Parashat Sh’lach -SEND-5785-21 June 2025 / 25 Sivan 5785

Mr. Murthy Gaddi
Jun 19
4 min read

“The Journey of the Spies and the Forty-Year Consequence”

SHELACH: TRANSFORMING THE NATURAL INTO THE DIVINE — THE MISSION ISRAEL FEARED”

1. From Supernatural Living to Natural Sanctification

🌟 The Desert: A Spiritual Womb

The wilderness was a place of direct Divine care — water from the rock, manna from heaven, protective clouds, and miraculous living. The Zohar (Shelach 161a) teaches that the desert generation was like a fetus in the womb: nourished by God, but not yet responsible for transforming the world.

Ramban (Bamidbar 13:2): The sin of the spies was that they evaluated the Land from a purely physical standpoint and did not realize that living in the Land itself is a mitzvah and a spiritual elevation, even if it demands effort.

🏔️ 2. The Sin of the Spies: Fear of Responsibility

👑 Rashi(13:33):

“We saw the Nephilim, the sons of the fallen angels (Shemhazai and Azael).”

The spies exaggerated their fear by invoking primordial spiritual corruption — implying: we are no match for the powerful forces embedded in the land.

But the deeper message is:

The spies projected their own spiritual weakness.
They failed to see themselves as agents of Tikkun (rectification), whose job was to uplift the fallen sparks of Creation embedded in physical existence — a central theme in Lurianic Kabbalah.

🔥 3. The Role of Humanity: Bridge Between Worlds

“Unlike the fallen angels, we have the power to turn the natural into supernatural.”

This echoes the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov and Tanya (Ch. 36):

God desires a dwelling in the lowest world(dirah b’tachtonim).
Holiness is not to be found only in retreat or miracles — but in refining the material world through mitzvot and labor.

Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi(Likutei Torah, Shelach):

“The spies’ error was spiritual laziness. They preferred the passive reception of miracles to the active service of elevating the mundane through Torah and mitzvot.”

📖 Midrashic Insight: Interpreting Reality Through Faith

📖 Midrash Tanchuma(Shelach 7):

The spies interpreted reality negatively. But in truth, Hashem was preparing the Land for them (by distracting the Canaanites with funerals so the spies could move unnoticed).

Their mistake:

They saw the spiritual work ahead and despaired.
They thought spirituality meant escaping the world, not transforming it.

Sfat Emet(Shelach 5634):

The Land appears to “consume its inhabitants” because it demands constant engagement. But in that engagement lies the secret of becoming a partner with God in creation.

⚔️ 5. Yehoshua and Kalev: Two Paths Unified

🗣️ Yehoshua says: “The Land is very, very good… Hashem is with us!”

Zohar(Shelach 160a) praises Calev and Yehoshua as examples of emunah (faith) in action — they embodied the ideal: to live within nature, but with the soul rooted in the Divine.

Yehoshua represents bitul (self-nullification to Hashem).
Kalev, who went to Hebron to pray at the graves of the Avot(Rashi13:22), represents connection to the ancestral strength.

Together, they teach that God’s plan is not “either-or” — miracle or nature — but a fusion of both.

🌟 6. The Mishkan Within: Bringing the Divine Down

The command to “Build Me a Sanctuary so I may dwell within them”(Exodus 25:8) underscores that:

The goal was not to remain in heaven, but to bring heaven down to earth.
The spies saw a contradiction. The righteous saw a synthesis.

Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin:

“The true servant of Hashem is one who brings the Divine light into the dirt of the world, and finds sparks even in the struggle.”

✨ Conclusion: The Purpose of Entering the Land

The generation of the desert received miracles. The generation entering the Land must create holiness.

It is harder to sanctify the natural — but more beloved to Hashem.
The failure of the spies was not cowardice alone — it was a theological error: they misunderstood that the Divine plan is fulfilled not through escape, but through engagement.

🔑 Final Teaching – Tanya, Chapter 33:

“When a person recognizes the Divine in the ordinary, he fulfills the very purpose of creation — making a home for God in the lowest realms.”

SH'LACH - SEND

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