Parshas Masai
After R. Shimeon had spent twelve years in a cave contemplating the Majesty of Hashem, he went forth into the world. He was shocked and pained by what he saw: people ignoring the Majesty that had filled his dark cave with Light in order to farm, weave, cook, and do all the little things that are needed to sustain the body. Wherever he looked, people were neglecting the contemplation of the Eternal for the sake of chayai sha'ah (the needs of the body in the short time we spend in this world). His eye set fire to everything it saw.
Back to the cave! Hashem commanded. Have you left the cave to destroy My world?
What did R. Shimeon learn during that second term in the cave?
Perhaps, after ascending to a glorious vision of Hashem’s Majesty, he had to ascend even higher to appreciate the depth of His Humility and love for the world. And so he was sent back in to the cave where his Spirit wandered through the Mysteries of Hashem's many worlds, until he realized how important they were to Him, though compared to Him, they were virtually nothing. Indeed, we could well imagine that R. Shimeon spent his many years in the cave moving through those worlds with hardly an eye for them--seeking only to know Hashem as He revealed Himself through them.
We were sent to back into the desert from the very threshold of Eretz Yisrael, the point from which we were to begin our conquest.
We had seen so many faces of Hashem's Majesty: In Egypt, at Mt. Sinai, in pillars of fire and clouds of glory. We were so filled with the vision of His Majesty that we did not realize that, in the living the presence of that Majesty, we were transformed, instilled with a dignity and spiritual power no nation ever had or ever will. We so nullified ourselves before Hashem’s Glory, that we had no awareness of the Divine Humility that moved Hashem to bestow something of that power upon us.
We were no longer slaves, so it was fitting that, when confronted by an enemy, we participate in the fighting. But Hashem knew our sense of weakness; He knew that we would be frightened by the prospect of war, so on our way out of Egypt, Hashem took us the long way just to avoid a confrontation with the Pelishtim. We would have fled back to Egypt!
Rashi tells us that Moshe sent spies into the land at the request of Bnei Yisrael. The Ibn Ezra points out that, in retelling the story of the spies in Sefer Devarim, Moshe adds a detail we don't see it parshas Shlach: Hashem had said, aleh reish, go forth and inherit [the land]. The people, it seems, assumed that the conquest of the land would depend largely on their prowess and military strength. And so, they sent out spies. And when the spies returned with the message that “The Canaanites are much stronger than we are, a race of giants. Look at the amazing foods they eat!” the people collapsed in fear, for they had no idea that their vision of Hashem's strength and the faith that followed Him into the desert had made them stronger, suffused them with something of the power that had defeated Egypt, and that it would work through them, manifest itself from within them to assist them after the manner of hidden miracles. And so, faced with the prospect of fighting a people that seemed to possess all the powers nature could bestow, they crumbled, unaware that they had at their disposal all the powers that Hashem, the Creator of nature, could bestow.
What was their sin? Why was Hashem, who had been so indulgent of their fear of the P’lishtim, so angered by their fear of the Canaanim? Why did He send them back into the desert to wander for forty years and raise a new generation?
Because now they had the Torah. Now they were keeping the commandments, and when a Jew keeps Hashem's commandments with all his heart and all his strength, he discovers within himself a strength that is greater than his own, an indwelling of a spiritual strength and source of courage that could only be a gift of Hashem.
What, then, was the guilt of the people? If they had served Him as they should, with all their heart and all their strength, they would know the indwelling of a spiritual strength that would give them the confidence to face even giants, like David, who fought Goliath without fear.
In short, they lacked the trust in Hashem – the bitachon – they would have had if they had served Him as they should have, not only the bitachon that trusts Hashem to help in matters beyond our control (they had seen Hashem do that, when He liberated them from Egypt), but also the trust that Hashem instills the inner strength required to cope with whatever trials He sets before us.
That bitachon, that trusts in Hashem to instill the strength to cope with life’s trials, was harder for them, not only because they had not seen it, as they had witnessed Hashem subdue Egypt with His Majestic Power, but also because it requires a recognition of the Divine Humility that imparts something of its own glory and power into the soul of man, a power he can exercise to face the trials of this world, the difficulties that face him in managing the challenges of chaya sha’ah. In that respect, we might compare the shortcoming of the generation that was sent back to journey in the desert to the shortcoming of R. Shimeon that required him to go back to his cave. R. Shimeon had to update his recognition of Hashem’s Humility—His love for the world-- to match the profoundly deepened vision of Hashem’s Majesty which he (R. Shimeon) had achieved while withdrawn from the world. The Children of Israel awaken to the empowering gift that Hashem bestows on those who serve Him, something of His own power with which He blesses those who cling to Him, after having nullified themselves before the Divine Majesty they had witness in Egypt and at Mt. Sinai. Forty years of coping with the trials of living the desert would do that. They would discover their new strength, and know its true Source: their devotion to Hashem, watching over and present among them.
R' Tzvi Abraham
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