Shlach: Believe in Yourself First
Liluei Nishmas Ita bas Chanoch Aharon Bistritzky
This week's parsha begins with the troubling saga of the spies that Moshe sent to scout out the land of Eretz Yisrael. After 40 days, the spies returned with a damning report: indeed, the land is good and flowing with milk and honey, but we cannot conquer it. The cities are heavily fortified, and giants inhabit the land. We cannot win the war against its people. The Parsha then tells us of the extremely harsh punishment: all men over twenty years old shall not enter the land, and the entire generation will die in the desert over 40 years.
This story raises a simple but perplexing question: is this the worst sin the Jews committed that should cause them to die in the desert? Certainly, the sin of the golden calf, which was outright idol worship and rebellion against Hashem right after His revelation on Mount Sinai, seems like a much graver sin. Yet, Moshe was able to defend the Jewish people against the punishment of extermination. But here, with a seemingly lesser sin—merely telling the Jewish people that they are not capable of conquering Eretz Yisrael—such a harsh punishment is decreed. We don't see any other sin by the Jewish people that brought about such severe consequences throughout the entire 40 years in the desert.
The resolution brings about a very powerful lesson:
Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin says, “Just as a Jew must believe in Hashem, a Jew must believe in oneself.” One must believe that they are important, that Hashem values them, and that they can make a difference in this world. It is equally important to believe in oneself as it is to believe in Hashem. Moreover, in a sense, believing in oneself is even more important than believing in Hashem. What value is there in a “zero” believing in Hashem? However, if one at least believes in oneself without believing in Hashem, one can eventually build on that belief, seek the truth, and come to believe in Hashem. There can be a chance of teshuva since you believe you can. But someone who believes they are incapable, unimportant, and unworthy of succeeding locks themselves in and is crippled from ever getting up and doing teshuva.
The sin of the golden calf was the sin of not believing in Hashem, but at least they believed in themselves, enabling them to do teshuva—even meriting the building of the Mishkan that very year. But with the sin of the spies, the Jews believed in Hashem, but they said they were incapable of conquering the land. They didn't believe in themselves. This causes a self-fulfilling prophecy. When a person has this outlook, it’s irreparable; they have sealed their fate as long as that is their belief.
In our times, many of us are natural believers in Hashem and are not challenged in that area. However, many struggle with believing in ourselves, thinking we can have no impact in this big world. This paralyzes us in our efforts. A lesson we can take away from this parsha is, as the Lubavitcher Rebbe would teach, that every Jew contains within themselves a spark of Moshiach—a spark of redemption that we can unleash for ourselves and our surroundings. As Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz would give the parable, “Imagine you are an eagle, but you think you're a duck, and you live like a duck.” We must realize that we have the potential to spread our wings and reach great heights. We live in a time with great resources, information, and technology where we can have a global impact. Yet, our yetzer harah—the evil inclination—convinces us that we are nobodies. We must always remember that we can. All it takes is some self-belief.
Adapted from Life Talks on the Parsha