The Daily Chizzuk of our Rebbe Rav Eliezer Berland shlit”a — Why didn’t the spies want to enter the Land of Israel?
These are his holy words:
It is written in Likutey Halachot — Yoreh Deah the reason that the tribal princes did not want to enter the Land of Israel. Rabbi Natan explains that it was revealed to them that the moment that they would enter the Land, everyone would be replaced; they had here vested interest.
The princes thought that they were doing this for Moshe Rabbeinu, that if they would enter the Land, he would die, because they heard that Moshe would die. However, really the princes heard that when they would enter the Land, all the princes would be replaced.
The Holy Ari explains the entire subject of the spies. The Ari explains that there are two aspects of Kavanot (intentions) — Leah and Rachel. The spies were an aspect of Leah, and the controversy was about with which Kavanot to enter the Land.
“Latur Et Ha’aretz — To spy out the Land” (Bamidbar 14:36) — initial letters “LeAH”; “Rechov Levo Chamat — the expanse at the approach to Chamat” (Bamidbar 13:21) — initial letters RaCheL. The question is how to enter the Land of Israel — with the Kavanot of Leah or the Kavanot of Rachel?
Rachel is below and Leah is above. Moshe said, “Enter with the Kavanot of Leah — “Latur Et Ha’aretz,” because really they could conquer all the Land of Israel alone. Like we saw with the brothers in Egypt. Yehudah said, “I alone will eliminate everyone; I will eliminate all Egypt.”
Yosef saw that the situation was very serious, that all of Egypt was going to be eliminated, so he kicked the marble column that he was sitting on. The whole column shattered to pieces. Then Yehudah said to him, “Now I am drawing my sword on you.”
Yosef saw this and understood that this was already the end of the world. Then he yelled — “I am Yosef.” Everyone fainted on the spot. Their souls flew away. This is what came out of all their sale — that Yosef is the ruler of the whole world — their souls flew away.
This is the whole matter of Rabbeinu, that he gives a scream — “I am Yosef.”
The question is who is Yosef. The brothers did not want to believe that Yosef was Yosef. They said that like Yishmael was the Klipah (the impure husk) which was cleansed from Avraham, and Esav was the Klipah which was cleansed from Yitzchak, so too Yosef was the Klipah which was cleansed from Yaakov.
Because there must be some kind of waste matter, and here Yosef put out “an evil report about them” — so precisely he is the waste matter of Yaakov.
After this, the brothers blamed Binyamin, that he stole the goblet. Then he received from them deadly blows. If Binyamin had received one more blow, he would have received the entire Temple; the south-eastern corner of the altar would not have been in Yehudah’s portion. A strip comes out of Yehudah’s portion (Zevachim 53b), and this strip is 32 Amot.
One more blow and Binyamin would have received the entire Temple.
After this, at the splitting of the Red Sea, the tribe of Binyamin jumped into the sea, and they threw rocks at them. “There Binyamin, the youngest, rules them, the princes of Yehudah stoned them” (Tehilim 68:28). They threw boulders, each boulder three tons.
They screamed at them, “Get out!” Because everyone wanted to jump into the sea first. And here Binyamin, who was last — he was born at the end, and he jumps first. So everyone threw stones at him. “Get out! We want to be first!” Then, from these stones, the Temple was built.
If Binyamin had received one more stone, he would have received the entire Temple. You need to know, that in the merit of every humiliation that a person receives, he merits to the building of the Temple. For every humiliation, for every stone that they throw at him, every evil slander that they speak about him, he merits.
Even though the spies were an aspect of Leah and so wanted to enter the Land in the aspect of Leah — “Latur Et Ha’aretz,” still, the Land of Israel is the aspect of Rachel, because Rachel is humility.
The spies knew that they would not be princes here; then this was their vested interest.
