בהעלותך

The Underlying Cause of the Failure of the Spies

This week's parashah features the people's complaints against the Manna and their demands to be fed meat.

וְהָאסַפְסֻף אֲשֶׁר בְּקִרְבּוֹ הִתְאַוּוּ תַּאֲוָה וַיָּשֻׁבוּ וַיִּבְכּוּ גַּם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמְרוּ מִי יַאֲכִלֵנוּ בָּשָׂר׃ זָכַרְנוּ אֶת־הַדָּגָה אֲשֶׁר־נֹאכַל בְּמִצְרַיִם חִנָּם אֵת הַקִּשֻּׁאִים וְאֵת הָאֲבַטִּחִים וְאֶת־הֶחָצִיר וְאֶת־הַבְּצָלִים וְאֶת־הַשּׁוּמִים׃ וְעַתָּה נַפְשֵׁנוּ יְבֵשָׁה אֵין כֹּל בִּלְתִּי אֶל־הַמָּן עֵינֵינוּ׃ (במדבר יא:ד-ו)

A careful reading suggests this episode forms a backdrop to the episode of the spies and provides insight as to the source of that failure. Aside from the juxtaposition, the episodes share certain textual similarities. First, the complainers' recollection of the good of Egypt is repeated in identical fashion in the episode of the spies:

כִּי־טוֹב לָנוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם (במדבר י:יח)

טוֹב לָנוּ שׁוּב מִצְרָיְמָה (במדבר יד:ג)

There are several occasions where the people contemplate a return to Egypt, however these are the only occasions in which this particular phrase is used. Second, the crying in the earlier episode is replicated when they later cry for fear of entry to the land:

מֵאַיִן לִי בָּשָׂר לָתֵת לְכָל־הָעָם הַזֶּה כִּי־יִבְכּוּ עָלַי לֵאמֹר תְּנָה־לָּנוּ בָשָׂר וְנֹאכֵלָה (במדבר י:כט)

וַתִּשָּׂא כָּל־הָעֵדָה וַיִּתְּנוּ אֶת־קוֹלָם וַיִּבְכּוּ הָעָם בַּלַּיְלָה הַהוּא (במדבר יד:א)

Once again, with none of the other national complaints do we find that the people 'cried'. Note that these are not random words, but are central to the description of their attitude and reactions in each case.

The struggle against slave mentality

The common denominator between the spies and the complainers can be better understood in the context of the slave experience of nation. The nature of slavery is such that it strips an individual of his/her self-autonomy to the extent that the slave not only lacks control of their decisions but forgets how to exercise that faculty all together. Every day there is a new quota of monotonous work and that is all that matters. Back in Egypt, this was of course part of Pharaoh's plan to kill off their dreams of freedom:

וַיֹּאמֶר נִרְפִּים אַתֶּם נִרְפִּים עַל־כֵּן אַתֶּם אֹמְרִים נֵלְכָה נִזְבְּחָה לַה' (שמות ה:יז)

As Pharaoh correctly realizes, if they are completely preoccupied with the present task, they will stop thinking about the future. Indeed, his plan initially succeeds:

וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם אֶל־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָשָׂאתִי אֶת־יָדִי לָתֵת אֹתָהּ לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב וְנָתַתִּי אֹתָהּ לָכֶם מוֹרָשָׁה אֲנִי ה'׃ וַיְדַבֵּר מֹשֶׁה כֵּן אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה מִקֹּצֶר רוּחַ וּמֵעֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה׃ (שמות ו:ח-ט)

When the people now recall the 'free' food they are recalling the way they were fed as slaves. As slaves, they received their food allocations in the same mindless way that they prepare bricks. There is no choice, no initiative, and no independence. The Manna was intended to steer them away from such dependency by introducing an element of initiative. We are accustomed to thinking of the Manna as a type of fast food takeaway, however the reality seems more nuanced. The Manna was a raw material which required no small measure of human effort in terms of collection and preparation. This quality is highlighted in the following verses:

