A little boy was afraid of the dark. One night his mother told him to go out to the back porch and bring her the broom.
The little boy turned to his mother and said, "Mama, I don't want to go out there. It's dark."
The mother smiled reassuringly at her son. "You don't have to be afraid of the dark," she explained. "G-d is out there. He'll look after you and protect you."
The little boy looked at his mother real hard and asked, "Are you sure he's out there?"
"Yes, I'm sure. He is everywhere, and he is always ready to help you when you need him," she said.
The little boy thought about that for a minute and then went to the back door and cracked it a little. Peering out into the darkness, he called, "G-d? If you're out there, would you please hand me the broom?"
In this week’s Torah portion Eikev the Jewish people are standing at the Eastern side of the Jordan River, directly across from Jericho. They are poised to enter the Promised Land.
The journey has been long and arduous. It lasted forty years. It wasn’t planned this way. The Israelites were destined to settle their land shortly after their Egyptian Exodus. But then Moses sent spies to scout the country, and when they returned they struck fear and terror into the hearts of the people, describing how mighty and fearful the inhabitation nations were.
This is mind-staggering.
Moses is repeating, almost verbatim, the words the ten spies uttered 39 years earlier which caused an unparalleled catastrophe, and derailed Jewish history from its course.
What in the world is going on here?! Moses, you—the faithful shepherd of Israel, Do you not recall how the entire nation surrendered to paralysis, faithlessness?
Moses, in a way, speaks far more emphatically than the spies: “Hear, O Israel: Today, you are crossing the Jordan to come in to possess nations greater and stronger than you!”
He even employs the term, “Shma Yisroel,” Hear O Israel, found only four times in the entire Torah. The previous time Moses says: “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our G-d, G-d is one!” Now he uses the same dramatic opening: “Hear, O Israel: Today, you are crossing the Jordan to come in to possess nations greater and stronger than you!” It seems like these are the two most important things for Israel to hear.
It is as if he is explicitly trying to invoke what happened decades ago when the Jewish people heard the message that no one can stand up to these giants. Is Moses trying to arouse the fear yet once again?
The conclusion was very different than the spies. They said, “We are unable to go up.” Moses said, “G-d will pass before you and subdue them.” But why the need to scare the living daylights out of them?
The Rebbe explained: It is here that we see the power of Judaism: it is all about truth.
Judaism does not “sell” you the Brooklyn Bridge, painting a rosy picture of reality. “Moses is true and his Torah is true,” says the Talmud. This is the hallmark of the Torah and of Moses who embodied Torah: Emet, Truth.
So when Moses wants to prepare his people to enter the land, he will not paint a glowing fictional picture and mislead them about the truth. Rather, he will tell it to them as is. “Hear, O Israel: Today, you are crossing the Jordan to come in to possess nations greater and stronger than you, great cities, fortified up to the heavens.”
When you inspire people based on exaggerations or suppression of facts, you may score short term benefits, but at some point, you will lose credibility. When they discover the truth, they might back off. Moses needed the people to know the full truth. You are confronting “a colossal and towering nation, the children of the giants, whom you know and of whom you have heard said, ‘Who can stand up against the children of the giants?!’”
Do not delude yourself. The mission you face is tough, rough, and dangerous. It will not be easy. You will face deep resistance. You might wish to retreat.
Yet, Moses continues: “You shall know on this day that it is the Lord your G-d Who passes over before you, as a consuming fire... He will subdue them before you…” This is a tall order, Moses is saying. But G-d is with you. He will lead the way. Thus, despite all the odds, you will triumph.
When the Jewish people heard this message, they felt far more empowered and invigorated. They knew what they are facing; they knew what to expect. They could now enter into the mission with their entire being, with their full self, informed, and aware. They can embrace their destiny with a clear mind, a sober heart, and absolute honesty.
With this Moses not only earned credibility but also showed them their true power and strength. He taught them who they were and what they were capable of. He brought out the fire in them!
