What If the Past Didn’t Control You? (Joshua’s Spies Show How)

Okay, friends, the story begins. Today, we're going to talk about how to not be haunted by our past. How do we embrace a brighter future and not let the past haunt us? The the truth is as a community, as a Jewish community, we're pretty good at this. We've we've gone through a lot throughout history. And for some reason, we keep on fighting. I mean, just look in recent history. We didn't let the Holocaust stop us. We've never really victimized ourselves. I mean, you see what Israel is doing and stuff, but I'd like to derive this lesson from this week's Torah portion. I shouldn't say derive this lesson. I feel like it's it's right there. um and see how it might apply to our lives on a on a really personal level as well. This portion is about the spies, the spies that Moshe had sent to the land of Israel. 12 spies. Each of them were a one of the heads of one of the 12 tribes. And they're there to scout out the land and to give a report what the land is like. And they get there and they're intimidated. They're intimidated by the strength of the local inhabitants. They feel like grasshoppers in their eyes. That's that's what the Torah describes them as. And they come back and they say, "I got news, everybody." Uh that whole go to Israel thing that God promised to Abraham and that we've been kind of fighting for the last thousand of years. Uh that God actually promised we're going to fulfill. Um, I think we know better. I think I think I Yeah, just don't worry about it. Let's do something else. Let's just stay here in the desert. And there's there's mystical interpretation to that. Coming into the land comes with responsibility. Being in the desert had no responsibility. It was just spiritually being taken care of by God. Uh there's psychological significance of that. fear, arrogance, um, taking on a role that's not yours. I mean, what was their job? Scout out the land, not give opinions. Okay, there's a lot going wrong here. There's a lot going on here as well. But if you contrast to the beginning of the book of Joshua, because the the way the Torah ends, the Torah kind of leaves us on a cliffhanger. Like the book doesn't end. The beginning of the Torah is I mean our story. The story of creation, how we came into existence, the story of our forefather Abraham. The story of God promising him that his children are going to inherit the promised land. But in order to do that, we got to go we got to be slaves in Egypt and then leave Egypt and then get the Torah at Mount Si. Then because of this whole spy saga thing, we ended up wandering the desert for 40 years. That was the consequence. It was a 40-day trip. So God says, "Okay, you'll wander the desert for 40 years to rectify that." And then the end of Deuteronomy, Moses says, "Goodbye, guys. I'm staying here." Because that whole generation is dying out. Joshua is taking over. And the whole Torah, which is about going into our promised land with our God, doesn't actually happen, which is kind of ironic. It I mean, it happens eventually. Doesn't happen in the Torah, in the five books of Moses. It happens in the book of Joshua. And literally in the middle of mourning for Moses and his death, God tells Joshua, "Yeah, Moses died, but the story's not over. Strengthen yourself, fortify yourself. Which by the way, commentaries say, why did God tell Joshua both expressions? Strengthen yourself, fortify yourself. Just say, be strong. Why the double expression? So, one of the commentators explained, be strong behaviorally, be strong emotionally outside and inside. Don't just act strong, but there's reason to be confident. And in the book of Joshua, it describes him doing the same a similar thing that Moses did. Send spies to the land of Israel because it's time to conquer. And you got to imagine what Joshua is going through, which by the way, Joshua was one of the spies that Moshe had sent. He was one of the good spies. Two out of 10 were were not good. Sorry, two out of 10 were good. 10 out of 12 were no good. Joshua was one of the good spies. And Joshua might be thinking, and God tells him, fortify yourself, right? But he might be thinking, is this spy thing a good idea? Can't you just take us there? Like, can't we learn from the past? The commentaries point out several differences between the spies that Moshe had sent and the spies that Yahosua, Joshua, had sent. One of the differences maybe we'll talk about some more but it says mo I'm looking at the text here the spies of Joshua were is an interesting word and there's a discussion in among commentaries and among the Talmud and Midash and what the wordish means. Some say it means weapons. you sent them with weapons because you're not just going to collect information. You're going for a very specific purpose. Um, some say the word, and this is the more um accepted interpretation, the wordish means quiet. He sent them quietly. The spies that Moses sent was like a big deal. Everybody knew about it. The