Shabbat Parashat Shelach - 5781

Shabbat Parashat Shelach - 5781

Rabbi Hal Miller

Caleiv hushed the people toward Moshe and said, "We shall surely ascend

and conquer it, for we can do it." [Bamidbar 13:30]

We know the story of the meraglim, the spies, and how ten of the twelve reported

back that the Israelites would not be able to conquer the land. We know that

Yehoshua and Caleiv are both rewarded for standing against them. Here we

have Caleiv making his argument. Yehoshua, though, is silent for quite some

time. Why did both receive similar reward, even though it appears Caleiv handled

most of the task?

The first that we "hear" from Yehoshua is in 14:6 where both men tore their

garments in grief. In the next verse, the two "spoke to the entire assembly"

together, but the Torah doesn't identify what, if anything, Yehoshua himself had to

say. Why didn't Yehoshua participate in the public debate?

Malbim gives us a thought. There are two kinds of agents sent on this sort of

mission. One looks at the land, is it good, is it fruitful, is it worth fighting for. The

other looks at the military situation, is it well defended, what is the topography

regarding battle. The first is a scout, the second a spy. Caleiv was the spy,

reporting back that they could win the war. Yehoshua was the scout, but his

report was the same as that of the other ten, that the land was very good, thus

he didn't need to say much else.

Talelei Oros suggests another difference between Yehoshua and Caleiv, when

he asks why Yehoshua did not go with Caleiv to pray in Chevron. He answers

that there are two ways to serve God when the world is full of wrong. One is to

publicly declare his position on right and wrong, the other is to keep silent and

let the 'wrong' people think he supports them, until the time for action. Caleiv

was the first type, Yehoshua the second. For this, in [14:24] God says, "But

My servant Caleiv...followed after Me wholeheartedly" and does not say the

same about Yehoshua.

Rav Hirsch, based on Sotah [35a], sees the difference, not in who Caleiv and

Yehoshua were, rather in how the population would view them. Yehoshua was

well known to be Moshe's personal attendant. Since this discussion was really an

attack on Moshe, it would be expected that Yehoshua would defend his teacher,

so the people would pay no attention to anything he might say. Caleiv, on the

other hand, was an unknown quantity, who in silencing the people began in a way

that made them think he was actually about to condemn Moshe, so they paid

close attention, at least for a while.

Rav Moshe Feinstein asks an interesting question. "What was so great about

Caleiv's silencing the people? He knew he could not win the debate. We learn

from this that one must always act in defense of the honor of God even if his

act will not accomplish what he intended. Perhaps by his act, others will be

inspired to repent, and that is enough."

Perhaps Yehoshua knew that he was destined to lead the people into the land

and did not want to antagonize them at this point. He saw that Caleiv was doing

what was necessary, so merely stood along with him.