In this week’s Torah portion, Sh’lach Lecha, our ancestors allow the intimidating reports from their spies sent into the land of Canaan to discourage them from fulfilling God’s instructions to enter the land and seize it. In fact, the Torah suggests that the Israelites, dismayed by the prospects of invasion, resolve to return to Egypt for safety.
In response, God condemns the Israelites to wander the desert for 40 years, until only Joshua and Caleb—the two spies who protest the Israelite complaints—remain to lead a new generation into Canaan.
Although we took note of the courage demonstrated by Joshua and Caleb in yesterday’s kavanah, the source of that courage can prove somewhat misleading. The Torah infers that their courage comes from blind faith when the two exclaim, “Their sheltering shade has left them [the Canaanites], and Adonai is with us! Do not fear them!”
However, this exclamation only arrives after the people resolve to return to Egypt, suggesting that the two spies’ rhetoric may be a reaction against the voices seeking to forsake the Israelites’ mission. By abandoning their journey westward, the Israelites risk all they have achieved in their brief journey—self-determination, peoplehood, and a relationship with the Divine.
The courage shared by Caleb and Joshua in standing up to their fellow Israelites, then, represents not just confidence in what can be gained by following their audacious plan to invade Canaan, but horror at the prospect of what may be lost by abandoning it.
When weighing the risks of action, the human mind often ignores the risks associated with inaction. As we continue to observe in the 21st Century, the price of inaction can often prove dire—relegating organizations, institutions, and even communities to the dustbin of history. As we continue the journeys toward our Promised Lands—as individuals, as families, as a community, and as k’lal yisrael—we must remember to always weigh the cost of inaction, like Caleb and Joshua.
—Rabbi Josh Knobel