Pemikiran Yahudi Amsal 1:25: Akeidat Yitzchak

Bamidbar Rabbah 16 states that at the time Israel proclaimed, "We will do and we will hear," G-d brought the angel of death before Him and told him, "The whole world is within your power, except this nation which I have chosen for Myself," since G-d had advised that this nation should live forever, as it says, "And you who have cleaved to G-d are alive this day...” (Deut. 4,4). Also, concerning the Divinely inscribed tablets, the verse states that the writing was the writing of the LORD, "free" on the tablets (Exodus 32,16). "Do not read engraved on the tablets, i.e. charut, but cheyrut, free, i.e. free from the authority of the angel of death, free from subjugation, from suffering. When Israel sinned, due to the advice of the spies, G-d said to them, "You have destroyed all My intentions. I had said you should live indefinitely like Myself, but you have shown a desire for death." This is the meaning of Psalms 82,6, "I have said you are divine, of superior descent, but alas you are like Adam, whom I commanded one commandment in order that he should merit eternal life." This is proven by the statement in the Torah "Here man has become like one of Us." Yet man corrupted his actions and nullified My decision, ate from the tree so that I said to him, "You are dust and to dust you shall return."

Loss of the land of Israel to the Jewish people, is comparable to loss of the garden of Eden to mankind. Loss of Eden at the time was the introduction to the need of mortality. The Jewish people had conquered this mortality at Mount Sinai when they proclaimed the na-asseh venishma, the unqualified acceptance of G'ds law in its entirety. At that time, the domain of the angel of death was restricted, the Jewish people no longer being under his authority. The sin of the spies resulted in the angel of death regaining his authority over the Jewish people. (Bamidbar Rabbah 37) Life in the land of Israel is of a quality similar to what life in the garden of Eden had been. Midrash Eycha 1, states that whenever Israel is carrying out the Lord's will, it enhances His power. Whenever Israel fails to act in accordance with G'ds will, it causes His power to be diminished. The concept is based on the respective verses (Deut. 32,18) "The rock that begat you, you have weakened," as well as Numbers 14,17, "and now I pray let the power of G'd become great, as You have said for it to be proclaimed." The "weakness" of G'ds power referred to, does not stem from objective causes, but from a self imposed discipline that G'd has assumed. This fact, unknown to the gentiles, on occasion prevents G'd from displaying His power. When the Jewish people sin, and thereby forfeit G'ds promises or direct guidance, this may be perceived by the gentiles as a weakening of G'ds power. Similarly, when the Jewish people do perform the mitzvot, thereby qualifying for the reward promised them by G'd, the nations of the world who observe the good fortune of G'ds chosen people, will be impressed with His power correspondingly. When Moses prayed to G'd, pleading for the life of the nation, saying "now let Your power be great," he referred to this concept. Why, he asks, allow the nations to think that Your power has waned when they look at the misfortunes befalling the chosen nation? They will think that the denial of the land of Canaan to the Jews is simply proof of G'ds inability. They will not think that temporary causes have delayed the execution of G'ds avowed purpose. (as would be implied if we understood the word yecholet as a verb) Rather, they will be convinced that the task had proved somewhat beyond G'ds power. (using the word yecholet as a noun) Since, as we have seen, G'd Himself submits to the rules of laws He has created, to the point of allowing His freedom of action to be curtailed through the behaviour of others, we can understand the penalty of denying the land of Israel to the generation that accepted the majority report of the spies. The right to dispossess the Canaanites was embodied in the Jewish people’s superior moral conduct. Now the Jewish people had demonstrated that in spite of the revelation at Mount Sinai, and in spite of all the loving care lavished on the Jewish people ever since the Exodus, they had not risen to the challenge posed by the task of conquering the holy land. Now G'd had no legal means to expel the resident nation in favour of the Jews. The Jewish people belatedly declaring a readiness to risk their physical lives in order to achieve the conquest, had become meaningless. Once G'd had decreed that they would die in the desert, the only thing that they had left to lose was time. Therefore, they could not do the kind of teshuvah repentance that would demonstrate that their basic attitude had changed. Rabbi Joshua ben Levi in our opening Midrash summarizes the whole episode by showing the bride possessing three desirable qualities. Beauty represents visible attractiveness, an appeal to the senses, man's physical comfort. Wealth represents the useful. Nobility of ancestry represents the bride's superior moral qualities. Since all three qualities were combined in a single woman, union with a man becomes not only permissible but desirable, and an expression of G'ds purpose for man. Such a union would result in a life of discipline. A land blessed with similar attributes, would also enable the people on it to live a life of discipline. When the son insisted on looking over the bride, this was not because he did not trust his father who had,after all, always provided for him. It was because he did trust his father and because he knew him. The son looked for a way to avoid the moral commitment implied by this marriage. The father, though he realised his son's motives, was in a quandary all the same. Had he refused the son's request, he himself would have provided the fuel for the son's rebellion. The despatch of the spies needs to be seen in the same light. Regrettably, throughout the millenia, ever since the first Tishah be Av, we have still not learned to use the land of Israel and its bounty to help us discipline our lives and to assure ourselves of chayim shekullam aruchim, a life of infinite duration.

Midrash Rabbah Numbers 16, states "at the moment of "we shall do and we shall hear," G-d had put Israel out of bounds to the angel of death in order to give meaning to the word "cheyrut", freedom. Only due to the sin of the spies was this decree revoked as we read in Proverbs 1,25, "you have ruined all My plans," or "I said you are G-d like, however you will have to die like humans. (Psalms 82,6-7) This proves that the "nishma"part of the na-asseh venishma gave Israel a quality of life not possessed previously. The manner in which the spies ruined G-d’s plan is discussed in chapter 67.