Guest Blogger Leah Citrin on Parashat Shelach-Lecha

Dear Friends,

I have been on a mini-vacation for most of this week and invited a guest blogger, matriculating Hebrew Union College rabbinical student Leah Citrin (Expected ordination: HUC-Cincinnati, 2015), WRT member and Torah Study "regular," to fill in while I was away.

I am pleased to present her reflections on Parashat Shelach-Lecha for your contemplation and comments in anticipation of Saturday's Torah Study session at the usual time and place! (I'll be in town by then and eager to share Shabbat morning with you.)

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Jonathan Blake

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Shelach-Lecha

Leah Citrin

In this week’s Parasha, Shelach-Lecha, we find the infamous incident with the scouts who are sent ahead into the Promised Land to report back to the rest of the Israelites. They are instructed to evaluate the people (strength and number), the towns (fortification), the land (soil and forestry), and the country itself.

In less than four weeks, I too will have the opportunity to act as a scout to the Promised Land. Although it is not the explicit purpose of my journey, I know that I will undoubtedly be asked to report about the situation in Israel to those back home in the U.S. Now more than ever the pressure will be on to accurately describe what I see. I may not be asked the same questions as the scouts in Shelach-Lecha, but the parallel of concepts is undeniable. And when the time comes, I will have the opportunity to respond. I will have the opportunity to shape others’ opinions, reactions, and approaches to environments they did not experience themselves. And I will have a choice to make in my representation of the situation.

This week, I invite you also to consider: have you had the opportunity to act as a scout? What factors had an effect on your evaluation of the situation?

After looking at what lies ahead, the scouts return with a submissive approach: the people are numerous and strong and the towns are fortified. In fact, the scouts assert that it would not be possible to overtake the inhabitants. As a result, the Israelites vocalize a desire to return to Egypt, doubting the fulfillment of God’s promise to them.

God responds to this outpour of doubt in anger and anguish, spurred by an unbearable frustration. Moses, who just last week was equally frustrated with the Israelites, comes to their defense. However, Moses’s argument is based not on the deserving nature of the Israelites but on an appeal to the ego and reputation of God. Furthermore, Moses emphasizes the characteristics of the God he knows, one who is, “slow to anger, and abundant in kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; yet not remitting all punishment” (Num. 14:18).

Here, I see Moses trying to pick out the positives in a rather questionable situation. Moses is offering an alternative explanation for why God should not strike the Israelites with pestilence and disown them (Num. 14:12), in case he is overstepping his boundary by appealing to the ego and reputation of God. I think this is something we have all seen before.

We have all felt the frustration of a relationship. It is not difficult to doubt someone else’s intentions or feel that our own best efforts go unnoticed. It can be one of the worst feelings in the world. In Shelach-Lecha, God resolves that internal frustration by preserving the Divine "ego" and reputation (so to speak) while still seeking to maintain the relationships that triggered frustration (i.e. with the Israelites). God vows to let the Israelites into the Promised Land, but only after 40 years of wandering in the desert.

So, how do we deal with our frustration and dismay? How do we approach relationships that have become frustrating?

Ed. note: Your comments are invited below!