We read:
“G-D spoke to Moses, saying: Send, if you wish, men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Children of Israel; send one man from each tribe of his fathers, every one a prince among them.”
וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר ה’ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ שְׁלַח־לְךָ֣ אֲנָשִׁ֗ים וְיָתֻ֨רוּ֙ אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנַ֔עַן אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִ֥י נֹתֵ֖ן לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אִ֣ישׁ אֶחָד֩ אִ֨ישׁ אֶחָ֜ד לְמַטֵּ֤ה אֲבֹתָיו֙ תִּשְׁלָ֔חוּ כֹּ֖ל נָשִׂ֥יא בָהֶֽם׃ (Bamidbar 13:1–2)
Here we encounter the sad story of the twelve spies, whose report from their mission to investigate the best way of entering the Land of Israel resulted in a delay of forty years (!) before Bnei Yisrael entered the Promised Land.
But were they not sent by G-D Himself, as we read above? Why, then, did Hashem instruct the sending of the Meraglim? Even though we later read in Devarim that the people requested such a mission, why did Hashem agree to it?
It is striking that the chapter begins with the words “Shelach lecha” – “Send for yourself.” Indeed, Rashi explains that Hashem indicated to Moshe Rabbeinu that He was not commanding him to send the mission. If Moshe wished to do so, he could send them.
In a different context, we find a similar expression in Bereishit, when G-D instructs Avraham to leave his homeland and travel to Eretz Yisrael:
“And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth for yourself from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.”
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר ה׳ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵֽאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ׃ (Bereishit 12:1)
In contrast to “Shelach lecha,” Rashi explains there:
“Lech lecha” – for your benefit and for your good.
Why, then, is “Shelach lecha” interpreted so differently from “Lech lecha”?
Perhaps, as with many verses in the Torah, we can read not only the obvious message but also search for a hidden one.
True, Hashem did not instruct Moshe Rabbeinu to send the spies; He merely permitted it. However, sending the Meraglim indirectly resulted in a personal benefit for Moshe Rabbeinu.
We know that Moshe Rabbeinu was not permitted to cross the Jordan River and enter Eretz Yisrael. Had that occurred at this point, Moshe Rabbeinu would have departed from this world forty years earlier.
Following the episode of the spies, however, Bnei Yisrael spent an additional forty years in the wilderness, during which Moshe Rabbeinu continued to lead them. Moreover, those forty years enabled Am Yisrael to continue learning the newly given Torah directly from the great man who had received it from Hashem Himself.
Thus, even within the punishment of forty years in the Midbar, we may discern a great light — both for Moshe Rabbeinu and for Am Yisrael.
Shabbat Shalom and best wishes
Rabbi Chaim Michael Biberfeld