Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Error of the Miraglim Repeated in Our Day - A Post for Tisha B'Av

The Miraglim (spies) were the leaders of the tribes of Israel - their chief and best men, the wisest among them, the equivalent of today's national political leaders. Yet due to their sin in speaking calumny against the land of Israel and spreading defeatism among the people, the Children of Israel were condemned to wander for 40 years in the desert until the Generation of the Desert was obliterated.


28. However, the people who inhabit the land are mighty, and the cities are extremely huge and fortified, and there we saw even the offspring of the giant. כח. אֶפֶס כִּי עַז הָעָם הַיֹּשֵׁב בָּאָרֶץ וְהֶעָרִים בְּצֻרוֹת גְּדֹלֹת מְאֹד וְגַם יְלִדֵי הָעֲנָק רָאִינוּ שָׁם:
29. The Amalekites dwell in the south land, while the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountainous region. The Canaanites dwell on the coast and alongside the Jordan." כט. עֲמָלֵק יוֹשֵׁב בְּאֶרֶץ הַנֶּגֶב וְהַחִתִּי וְהַיְבוּסִי וְהָאֱמֹרִי יוֹשֵׁב בָּהָר וְהַכְּנַעֲנִי יֹשֵׁב עַל הַיָּם וְעַל יַד הַיַּרְדֵּן:
30. Caleb silenced the people to [hear about] Moses, and he said, "We can surely go up and take possession of it, for we can indeed overcome it." ל. וַיַּהַס כָּלֵב אֶת הָעָם אֶל מֹשֶׁה וַיֹּאמֶר עָלֹה נַעֲלֶה וְיָרַשְׁנוּ אֹתָהּ כִּי יָכוֹל נוּכַל לָהּ:
31. But the men who went up with him said, "We are unable to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. לא. וְהָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר עָלוּ עִמּוֹ אָמְרוּ לֹא נוּכַל לַעֲלוֹת אֶל הָעָם כִּי חָזָק הוּא מִמֶּנּוּ:
32. They spread an [evil] report about the land which they had scouted, telling the children of Israel, "The land we passed through to explore is a land that consumes its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of stature. לב. וַיּוֹצִיאוּ דִּבַּת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר תָּרוּ אֹתָהּ אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר עָבַרְנוּ בָהּ לָתוּר אֹתָהּ אֶרֶץ אֹכֶלֶת יוֹשְׁבֶיהָ הִוא וְכָל הָעָם אֲשֶׁר רָאִינוּ בְתוֹכָהּ אַנְשֵׁי מִדּוֹת:
33. There we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, descended from the giants. In our eyes, we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes. לג. וְשָׁם רָאִינוּ אֶת הַנְּפִילִים בְּנֵי עֲנָק מִן הַנְּפִלִים וַנְּהִי בְעֵינֵינוּ כַּחֲגָבִים וְכֵן הָיִינוּ בְּעֵינֵיהֶם:


Because the Children of Israel cried for no reason on the 9th of Av because of the report of the spies, G-d punished them saying, "Because you cried for no reason on the 9th of Av, I will give you reasons to cry on that day throughout history." And so it has been.

And so the leaders of Israel today continue to perpetuate the error of the Miraglim then. Here, in uncannily similar language, is a letter that then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon wrote to the Israeli Rabbinical Congress for Peace dated July 18, 2005:

"I believe that today, the benefit, peace and security of the Nation of Israel require the evacuation of the Gaza Strip, an area in which there is no chance of establishing a Jewish majority and which everyone knows will not be part of the State of Israel in a permanent accord,” Sharon wrote.
“At the same time, we are transferring the brunt of our efforts to the most important areas for safeguarding our future: the Galilee, the Negev, Greater Jerusalem, the settlement blocs and the security zones.

“I initiated the Disengagement because it is the best vehicle for a basic change in the national situation of the Jewish people. The departure from Gaza will have a decisive positive influence on all fields of life in Israel: security, economy and the quality of life in the country.”
Of course, just the opposite happened and continues to happen. We need to learn the elemental lessons from these mistakes.

We hope and pray for the coming of Masicach every day, but especially on Tisha b'Av, but tragically our leaders continue to make 3300 year old mistakes that forestalled the coming of Masiach then and continue to do so now. May Hashem give them the wisdom to make the right decisions: Chazak, chazak v'nitchazek!
  

1 comment:

  1. "May Hashem give them the wisdom to make the right decisions"
    Maybe we need to help them just a little?

    ReplyDelete

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