entire nation of Israel knew about it. their tribal leader was gone and they knew why. There were 12 of them. The entire land of Cananan knew about the spies. They weren't secret spies. They were literally there to parade and walk around looking and exploring the entire land to the point that the Talmud tells us that I mean the how did these spies make it out alive if they were so intimidated. By the way, they're parading through the land and they go, "Oh, that was a mistake. Oops." So, how' they make it out alive? At least in their mind. I mean, God was going to protect them. But the Talmud says that there was some sort of miracle. There was some sort of plague that taken place and they were busy with funerals all day in the land of Canad. So, these spies were able to kind of catch a break. But the point is they were in they they were it was a pretty loud production and they came back and it was a loud production. Everybody knew about it. In contrast to Joshua's spies, you know how many spies he had sent? Two. And if you look at the text in the book of Joshua, you know what their names are? Me either. Doesn't tell us. Doesn't even say their names. We know from Midashik interpretation that it was Khal who was one of the earlier spies that Moshe had sent. And it was Pinas who was a Cohen which is interesting because usually uh the tribe of Ley and Cohen are not part of the armed service. So there's a whole question why that happened but whatever separate discussion for a separate time. Point is, the spies that Joshua had sent were quiet, were silent. It wasn't as big a It wasn't something that the Jewish people at large had known. There's 3 million Jewish people camping in the desert. Two people can quietly sneak away without anybody knowing and then come back, right? It's it's I mean, that's a plausible thing. In the land of Israel, the Canananites didn't know. It talks about in the book of Joshua how these two spies Khalv and Pinas stayed at a lady's house. Her name was Rakav. You know what Rakav did? You know what her profession was? I'll say it in Hebrew because it's more appropriate. She was she was good company, temporary company. the the the book of Joshua calls her B isa zona. You know what a zona is? So there's two interpretations in the Talmud. Either it's a woman of ilur or it comes from the word zan sustenance. She was a bread break uh bread baker. And apparently according to Rashi she was both and they only knew about the bread baking part which is why they stayed there. Otherwise they probably wouldn't have stayed there. And Raav actually did toua. Rakav said, "I understand that this is going to be your land. I understand what's going on. I'll share with you information." She had access to a lot of information uh for various reasons. I'll share with you information. Promised to protect me and my family. And when the land of Cananan and it was actually Yuri, Jericho, the king of found out that potentially there's spies there, she um told them to sneak out of the window. And she had a window that was accessible in the back door because people were always sneaking in and out of her house. Um, but the reason why I'm sharing you this backstory is because the whole spy thing that Joshua sent in contrast to Mosha's spies were very quiet or very private. There's a teaching from he has a say for he has a book called and he said something interesting. The way we interpret the text literally, the spy situation was quiet. The way he interprets it is that the spies and even Joshua, Yahosua, need to be quiet. But what do they need to be quiet from? Not just from letting everybody else know, but quiet from the voices in their head that say, "Is this a good idea? We tried spies just 40 years prior, 41 years prior, and that was catastrophic. It didn't work. Should we be doing this again? I mean, God had instructed Joshua to do this again, which by the way, God never instructed Moses to send spies explicitly, even though it was kind of like a it wasn't a mandatory thing. The Torah says, "Right, sorry, send for yourself." And Rashi says, "It's for you. You don't need to do this, but if it makes you feel good, great." Now, Joshua was instructed to do this. And it's like, is this a good idea? And the book says that it the book of Joshua says that he did it in a way that was quiet. Be quiet from that voice that that that questions your past. which is interesting. Something didn't work in the past. We've had failures in the past. We've had things that we should have done well and we got carried away and we messed up. And the natural instinct is run away. Let's move. That's it. We're moving. And They're instructed to be silent and the way the kadusha slave interprets it. Be silent from that voice. Don't listen to that voice. Don't listen to the doubts that are whispering in your ear, questioning yourself. Don't let the trauma of the past get in the way. Silence it. Silence the traumatic voice, the traumatic feelings. And my question for us today is where