WHAT IS THE FIRST KEY TO SUCCESS?

A rabbi stands before his congregation and reports to them that a massive hole has been found in the roof of the synagogue.

"Now I have good news and bad news for you," the Rabbi continues. "The good news is that we have the money to repair it; the bad news is that the money is in your Bank accounts."

This week's portion Shelach tells the story of twelve men who were dispatched by Moses from the desert to go and survey the Land of Israel and its inhabitants. The purpose of their journey was to prepare the Jewish people for the subsequent conquest and settlement of the Land.

The mission ended in disaster. The spies inculcated fear and despair among the Jews, resulting in national hysteria and refusal to continue the journey to the Promised Land. The spies were severely punished, and the entire generation ultimately died in the desert. Only 39 years later, did the children and grandchildren of this generation crossed the borders of Israel and settle the Promised Land.

Yet there is a sequel to the story, recorded in the second chapter of the book of Joshua, and it is read in the haftorah of Shelach. 39 years after the first episode with the spies, Joshua—the successor of Moses, sent his own two spies to scout the land of Canaan. This time, though, the mission ended in success. They returned to the people with an optimistic message, encouraging and empowering the people to reach their destination.

What was the difference? Moses was the greatest prophet and leader of Israel. Yet his spies failed miserably. Joshua was a disciple of Moses, and not on the same level of his master. Yet his spies were successful. Why?

In order to answer this question, let us turn our attention to a strange Midrash.

The second chapter of Joshua begins with these words:  And Joshua sent two men, spies, saying, ‘Go see the land and Jericho.’ And they went and came to the house of an innkeeper named Rahab, and they slept there.

Many youths who wanted to get out of army service in Russia, would show up to the medical inspection claiming they were deaf. Anything said to them was ignored, as they mimicked perfect deafness with a forged note of a doctor.

One such youth came before the inspector, faking deafness, a physician examined him, and whatever was told to him he ignored, as though he did not hear. Suddenly, at some point, the inspector said: You are free to go home! The youth immediately stood up and left… and was taken right there and then to be drafted in the army.

The first key to being a successful agent for a mission of G-d is to pretend that you are deaf. Any person who has ever undertaken the task of doing something worthwhile in this world has been told by at least some—if not most--people, "You're crazy! It will never work! It can't be done."

"You want to start a Day School? It can't be done. Do you want to build a shul? It won't work. It's not going to happen. Do you want to build a yeshiva? You are insane.

If a person listens to all the advice, he will never succeed in accomplishing G-d's mission. When many of my Rabbis Shluchim colleagues went out 50, 40, 30 years ago, to build Jewish communities in remote areas, they were all told that they are wasting their time. Whenever we try to start something new there are always the nay-sayers who say it can't be done.

 Van Gogh sold one painting his whole life. He died penniless in an asylum. Today, he is considered the greatest impressionist ever.

The Rebbe was ridiculed by some during his lifetime. Today, he is on his way towards being recognized as one of the greatest souls in generations.

History will judge your actions, the lives you've saved and the pain you've prevented, the light you generate, and the truth you teach, even if you aren't winning a popularity contest among the foolish masses.

Someone sent me this great image, “where it all started.” Google, Apple, Amazon, Disney—all started, literally, in a garage. Chabad, too, began in a little shtetl in Belarus.

Whatever you do you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there will always be someone to tell you that you are wrong.

John Eliot said: “History shows us that the people who end up changing the world – the great political, social, scientific, technological, artistic, even sports revolutionaries – are always nuts until they are right, and then they are geniuses.”

The story of Google is well known and incredible, how Larry Page and Sergey Brin, graduates of Stanford University, rented a garage from a friend in September of 1998 to develop a search engine. Today, Google is the most commonly used search engine in the world and is worth hundreds of billions!

Apple is another insanely popular international brand, but few people realize that it was started in a California garage by three young men. Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne developed the first Apple computer in 1976 in the garage of Steve Jobs' parents' house.

So Joshua when he sends the spies to Israel tells them, that the only way to be a success is to be a little deaf to negative 'encouragement.’ Everyone will always find a reason why “it can’t be done.” Everyone will always tell you, “Why do you need the headache?” But you are on a mission. You have no time or energy for pessimism or doubts. G-d sent you on a mission to make this world a Divine world, and if He sent you, you can certainly succeed. Do not allow any voice inside or outside to make you doubt that. In the words of General Montgomery: The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer.

The bigger the bricks critics throw at you the bigger the palace you are going to build.

Reb Levi Yitzchak adds yet another dimension to the deafness Joshua demanded one that is profoundly sensitive.

Sometimes, if you are a sensitive and spiritual soul, when you go somewhere, you pick up and absorb the energy of the place and of the people present.

Sometimes, I go to a big event—a wedding, a bar mitzvah, or another big event. I come home, and I find myself in a bad mood, exhausted, depleted. I used to blame myself and try to figure out what happened to me?! Why am I such a mess?

Then I learned this truth: it is not always me. Sometimes I brought home the energy of other people present there and I am confusing it with my own energy.

In life, our energies mix with each other. I pick up your energy, you pick up mine. If I am in the presence of someone who experiencing a lot of toxic energy, I may absorb it, and then I am blaming myself for something which does not belong to me.

What’s the solution? Awareness. Knowing that this is not my energy, and I must differentiate between who I am and who I think I became, and not fall prey to the toxicity which attached itself to me.

Everything changes when you start to emit your own frequency rather than absorbing the frequencies of others around you. You are responsible for the energy that you create for yourself, and you’re responsible for the energy that you bring to others.

Joshua knew that as his spies enter the Land of Israel, as they walk in the footsteps of the original spies, the sensitive souls they were, would pick up all the original energy of those spies, and it may come to define them. Suddenly, you find yourself thinking the thoughts, and feelings of other people—and you think it is your own!

Sometimes it is so powerful it is even true for what will happen in the future. Auschwitz in Poland was a very Jewish town before the war; it was known as Ashvintzen. The Holy Reb Elimelech and his brother the Holy Reb Zusha traveled Poland, including this city. But Reb Zusha said he couldn't stay there overnight, because of the horrible energy he felt there.

So Joshua said to them, you must be deaf- to the energy of the spies who were once here and plotted the slander against the Holy Land. You must not allow their energy to mingle with yours.

Do not make this mission about yourselves; it is not about you—it is about what you represent. Success in your mission will only come about if you are completely loyal to the mission you represent.

If you will allow your egos to become the center of the mission, fear, insecurity, social pressure, and other forces, might paralyze you.

This is true for all of us. Lots of things can paralyze you in this world, from inner trauma to deep fear, insecurity, and all types of forces inside and outside. When you take yourself less seriously and you take your mission more seriously, it is the greatest antidote. Because then it is not personal. It is not about me; it is about what I summoned for. That makes all the difference.   

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky