Holy Temptations | Mr. Charlie Harary

Picture the scene. Klal Yisroel on the banks of Eretz Yisroel, waiting to hear from their leaders what will be with the conquest of the Promised Land? The leaders show up, twelve of the greatest people of the generation, and ten stand, basically, and say there's no chance. Walled cities, giants, ארץ אוכלת יושביה It ain't happening, there's no way we're going to be able to do this. Except for two people. Imagine how hard that was for Yehoshua and Kalev. And the pasuk speaks about it later on, right after the event. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, Hashem looks over and says, Wow, עבדי כלב, my Kalev. Wait, what? How did Hashem forget Yehoshua? Imagine you're walking down the street, you and your friend, and you hear, God forbid, a fire burning in a building, and people are screaming. And the two of you run in and you call the fire department, and you open up a stairwell and you save people's lives, and you save the day. And then a month later, the city gives you an award, and the mayor gets up and he goes: I want to tell you what heroism really is. Standing up against challenge, overcoming your fears. And I want to give an award for bravery to... your friend. And he calls him up and everybody claps and you're like, What? Hello, I was there, too. It was a team. This isn’t my question, this is the Or HaChaim. The Or HaChaim says: What happened to Yehoshua? And he teitshes the pasuk in such a brilliant, beautiful way. Do you know why, Hashem says, I am giving Kalev the title, the honor, of being called עבדי? Right? Moshe, כי עבד נאמן קראת לו. You don't get a bigger title than Hashem saying, You are my עבד. You know why I'm calling him עבדי כלב? עקב, it's a reward. What's this reward? He had a רוח אחרת. You see, Yehoshua and Kalev went in, but remember, Yehoshua went in with the Tefillos of Moshe Rabeinu. He got a Yud. Moshe infused him with a level of Yashrus, of Emes, of connection to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, of seeing truth. So when the עצת, when the advice of the Meraglim started, Yehoshua wasn't even tempted by them. But Kalev didn't have that. רוח אחרת, he had the other Ruach. He wanted to be with them, he was tempted by them, he heard their advice. These were the leaders of the generation. He didn’t want to step out, he didn't want to be different, he didn't want to go against. And he felt himself wanting to be, which is why he ran to Chevron, to Kivrei Avos. But even though he felt that he wanted to do the wrong thing, the pasuk says. Hashem looks down and goes, Of course I love you both. But you see my Kalev? He was tempted, he wanted it, his desires were burning for the other side. And he stood and looked at his desire and he says, I'm following Hashem, nonetheless. You know, so many times in life we see our תאוות as proof that we're טמא, and that we are distant from Hashem, but we don't realize that it is that temptation that if we give Hashem makes us the closest to Him. עבדי כלב HaKadosh Baruch Hu is looking down at every one of us and saying, That רוח אחרת that you have, that desire to do that, to see that, to go that way, to not be with those people, to pull away, the things in our lives that are the Ruach that pulls us from Hashem, if you give that to Hashem, ועבדי, you become His עבד. Hashem looks down and goes: I love you all, but you see my Kalev struggling, you see my Kalev with temptations, you see that desire? He gave that to me and he followed me anyways. That's my עבד.