Chasidut do Wyjścia 2:5
וַתֵּ֤רֶד בַּת־פַּרְעֹה֙ לִרְחֹ֣ץ עַל־הַיְאֹ֔ר וְנַעֲרֹתֶ֥יהָ הֹלְכֹ֖ת עַל־יַ֣ד הַיְאֹ֑ר וַתֵּ֤רֶא אֶת־הַתֵּבָה֙ בְּת֣וֹךְ הַסּ֔וּף וַתִּשְׁלַ֥ח אֶת־אֲמָתָ֖הּ וַתִּקָּחֶֽהָ
I zeszła córka Faraona, aby się kąpać, ku rzece, a służebne jej przechadzały się nad brzegiem rzeki. I spostrzegła czółenko wśród sitowia, i posłała służebnicę swą, a ta wzięła je.
Kedushat Levi
Another look at “send for yourself men to tour the land of Canaan which I am about to give to the Children of Israel.”
Most commentators already focused on the word לך, “for yourself,” in this verse, finding it difficult to understand
I believe that G’d’s principal purpose was that Moses should use the most G’d fearing individuals from each tribe to make up this delegation, men whose devotion and sincerity to the highest principles of Judaism was beyond doubt. The word לתור, usually translated as to “tour,” i.e. to examine visually, in this instance was not intended as an instruction for these men to examine the material benefits that the land of Canaan had to offer the Jewish people. By dispatching truly G’d fearing men to tour this land, G’d intended for this land to become attuned to the presence of G’d fearing human beings, [seeing that since the day Yaakov had left it there had not been anyone residing there who was a servant of the Creator. Ed.] It was hoped that after being visited by such individuals, the soil of the land of Canaan itself would experience a desire to become the home of the people who had sent such emissaries. The mere temporary presence of these “tourists,” would encourage the response from the celestial sources of G’d’s largesse to bestow it in generous measure on this land, much as it had done while the patriarchs had resided there.
We may therefore understand the word שלח in the sense of המשכה, extension, continuation, similar to Exodus where Pharaoh’s daughter whose arm was not long enough, dispatched her servant maid to bring her the basket that contained the infant Moses. One of the sages in Sotah 12 discussing that verse understands the word אמתה as referring to the princess’ arm and not to her maid servant.
We may extrapolate on this allegory somewhat further, following our approach when dealing with true service of the Lord, and understand Pharaoh’s daughter as “stripping herself” of material physical concerns when setting out to save the life of Jewish baby after seeing the basket had aroused maternal instincts in her. Similarly, in our portion, when Moses dispatched the twelve emissaries to examine the qualities of the land of Israel, he charged them with divesting themselves, שלח, of material concerns when setting out on a mission approved by the Lord Himself. (Numbers 13,1) The choice of the word ויתורו, instead of וירגלו, “and to spy out,” or ויחפרו, as in Deuteronomy 1,22 is an allusion to the word תורה, and points to the difference between what the people had demanded and what G’d had agreed to.
To repeat, G’d’s i.e. Moses’ purpose in agreeing to the people’s request to spy out the land of Canaan was to sublimate what was a material quest into becoming a spiritual quest and to thereby convert it into an act of worship. The word לך, “for you,” therefore simply means that Moses should select the kind of men for this mission that best guaranteed that G’d’s criteria for allowing it would be met. This is also the reason why G’d repeats to Moses: אשר אני נותן לבני ישראל, “that the land that I give to the Children of Israel” in order to perform His commandments when they are in that land, not for any other reason. The fact that this land is a gift from G’d for a purpose must never be absent from the minds of the men viewing the land for the first time. When Moses prayed that Joshua should remain steadfast against any attempt by his colleagues to abort the purpose of this mission by adding a letter ה as a reminder of G’d’s name to his name, this is what he had in mind. (Compare 13,16) He did not want him to become a מרגל, “spy.” The תורה element in this mission had to be preserved for it to be crowned with success.
Most commentators already focused on the word לך, “for yourself,” in this verse, finding it difficult to understand
I believe that G’d’s principal purpose was that Moses should use the most G’d fearing individuals from each tribe to make up this delegation, men whose devotion and sincerity to the highest principles of Judaism was beyond doubt. The word לתור, usually translated as to “tour,” i.e. to examine visually, in this instance was not intended as an instruction for these men to examine the material benefits that the land of Canaan had to offer the Jewish people. By dispatching truly G’d fearing men to tour this land, G’d intended for this land to become attuned to the presence of G’d fearing human beings, [seeing that since the day Yaakov had left it there had not been anyone residing there who was a servant of the Creator. Ed.] It was hoped that after being visited by such individuals, the soil of the land of Canaan itself would experience a desire to become the home of the people who had sent such emissaries. The mere temporary presence of these “tourists,” would encourage the response from the celestial sources of G’d’s largesse to bestow it in generous measure on this land, much as it had done while the patriarchs had resided there.
We may therefore understand the word שלח in the sense of המשכה, extension, continuation, similar to Exodus where Pharaoh’s daughter whose arm was not long enough, dispatched her servant maid to bring her the basket that contained the infant Moses. One of the sages in Sotah 12 discussing that verse understands the word אמתה as referring to the princess’ arm and not to her maid servant.
We may extrapolate on this allegory somewhat further, following our approach when dealing with true service of the Lord, and understand Pharaoh’s daughter as “stripping herself” of material physical concerns when setting out to save the life of Jewish baby after seeing the basket had aroused maternal instincts in her. Similarly, in our portion, when Moses dispatched the twelve emissaries to examine the qualities of the land of Israel, he charged them with divesting themselves, שלח, of material concerns when setting out on a mission approved by the Lord Himself. (Numbers 13,1) The choice of the word ויתורו, instead of וירגלו, “and to spy out,” or ויחפרו, as in Deuteronomy 1,22 is an allusion to the word תורה, and points to the difference between what the people had demanded and what G’d had agreed to.
To repeat, G’d’s i.e. Moses’ purpose in agreeing to the people’s request to spy out the land of Canaan was to sublimate what was a material quest into becoming a spiritual quest and to thereby convert it into an act of worship. The word לך, “for you,” therefore simply means that Moses should select the kind of men for this mission that best guaranteed that G’d’s criteria for allowing it would be met. This is also the reason why G’d repeats to Moses: אשר אני נותן לבני ישראל, “that the land that I give to the Children of Israel” in order to perform His commandments when they are in that land, not for any other reason. The fact that this land is a gift from G’d for a purpose must never be absent from the minds of the men viewing the land for the first time. When Moses prayed that Joshua should remain steadfast against any attempt by his colleagues to abort the purpose of this mission by adding a letter ה as a reminder of G’d’s name to his name, this is what he had in mind. (Compare 13,16) He did not want him to become a מרגל, “spy.” The תורה element in this mission had to be preserved for it to be crowned with success.
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