Shelach - The Holiness Of Hollywood

[Music] out of all the events in the entire Torah none have been more historically devastating to the collective Jewish people than the story of the spies nothing was even remotely as catastrophic as the negative report those 12 Spies gave nothing brought with it nearly as many negative ramifications as this episode did for example if not for the spies the Jewish people would have waltzed right into the land of Israel if not for the spies we would have erected the B as soon as we entered the land if not for the spies mosu would have led us into into the land instead of Yeshua if not not if not for the spies our spiritual utopian Bliss we were promised would have been actualized and yet because of the spies it didn't because of the spies the entire generation was killed out because of the spies we had to wait in excruciating 40 more years to enter erit because of the spies mosha did not lead us into the land because of the spis the building of the mamias was prolonged hundreds of years because of the spies the spiritual Utopia we were supposed to enjoy never came to be because of the spies Hashem declared in s Dam Alf the day the spies committed their sin will be a day of sadness and tears for Generations that day was the 9th of a and became the Genesis of tisho the saddest day of the Jewish year the original day that lives in infamy the day in which enormous amount of spiritual and physical destruction ravaged the Jewish people for thousands of years including the destruction of the first B Mikes the destruction of the second B Mikes the Romans killing 580,000 Jews in the city of betar the start of the first crusade on August 15th 1096 the exposion of Jews from England on July 18th 1290 the exposion of Jews from France July 22nd 1306 the exposion of Jews from Spain July 31st 1492 Germany's entrance into World War I on August 2nd 1914 Hinrich hin himler formerly starting the final solution and the start of the Holocaust on August 2nd 1941 the mass deportation of the Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to trinka on July 23rd 1914 and the Amia bombing of the Jewish community in Bonos AAS killing and injuring hundreds of Jews on July 18th 1994 all took place on the exact same day Tish the ninth of a all because of the 12 Spies so the question is what exactly did the spies do wrong what was their horrific sin did they go out on their mission and come back with a bunch of lies and gross exaggerations dissuading everyone from wanting the land not at all the ran and bous B test sites a pades that says that the morang said the absolute truth so what was the issue so the common explanation is that the spies stoked unnecessary fear in the eyes of the people and exclaimed that they were incapable of defeating the inhabitants of the land they were too big they were too strong they overly stressed the fact that the land harbored dangerous and giant people when they should have been faithful in hashem's protection and that's why they were punished yet there is an obvious issue with this explanation how could these Jews some of the greatest Jews who ever lived honestly think that Hashem wasn't strong strong enough to wage war against the nations of the land didn't Hashem just a few months prior Wipe Out the entire Egyptian Army and bring perhaps the mightiest Empire in world history to its knees did he not just take an entire ocean and split in half did he not just rain down mun from the sky and send miraculous clouds and fire to protect the Jewish people did he not just wage war against amalik and send them flying wasn't hashem's credibility established at this point wasn't his reput ation as an all powerful all-encompassing enormously Mighty God proven at this point how could they have possibly doubted Hashem what exactly was going through their minds so one of the lababa rebas offers an enlightening approach he says the spies were not afraid of the Seven Nations inhabiting the land there was no fear that the all powerful Hashem would fail in his protection of them the SP spies did not fear failure the spies feared success the spies saw in the land the exact opposite of what their existence was in the desert they saw land that would need to be farmed and lakes that would need to be fished they saw houses that need to be built and Fields that needed to be plowed they saw an existence that in their mind cut God out in the desert their life was one enveloped in God in a literal sense with Hashem feeding us with miraculous food and clothing us with miraculous clothing and quenching our thirst with miraculous water and protecting us with miraculous clouds while the land was the diametrical opposite of that not that it was dangerous and uninhabitable on the contrary precisely because it was safe and inhabitable because humans with their own hands could maintain a civilization on the land the spies feared that God would be cut out the spiritual rendevu they were having with Hashem would come to an end that was too much for the spies to handle they told themselves why go into this land when it is only a step down in our relationship with Hashem why promote a land that will do nothing but claw us away from the in Intimate relationship we have with God therefore they convinced the nation that the land was too much for them they convinced the people that the land was not the place they ought to be but they made a grave mistake what in their mind was perceived as a desire to remain close to Hashem was in reality a fear of having to maintain the relationship on their own they wanted spirituality handed to them and the land wouldn't do it so they wanted out this mentality was Lethal and had to be uprooted the very purpose of the Jewish people in this world is to inject Holiness into the mundane to develop a spiritual relationship with Hashem in a seemingly unspiritual world to inculcate Godliness into the fields the forests and the rivers flowing on this Earth basking in a spiritual incubator does not accomplish that entering the land and spiritually developing it does in Judaism the number seven is Holy only after 7 days is an infant holy enough to get a Brisa or the seventh day of the week is chabas the seventh year is shmita after the 49 ninth year is yel the seventh month of the year counting from Nissan is the holy month of Tish home of rashash Yumer and sukus the seventh month of the year counting from Tish is the holy month of Nissan the month of our spiritual Redemption and pesak suis is seven days long as is PES there are seven special fruits in the land of Israel so following this pattern it would make sense that the seventh word in the entire Torah is likewise holy the seventh word in the Torah is the word the land the ground the Earth Perhaps it is telling us that the land isn't a landscape waiting for us to build our materialistic temples on it rather it is there waiting for us to sanctify it it is the ultimate medium for spreading hashem's Glory it is the place for us to plant our seeds of spirituality and have them grow across the globe the world offers a NeverEnding tsunami of immorality and mundanity is the job of the Jew to inject it with Holiness rers explains the Jewish nation is called a a kingdom of priests which he explains to me that what kahim are to the Jewish people the Jews are to the rest of the world we Safeguard we're the injectors of unadulterated Holiness I once had a fascinating conversation with a man named David saxs David saxs is a famous movie and TV show writer living in Los Angeles who contributed to some of the most popular shows of all time more importantly he is an orthodox Jew and I asked him the following question I said why in your opinion are there so many Jews who succeed in Hollywood in the movie TV and Broadway show business virtually everywhere you look you'll find Jews the actor the producer the writer the director why is that he looked at me and he smiled and he gave me a pretty refreshingly sophisticated answer to this age-old question he said Jews have been around a long time from the times of abam in ancient Mesopotamia to the times of Moshe in the desert from the times of Shalom to the times of the Jews and Iran and Iraq we've lived in Italy and Spain Germany and France Morocco and Tunisia from the Jews in Russia and Ukraine to the Jews in Canada and Greece and Bolivia Jews have been through virtually every villain the world has seen and have experienced almost every triumphant leader the Jew has been through every possible plot twist and backdrop through Climax and every conclusion the Jews have experienced every background and every falling action the Jews have have not only witnessed every possible form of drama on life's huge stage the Jews have taken part in every drama on Life Stage therefore he looked at me with a glow the Jew has developed an almost Supernatural ability to tell stories for the Jew has been there through the duration of life's Stories the Jew was there to teach history how to act the Jew was there nurturing the world through its highs and through its lows the Jew has been there as a Shining Light when the world got dark the Jew no matter where it was sent went with the Torah clutched in his hand ready to bring Holiness to its new destination every Jew has a story to tell for we are the safeguards of life's stories we are living in a world scrambling for physicality the Jews job is to inject it with spirituality the 12 Spies were afraid of that they lost out on Theus it was our job then and it remains our job now the setting might be very different but the mission is very much the same take an Unholy world and make it holy [Music]