fully in!

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky

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