וְהַמָּן כִּזְרַע־גַּד הוּא וְעֵינוֹ כְּעֵין הַבְּדֹלַח׃ שָׁטוּ הָעָם וְלָקְטוּ וְטָחֲנוּ בָרֵחַיִם אוֹ דָכוּ בַּמְּדֹכָה וּבִשְּׁלוּ בַּפָּרוּר וְעָשׂוּ אֹתוֹ עֻגוֹת וְהָיָה טַעְמוֹ כְּטַעַם לְשַׁד הַשָּׁמֶן׃ (במדבר יא:ח-ט)

This educational tool was intended to foster independence (combined with faith, to be sure) and inner freedom; however, this became the very subject of the people's complaints.

The spiritual impairment caused by the slavery can also be seen in the specific request for meat as the constant stress of the physical labour and deprivation results in a materialistic wishlist. This mental state was famously documented by Viktor Frankl based on his personal experiences in the holocaust.

"It can be readily understood that such a state of strain, coupled with constant necessity of concentrating on the task of staying alive, forced the prisoner’s inner life down to a primitive level. Several of my colleagues in camp who were trained in psychoanalysis often spoke of a “regression” in the camp inmate – a retreat to a more primitive form of mental life. His wishes and desires became obvious in his dreams. What did the prisoner dream about most frequently? Of bread, cake, cigarettes and nice warm baths." (Man's Search for Meaning, p.40)

This certainly seems to correlate with the people's demands to be fed meat. The generational challenge was whether they could lift themselves above this primitive plane of existence as they emerged from slavery. In order to extricate them from this materialism, a spiritual counterbalance was required which was provided in the form of the seventy elders.

Between רוח and בשר

The conflict between spiritual and material values – between the בשר and the רוח - is evident throughout the passage. In fact, it is inherent in the very structure. The Torah moves back and forth between the story of the transfer of the רוח from Moshe to the elders, and the people's desire for meat. Clearly the appointment of the elders was not simply a strategy to deal with Moshe's isolation, but was intended to increase the spiritual capacity of the nation in order to counteract their materialistic disposition. This can be seen from the fact that the words בשר and רוח appear as key repeat words (leitworts) with בשר appearing a total of eight times and רוח a total of seven. The back and forth movement in the text between these opposing forces is also designed to reflect this underlying struggle.

This provides the important background to the spiritual immaturity which is later exhibited in the episode of the spies. Much like they expected their meals to be spoon-fed to them, the same was true in terms of faith. As we have discussed on various occasions what characterised the Exodus (and the era of Moshe's leadership) was the almost total dependency on God and constant need for open Divine intervention. This climaxed at the splitting of the sea where they were specifically instructed to passively 'stand and watch' whilst God would fight their battle.

The dependency on the Egyptian masters to provide them with their next meal was thus mirrored in their perception of their relationship with God. When it came to the episode of the spies the thought of initiating military action as required for the conquest of the land paralysed them with fear. Perceiving God from within the battlefield, would require a spiritual agility and depth of faith which the former slaves lacked at this stage. To follow God into the wilderness - לכתך אחרי במדבר לארץ לא זרועה - is one thing, but to walk in front of Him – התהלך לפני והיה תמים - demands a whole new level of faith. This would take a much longer time to develop and require the emergence of the next generation.

I mentioned before that there are seven recurrences of the word רוח in our passage. According to Cassuto, to qualify as a leitwort a word should generally recur seven times or in multiples of seven (though repeats of eight and its multiples are also prominent). Someone who counts in the passage of the complainers, however, will only find six recurrences. Nevertheless, given the relatedness of the episodes of the complainers and the spies, perhaps the seventh and final רוח of the unit should in fact be identified with the 'other' רוח which resided in the person who stood up to the spies:

וְעַבְדִּי כָלֵב עֵקֶב הָיְתָה רוּחַ אַחֶרֶת עִמּוֹ וַיְמַלֵּא אַחֲרָי וַהֲבִיאֹתִיו אֶל־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר־בָּא שָׁמָּה וְזַרְעוֹ יוֹרִשֶׁנָּה (ויקרא יד:כד)