LEAD TIDBIT Variation on a theme. Parshat Sh'lach is one of those sedras that evokes the heavy handed, pushy pitch for Aliya and living in Israel. Here's an interesting way to look at this sedra in particular, and maybe all of Tanach and more, in general. There was an American TV show in the late 90s - it aired on Israel television too - called Early Edition. It was the continuing story of a man (named Gary Hobson from Chicago) who received a newspaper on his doormat every morning. What made this unique, rather than mundane was the fact that he received tomorrow's edition, today. He had access to news that hadn't happened yet, and he had the opportunity to change things for the better. If the newspaper reported a fatal fire in an apartment building, he had 24 hours or so to prevent it from happening and save many lives. Interesting piece of fantasy and imagination. but totally fictional, of course. But it made you think. What if we could read an Early Edition telling us what will happen - or might happen - tomorrow, and what if we could do something about it? Well, we really do receive an early edition of sorts. It's called the Torah. You think the Torah is only telling you what happened in the past? No, it does more than that. Take Parshat Sh'lach, for example. Imagine if you had advanced knowledge of what was to happen on that fateful Tish'a b'Av so long ago. What would you do, what could you do, being forewarned about the sin of the spies? Maybe you could have joined your voice to those of Kalev and Yehoshua, Moshe and Aharon - and made a difference. When you read Parshat Sh'lach, you are reading - not only about the original Cheit HaMeraglim, but also about the one that will happen tomorrow. The one you can do something about. The one involving a Jew who says: "Israel? A nice place to visit; but I wouldn't want to live there." That statement is pretty much what the Meraglim said. Each of us has to challenge to make a difference. The strengthen the Kalev factor, to neutralize the Meraglim among us and to be the TIKUN for Cheit HaMeraglim. We cannot change what happened in Parshat Sh'lach, but we can be the kind of people who will teach our children and others, the value of living a Jewish life in Eretz Yisrael, the values of Torah and mitzvot... so that we will not repeat that sin. So that G-d will finally and completely forgive the people of Israel for the terrible sin against Eretz Yisrael and against Him. May His reaction to our deeds and attitudes compel (so to speak) Him to restore the full glory of "Israel on its land", with the Geula Sh'leima and the third Beit HaMikdash, speedily in our time. May each of us be instrumental in our own way, in bringing that Geula to Klal Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael. We have the Real Early Edition - the Torah. [The Parshat B'ha'alot'cha Homepage]
|
