And God spoke to Moses, saying, "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. Send one man from each tribe, each one a leader among them…" — Numbers 13:1-2. God had given specific directives to Moses and the people of Israel at virtually every step of their journey. The case of the spies was the first time God said, "I am not telling you what to do—do as you see fit." Commentators reconcile this account of sending the spies by explaining that the initiative did indeed come from the people of Israel. Moses then consulted God, who said to him, "Send men…" to imply, "Send them as your understanding dictates. I am not telling you what to do. Do as you see fit." Thus, the mission of the spies, while receiving God's approval, was a purely human endeavor, born from the desire of the people and dispatched because "the thing found favor" in the eyes of Moses.
The result was a tragic setback in the course of Jewish history. The spies brought back an extremely demoralizing report and caused the people to lose faith in God's promise of the Land of Israel as their eternal inheritance. The entire generation was then deemed unworthy to inherit the land, and it was decreed that they would spend the rest of their lives in the wilderness. Only 40 years later, Moses' successor, Joshua, led a new generation across the Jordan River into the Promised Land. (Joshua and Caleb were the only two spies who spoke in favor of conquering the land, and the only two of that generation who entered it.).
Up to that point, God had given specific instructions to Moses and the people of Israel at virtually every step of their journey. The case of the spies was the first time God said, "I'm not telling you what to do—do what you think is right." Shouldn't this have raised a red flag in Moses' mind?
In fact, he did. Our Sages tell us that Moses dismissed Joshua with a blessing: "May God save you from the conspiracy of the spies." So then, why did he send them? And if, for whatever reason, he deemed it necessary, why didn't he at least bless everyone, as he did Joshua? Even more astonishing is the fact that a generation later, when the Jewish people were finally ready (for the second time) to enter the land, Joshua himself dispatched spies (!) This time, there were no adverse results; but why did he initiate again a process that had ended so tragically in the past?
Obviously, Moses was fully aware of the risks involved in embarking on a "do as you see fit" course. For man to attempt something on his own, without precise instructions from Above and with only his subjective and finite judgment as his compass, is to enter a minefield strewn with possibilities for error and failure. Nevertheless, Moses also knew that God was opening a new arena of human potential.
Choice
A crucial element in our mission in life is choice.
If God had created man as a creature incapable of error, He could just as easily have created a perfect world from the beginning, or no world at all. The whole point of God's desire in creation is that there be an imperfect world, and that we choose to perfect it. It is precisely the possibility of error on our part that gives meaning to our achievements.
The concept of choice exists on two levels. When God gives us explicit instruction, we still have the choice to defy His command. This, however, is a choice in a more limited sense. For, in essence, our soul is "a part of God on High, just as it is," and at its core, it has only one desire: to fulfill the Divine will. In the words of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi: "A Jew neither desires nor is capable of tearing himself away from God." Ultimately, each and every one of us desires only to do good, as defined by God's will. The only "choice" we have is whether to suppress our innate will or express it in our daily lives.
Up until the time of the spy incident, this was the only choice offered to the Jewish people. God provided unequivocal directives for every issue they had to face in their lives. The Jews had the option to choose disobedience, but doing so would contradict their deepest instincts.
The second level of choice was introduced with God's response to Moses regarding the spies. When Moses heard God say, "Do as you see fit," he understood that God was opening another dimension of choice, even deeper and more genuine, in human life. By creating an area where He, the Creator and absolute Master of the world, declares, "I do not tell you what to do," God was imparting even greater significance to human actions. Here, and only here, is choice truly genuine; here, and only here, is there nothing compelling us to go in one direction or another.
When we enter these arenas, the risks are greater: the possibility of error is greater, and the consequences of our error more devastating. But when we succeed in discovering, without instructions or concessions from on High, the optimal way to "enter the Holy Land" and fulfill the Divine will, our act is infinitely more valuable and important.
The Being of Yeshua
This explains why Moses dispatched the spies, despite being fully aware of the dangers of their mission, without even a blessing to protect them from the flaws of human endeavor. Had he blessed them—imparted some of his own spiritual greatness to enable them to succeed in their mission—he would have undermined the unique opportunity God had granted by allowing their mission to be "as your understanding dictates." The entire objective was for both Moses (in deciding whether or not to send them) and the spies (in carrying out their mission) to do so entirely on their own, alone, guided and empowered solely by their own understanding and humanity.
The only one who received Moses' blessing was Joshua, the faithful "servant..., who never left the tent [of Moses].
The unique relationship between Moses and Joshua is described in the Talmud with the following metaphor: "Moses' face was like the face of the sun; Joshua's face, like the face of the moon." On the most basic level, this expresses Moses' superiority over Joshua, the latter being merely a pale reflection of the former's light; on a deeper level, it alludes to the profound connection between the greatest of teachers and the most devoted of disciples. Just as the moon has no light of its own but receives all its light from the sun, Joshua had so completely renounced his own being and given himself over to his teacher that everything he was and had derived from Moses.
Moses blessing Joshua was not empowering Joshua with something other than himself: Joshua's entire being was Moses. Armed with Moses' blessing, Joshua was truly and completely "alone"; this was his essence and being, rather than something imposed upon him from the outside.
Thus, it was Joshua, who had successfully navigated the sands of genuine and independent choice, who led the people of Israel into the land of Canaan. For the conquest of Canaan and its transformation into the "Holy Land" represents humanity's entry into a place where there are no rigid Divine directives to distinguish good from evil and right from wrong, and their independent discovery of how to sanctify that environment as a home for God.
Based on Sefer HaSijot 5749, Vol. II, pp. 536-540
Extracted and adapted from "The Rebbe Teaches" Lubavitch South American Publishing House
Extracted from www.jabad.org.ar