Vayaturu (מרגלים) Lo Taturu (שמע) mean the same (Postscript to Parshat Shelah) |
In the past I have suggested that the episode of the meraglim, the spies whom Moshe sent at God’s behest to reconnoiter the Promised Land were being intentionally set up for failure. My reasoning was straightforward:
To begin with, there was no reason why such a mission was called for. If God had promised to deliver the Children of Israel victoriously into a land of milk and honey His word should have been sufficient. Nothing the spies might say could add to the veracity of God’s spoken word. Indeed, sending human spies could – at best – add nothing positive to the picture, and might conceivably trigger hesitation on the part of a nascent nation just recently released from centuries of bondage.
More significantly, if Moshe was hoping to further inspire 600,000 newly manumitted slaves, he clearly made the worst possible choice in assigning this mission to the tribal elders.
וַיִּשְׁלַ֨ח אֹתָ֥ם מֹשֶׁ֛ה מִמִּדְבַּ֥ר פָּארָ֖ן עַל־פִּ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה כֻּלָּ֣ם אֲנָשִׁ֔ים רָאשֵׁ֥י בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל הֵֽמָּה׃
And Moshe, per God’s order, dispatched them from the wilderness of Paran—all of them men who were the leaders of the Israelites. (Bamidbar/Numbers 13:13)
I doubt that in the history of espionage there was ever a competent leader who chose tribal elders to undertake a reconnaissance mission in order to assess the prospects of an imminent invasion. If anything, he would choose intrepid young........