By Marco Del Monte
Every time we read the parashah of the Spies, we perhaps tend to take for granted that they were fearful, insecure people with little faith in succeeding to enter Eretz Israel. In reality, our teachers reveal to us that they were immense spiritual leaders.
Precisely because of this stature, they understood that entering the Land of Israel would mark the end of an era: spirituality would no longer be a purely contemplative experience, but would have to materialise through the practical Mitzvot connected to the land and to daily life. In the desert, the people lived in an ideal world: they received manna from heaven without effort, and their clothes did not wear out; indeed, they grew miraculously alongside the person, as the Midrash tells us. Entering the Land of Israel meant the end of passive miracles and the beginning of working the land. The Talmud also teaches us that one of the three things earned through *issurim*—great efforts (tribulations)—is Eretz Israel. Perhaps the spies' greatest fear was not that of failing… They were afraid of succeeding. Many people live like this: they love dreams but fear their realisation, if this entails effort and responsibility. The spies perhaps rejected a world that can exist by intersecting matter and spirit. Psychologically, they preferred the infantilism of total dependency to the responsibility of adulthood. They wanted the rights of divine closeness, but without the duties of concrete action. This dynamic makes me think of the "Anti-Eden". It seems to me that the Zohar defines goods received without effort as "the Bread of Shame"—nutritious and easy, yes, but which empties the human being of dignity. Commonly, Adam and Chavvah are thought of as sinners. A revolutionary Hasidic interpretation tells us that in reality they "chose" to leave that paradisiacal status in which everything was given to them, without any effort to deserve it. They therefore decided to "grow up" and leave Neverland, and responsibly eat bread "by the sweat of your brow." This is not a punishment, but the birth of spiritual meritocracy. The Mishnah summarises this psychological and existential law: "Lepum tza'ara agra" — According to the effort shall be the reward.
Tradition teaches that the night the people wept over the spies' report was the 9th of Av. G-d decreed: "You have wept a baseless weep (Bechiarah shel chinam), and I will establish for you a weeping for the generations (Bechiah le-dorot)". "Hinam", Baseless—here is the key term: wanting something for nothing takes us back to Egypt: the "gratis" of Egypt represents the infantile rejection of responsibility. They preferred slavery rather than facing the hardship of choosing and growing, and more than once they asked to return to "reassuring slavery". But why was the consequence of that weeping the future destruction of the First and Second Bet Hamikdash? Perhaps the term Bet HaMikdash (Sanctuary) can be read as "Bait HaMekadesh", the material house that sanctifies physical reality. Service in the Temple is called *Avodah* (Labour/Toil) par excellence; the *tefillah* that replaced the sacrifices is called *Avodah Shebalev* (the work done with the heart). By rejecting the physical toil of Eretz Yisrael, one rejects the very idea that matter can and must be sanctified through human effort. If man rejects daily toil, the Temple loses its function, and its walls collapse. Those who do not strive to build end up destroying their own inner Temple. Perhaps there is no real "comfort zone" in the universe of the spirit: pretending to be Jews while claiming only the rights of a free Heaven, without embracing the duty of sweat and earth, means condemning one's internal sanctuary to collapse. In these "journeys" between heaven and earth, there are deserts to cross and Promised Lands to be earned. Being Jewish means understanding that the greatest blessings do not descend ready-made from heaven: they await to be cultivated, built, and sanctified. Because Hashem is not looking for guests in His world. He is looking for partners in His Creation.
Have a good journey!
Shabbat Shalom
Translated from the Italian with Google Gemini. The Italian text is the original.