Send forth men, if you please, and let them explore
the land of Canaan that I give to the Israelites…. They brought forth to the
Israelites a disparaging report on the land that they had explored.... Among
the men who explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Yefuneh tore
their clothes in grief. They said to the
whole Israelite community, "The Land that we passed through to explore is
a very, very good Land!" (Numbers 13:1, 32, 14:6-7)
10 of the spies feared that entering Canaan would rob them of a purely spiritual life and force upon them the drudgery left behind in Egypt.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that "The miracles which
sustained the Jews in the wilderness were not the apex of spiritual
existence."
"They were only a preparation for the real task: taking
possession of the Land of Israel and making it a holy land."
"The purpose of life lived in Torah is not the
elevation of the soul; it is the sanctification of the world."
Only Joshua and Calev with his "different spirit"
could envision holy sparks emerging from commonplace tasks and hard work.
Calev saw that the same activities forced on us as slaves in
Egypt could be transformed into acts of spiritual significance when done
freely.
God said, "The only exception will be My servant
Calev, since he showed a different spirit and followed Me wholeheartedly. I will bring him to the land that he
explored, and his descendants will possess it." (Numbers 14:24)
In our day, the descendants of Calev of the tribe of Judah
are being ingathered from the four corners of the earth to the Land of
Israel.
Most Jews in Israel descend from the tribe of Judah. Most descendants of those tribes that rejected
entering the Land are the Lost Tribes.
Seek the spiritual side of birthing a calf, baking pizza,
defending our country, paving roads, sweeping streets, and collecting garbage.