did they get the strength to do that? It's very easy to tell somebody, "Yeah, just don't let your past haunt you." Well, thanks. Good advice. Where'd you get that from? Tik Tok, probably. No, I'm kidding. Where Where did they get this? Sorry. Where where did they get the strength to do this? Where did they get the strength? God tells tells Joshua, "Be strong. Fortify yourselves." And not like we said, don't just act strong, but be strong. It's not just a behavior, it's an identity. Where do they get this identity from? To understand this, what we really need to understand is what the role of these spies are. What is their job? Because as long as you're sticking to your job properly, you're safe. That's the general rule in in life. Just just do what you got to do. Stay in your lane. And Joshua's spies did stay in their lane, but their their roles, even though they were both spies, the spies of Joshua and the spies of Moses, their roles were very different. And even though they were similar, they had obviously commonality, commonalities, because they were focused on who they were supposed to be and what they were supposed to be doing, they were able to remain strong. They were able to not allow the past to traumatize them and stop them from going forward. They were able to march forward. What's the difference between the spies that Moshe had sent and the spies that Joshua had sent? So here here's something interesting. You know, we call these guys spies, the people that Moshe had sent, right? But analyze the text and you'll notice that it doesn't say that in the Torah. It doesn't say that they're spies anywhere. Rashi calls them spies. Um it doesn't say it doesn't say that that the Midrash calls them spies and that's kind of their title Maglim, but it doesn't say the term Maglin, which is spies by Joshua spies. It actually does say the term. It calls them, which means Mosha's spies had to stick to their lane and they didn't. Joshua's spies, their job was clear. Their job was to find. What does it say in the in in our para para in the book of numbers? Send for yourself menu. They should scout. They're not spies. They're scouts. What's the difference between a spy and a scout? They're there literally just to come back with a description, right? They have great schwarma, great humus. The attitude is just as Israeli as it's going to be in several thousands of years from now. that they're there to give a description. They weren't there to give an opinion and certainly not a militant opinion. I wish the Israeli politicians would be listening to this right now, by the way. But whatever, it's two different roles. the the lob used to talk about this how the Israeli politicians are making military calls and it's like if everybody just sticks to their job stays in their lane uh things would be great man things would be much better their job is to come back and describe the land of Joshua's spies were for more militant purposes they were there to help us figure out how we're going to conquer the land and What's the fundamental difference between the two? The spies that Moshe had sent were feel-good spies. It was a parade. It was loud. Everybody knew about it. They were there to describe the land to get us excited to help us feel good and confident going into this land. You know, let us look at the brochure before we before we actually get into this uh you know, just they were there to be like concierge like like a concierge. let us know what we're getting into. That was their job. They misunderstood their role. The reason why it spiraled out of control, though, is because they actually had a quite dangerous job. Create an emotional experience for us. That's dangerous. Their job was to create an emotional experience for the Jewish people. And they did. 12 people come back to a group of three million and indoctrinated all of them with the exception of probably the tribe of Ley with the exception of Joshua and Khalv and Moshe. But other than that, they've they've indoctrinated 2 something million people into believing that the very God who had split the sea for us and got gave us the Torah and got us to that this point can't actually get us into the land of Israel. They fear-mongered. Their job was to provide excitement. And they did. They provided plenty of excitement, negative excitement. So now it comes to the spies of Joshua. And there's like, oh no, here we go again. Spies. Is this a good idea? It's a great idea. It's a different job. These spies, their job isn't to provide excitement. their job is figure out how we're getting in this land. It was more um utilitarian. It was more factual. There was a much um a much more defined and objective purpose. You know what it is? You know what this represents on like a personal level? In our relationship with Judaism, we have our connection to Judais. We we have our individuality and then we have our like connection to Judaism, essential connection. In other words, there's what makes me feel connected as an individual, the