Chasidut zu Bamidbar 13:16
אֵ֚לֶּה שְׁמ֣וֹת הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים אֲשֶׁר־שָׁלַ֥ח מֹשֶׁ֖ה לָת֣וּר אֶת־הָאָ֑רֶץ וַיִּקְרָ֥א מֹשֶׁ֛ה לְהוֹשֵׁ֥עַ בִּן־נ֖וּן יְהוֹשֻֽׁעַ׃
Das sind die Namen der Männer, die Mose ausgeschickt hatte, auszukundschaften das Land, Mose nannte Hosea, den Sohn Nuns, Josua.
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 13,16. “Moses renamed Hoshea son of Nun, Yehoshua.” Rashi comments on this verse that this means that Moses prayed that G’d should protect him against being swayed by the evil advice offered by the majority of the men who were part of this mission.
This commentary is strange, as whence did Moses know already that these men would turn out to be spies counseling that the land was beyond their ability to conquer? Surely, if Moses had been aware of the tragic outcome of this mission he would never have allowed it to go forth? This is also why Rashi says that at the time when this mission set out all the members partaking in it were beyond suspicion of wanting it to fail. If Rashi is correct, we must then ask what made Moses pray for Joshua’s being protected against the “spies’” evil influence?
It appears that the answer to the above questions is that G’d had told Moses to send out men to “tour” the land of Canaan, whereas in Deuteronomy 1,22 when the whole incident is recalled by Moses he describes the intiative for this to have been the people, who had, however, demanded that the mission be one of spying, i.e. ויחפרו את הארץ לנו את הארץ “who will spy out the land for us.” the Midrash Kohelet Rabbah 1,9 in relating to this request states that just as a human being has 248 bones and 365 tendons, so the earth is similarly made up of as many constituent parts. [The text there only speaks about man and the earth having certain organs in common. Ed.] It elaborates by saying that just as the Torah speaks of ערות הארץ, לב הארץ, טבור הארץ, עין הארץ, “the nakedness of the earth, the heart of the earth, the navel of the earth, an the eye of the earth, etc.; these are only a few examples of the earth possessing parts which serve it in a manner similar to the way that the bones and tendons serve the human being.
It follows that when the Israelites perform G’d’s commandments on this land, that the land itself will develop a fondness for this people. We are entitled therefore to view in the expression לתור את הארץ, Moses’ way of instructing these men to establish a personal relationship with this land based on Torah (תור) observance. By doing so the Jewish people would assume the role of dispensing spiritual largesse of their own to this land. The land, seeing that it had become a recipient of largesse from the Jewish people would also become indebted to them. This explains Moses’ command to the subterranean waters in the part of the land of Canaan already captured by the Jewish people to give forth its waters, i.e. Numbers 21,17 אז ישיר ישראל את השירה הזאת עלי באר ענו-לה באר חפרוה שרים, “then Israel sang this song: ‘spring up O well-sing to it-, the well which the princes dug.’ The word חפרוה is derived from חפר “to dig,” and is completely analogous to the expression ויחפרו את הארץ in Deuteronomy 1,22 where we can then translate it “in order to dig for us in the land.” The wish expressed by the Israelites when singing this song was meant to convince the earth of the land of Canaan (in this instance the east bank of the Jordan) that complying with Israel’s request was for its own benefit.
This commentary is strange, as whence did Moses know already that these men would turn out to be spies counseling that the land was beyond their ability to conquer? Surely, if Moses had been aware of the tragic outcome of this mission he would never have allowed it to go forth? This is also why Rashi says that at the time when this mission set out all the members partaking in it were beyond suspicion of wanting it to fail. If Rashi is correct, we must then ask what made Moses pray for Joshua’s being protected against the “spies’” evil influence?
It appears that the answer to the above questions is that G’d had told Moses to send out men to “tour” the land of Canaan, whereas in Deuteronomy 1,22 when the whole incident is recalled by Moses he describes the intiative for this to have been the people, who had, however, demanded that the mission be one of spying, i.e. ויחפרו את הארץ לנו את הארץ “who will spy out the land for us.” the Midrash Kohelet Rabbah 1,9 in relating to this request states that just as a human being has 248 bones and 365 tendons, so the earth is similarly made up of as many constituent parts. [The text there only speaks about man and the earth having certain organs in common. Ed.] It elaborates by saying that just as the Torah speaks of ערות הארץ, לב הארץ, טבור הארץ, עין הארץ, “the nakedness of the earth, the heart of the earth, the navel of the earth, an the eye of the earth, etc.; these are only a few examples of the earth possessing parts which serve it in a manner similar to the way that the bones and tendons serve the human being.
It follows that when the Israelites perform G’d’s commandments on this land, that the land itself will develop a fondness for this people. We are entitled therefore to view in the expression לתור את הארץ, Moses’ way of instructing these men to establish a personal relationship with this land based on Torah (תור) observance. By doing so the Jewish people would assume the role of dispensing spiritual largesse of their own to this land. The land, seeing that it had become a recipient of largesse from the Jewish people would also become indebted to them. This explains Moses’ command to the subterranean waters in the part of the land of Canaan already captured by the Jewish people to give forth its waters, i.e. Numbers 21,17 אז ישיר ישראל את השירה הזאת עלי באר ענו-לה באר חפרוה שרים, “then Israel sang this song: ‘spring up O well-sing to it-, the well which the princes dug.’ The word חפרוה is derived from חפר “to dig,” and is completely analogous to the expression ויחפרו את הארץ in Deuteronomy 1,22 where we can then translate it “in order to dig for us in the land.” The wish expressed by the Israelites when singing this song was meant to convince the earth of the land of Canaan (in this instance the east bank of the Jordan) that complying with Israel’s request was for its own benefit.
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