Комментарий к Бамидбар 14:40

אל ראש ההר [AND THEY … WENT UP] INTO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN — that is the route that leads up to the Land of Israel.

'אל המקום אשר אמר ה, and He commanded us to go there and to take possession of the land.

וישכימו בבקר ויעלו אל ראש ההר לאמור הננו, ועלינו אל המקום, וגו', “they arose early in the morning and ascended toward the top of the mountain, and they said: ‘here we are ready to ascend to the place, etc.” My sainted father the Ro’sh of blessed memory, could not come to terms with people who had said already that they wanted to appoint a new leader to take them back to Egypt having suddenly decided to make a 180 degree turn about, after it had already been decreed that they would die in the desert. Surely, in view of that decree, logic would have dictated that they make every effort to avoid doing something which is the opposite of their expressed wish, namely to return to Egypt. They seemed intent on embarking on a course of action that would hasten their death even more by confronting the Canaanites whom they had considered unbeatable. He explained that we must understand that ever since the Israelites had seen the Egyptian soldiers dead on the beaches of the sea, they had intended to return to an Egypt devoid of men, a rich country theirs for the taking, and had seen no point in journeying to the land of Canaan, a land populated by giants, a challenge that they had no stomach for. Every time there had been a problem, their desire to return to a defeated Egypt had come to the fore. Already in Exodus 15,22 we read that Moses had to forcefully compel the Israelites to turn towards the desert instead of returning as victors to a defeated Egypt. Finally, when they had come to the desert of Paran, they had agreed to send spies to Canaan in order to examine the feasibility of conquering that land. They had hoped that by reporting on the nature of the inhabitants in that country G’d might at least consent to their returning to Egypt, instead. When, in response to the majority report of the spies they had decided to appoint a new leader to lead them back to Egypt, this must not be understood as a rebellion, but as a request to G’d to allow them to return to Egypt where they hoped to live in peace without having to face a war of conquest. When they had now found out that this was not a viable option, they decided to accept the unpalatable alternative and with G’d’s help to conquer the Land of Canaan.

הננו ועלינו אל המקום LO, WE ARE HERE, AND WILL GO UP INTO THE PLACE, viz., to the Land of Israel,

כי חטאנו, when we believed the advice given by the spies.

אשר אמר ה׳ WHICH THE LORD HATH PROMISED to give us; thither will we go up, (and we will not return to Egypt).

כי חטאנו FOR WE HAVE SINNED in that we said, (v. 3) “were it not better for us to return to Egypt?”