culture. I enjoy whatever it is. I enjoy this holiday. There there's what I like. does what I appreciate, does what excites me, which can definitely spiral out of control, but it's not a bad thing. In other words, in in any relationship, how you feel about the relationship is very good if you feel good about the relationship, right? But an obsession with how you feel about the relationship can be very can be a diversion can can can make things spiral down downhill. Excitement is good but excitement is dangerous. Excitement needs to be tempered. The spies that Joshua sent were not about excitement. They were the part of the relationship where it's not like how excited am I about this? It's this is important. This is crucial. This has to happen. And the truth is in a relationship, in our relationship with the land of Israel, in our relationship with God, in our relationship with our spouses, in our relationship with as Jews, you need both. There has to be what makes you excited, what inspires you, but then there's responsibilities. And sometimes what can derail a relationship is the self-focus of excitement. Again, I'm not anti- excitement. I don't think God is anti- excitement. Those spies were sent for a reason. And maybe we even even gained something from those spies. But it went out of control. They overdid it. Too much excitement. The excitement overcame them and it turned into ego which was destructive rather than connective. Connectative, it's not even a word. Connective, is that a word? Connective. Connective. There we go. Um, in contrast, the spies of Joshua, the spies of Yeshua, they were about purpose. They were, well, we are connected. We are connected to this land. Let's figure out how. And when we have that approach, when we have an approach that doesn't center around us, but centers around our purpose, the feelings of the past don't haunt us in the same way because we have a lot more strength. It's less loud for that reason, by the way. It's not dramatic. There's nothing to quiet down. It's just it's just a fact. Like a confident person doesn't have to be loud about their confidence. It's it represents a connection that is already there that I'm already committed to and I'm just going to figure out how which is why the spies of of Moshe were not commanded. The spies of Joshua were commanded. Excitement is good, but if it's getting out of hand, remember it's optional. If it's traumatizing you from moving forward, remember it's optional. Set it aside momentarily. Take the good from it. But strengthen and fortify yourself as God told Joshua. Be strong and and be fortified. And like we said, be strong on the outside and on the inside because it's not just about the excitement, about the drama, about the the fireworks. It's about the purpose. These spies were goal purpose oriented people. The 12 spies, I'll conclude with this. The 12 spies that that Moshe had sent again they represent individuality essentially, right? They represent the excitement of individuality. That's what the 12 tribes of Judaism represent. As Jews in general, we're all the same, but there's different flavors, right? There's the bland gapa fish and there's the spicy Moroccan fish and there's I say there there is there's different accents. There's different cultures within Judaism. There's the 12 tribes of Judaism and they represent different flavors of Judaism. The spies of Joshua, there were just two spies which represent a focus on right and wrong. Not just good and bad or comfortable and uncomfortable, excited or unexcited, motivated or unmotivated, but they're about purpose, right and wrong. And when we could focus on purpose, we become very strong. I was reading a letter that the Lava Cherba had penned to somebody who was going through some sort of uh midlife faith crisis. Apparently, this person came from some sort of educated religious background and had all sorts of heretical feelings and thoughts and were joining heretical movements, movements that were heretical to Torah and and traditional Judaism. and had a lot of questions. And in response to his questions, the Reb had told him that many, many years, centuries, and generations of Jewish scholarship have addressed these questions. There's a lot of books out there, and you're not the first to ask these questions. And I'm paraphrasing here, but I'd urge you to do your research. And don't just give up on faith or invent new faith or cleave to those who are inventing new faith because you feel that you have questions. When these questions are answered, go find the answer. Which I think it's interesting that he didn't tell him the answers. He gave him some agency there. Figure it out. But until then, you know, the answers are for you. They make you feel good. But until then, until you find your answers, you have to know that God still needs you whether you're confused or not. And that perspective gives us an incredible amount of resilience to be able to plow forward. Okay, that's my story and I'm sticking to