What a powerful lesson in life.
Each of us has our own “promised land” to conquer: Our dreams, visions, and goals. We each have our “Jordan river” to cross en route discovering our ultimate destiny and happiness. The obstacles, though, are often formidable.
Sometimes, our friends, therapists will tell us: the resistance is unreal; the apprehension is unjustified.
Sometimes, there is truth to this, and it is a productive approach. But not always. Because when we convince ourselves that something it is not hard, then when the hardships attack us, we often become overwhelmed, and we surrender to despair.
Moses tells us here a very different message. Sometimes, the task ahead of you is hard; very hard. But who said you aren’t capable of achieving daunting tasks? Who said you could not climb fortresses that reach the heavens? If you can only realize G-d is with you, then you will stare the bull in the eyes, and say: Yes, this is scary and unnerving, but I am ready to take it on. I know that G-d is firing the shots and I am just holding on tightly to Him.
Scott Peck opened his book “The Road Less Traveled,” with these words: “Life is difficult.”
And he explains: This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. Once we truly know that life is difficult—once we truly understand and accept it-then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.
The Tanya quotes the words of Rabbi Isaac Luria in Eitz Chaim, “this world is full of husks and lies, and evil prospers there.” This is not to create pessimism, but rather to empower. When you can understand what the world is, when you fully accept it, you can really transcend it.
All great leaders took this cue from Moses. You don’t inspire real courage, loyalty, and confidence by denying the frightening facts. Because if that is your tactic when the lid is blown off your cover-ups, your people will desert you. You would have lost their credibility.
Rather, you inspire strength and determination by telling people the entire truth and then showing them how they have the tools to confront and conquer the challenge. Then, you have earned their trust. Also, you have made them partners in your vision; you have shown them that you believe in them, rather than felt the need to hide the truth from them.
In the spring of 1940, Hitler was taking Europe by storm. Germany had taken Poland and had invaded Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, whereupon Chamberlain resigned in Britain. The Soviet Union was still at peace with Germany. Roosevelt did not want to get involved in the war. In all of Europe, one man stood up to Nazi Germany.
Winston Churchill, in his first speech as Prime Minister of Great Britain, given on May 13, 1940, said this:
“I would say to the House as I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us the ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and suffering.
“You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and with all the strength that G-d can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalog of human crime. That is our policy…”
“An the ordeal of the most grievous kind”! This was almost exactly what Moses said to the people of Israel. With these words, he revitalized a nation, and gave them the confidence and resolve they needed for the next five years to defeat the greatest tyrant and monster in human history.
Seven years later, Menachem Begin used the radio to share the following words to the people of Israel, preparing them for an Arab attack, on May 14, 1948:
"We shall go our way into battle… And we shall be accompanied by the spirit of millions of our martyrs, our ancestors tortured and burned for their faith. “And in this battle, we shall break the enemy and bring salvation to our people, tried in the furnace of persecution, thirsting only for freedom, for righteousness, and for justice."
This is how leaders inspire their troops—based on how Moses inspired his.
There is an old story about a criminal who had committed a capital crime.
He was sent to the king for his punishment.
The king told him he had a choice of two punishments.
He could be hung by a rope.
Or take what’s behind the big, awesome, dark, scary, iron door.
The criminal decided on the rope.
As the noose was being slipped on him, he turned to the king and asked: “By the way, out of curiosity, what’s behind that door?”
The king said: “You know, it’s funny, I offer every criminal the same choice, and nearly everyone picks the rope.”
“So,” said the criminal, “Tell me. What’s behind the door? I mean, obviously, I won’t tell anyone,” he said, pointing to the noose around his neck.
The king paused then answered: “Freedom, but it seems most people are so afraid of the unknown that they immediately take the rope.”
Alan Watts said it well: “Our lives are one long effort to resist the unknown.”
There are many unknowns in life, some of them are scary. But we have the tools to take the road less traveled, into our Promised Land.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky
Tom Peacock wrote...