Buried in the darkness of human failing, Parshat Shelach marks the death of dreams. In its chapters the secure delusions of the nation of Moses and of God are forced to give way to truth. Reality swallows hope, as man and God are tried.

In our study we will not dwell upon the exact nature of the mission given to the twelve men sent to explore Canaan. Instead we shall place our attention upon the reactions of the nation, of their leader and of God.

In its record of the report of Canaan the narrative makes the truth of their claims clear to us. The test is not to be found in the giving of details; rather it lies in the interpretation of facts. As Prof. Aaron Wildavsky-Professor of political science and public policy at the University of California, Berkley and former president of the American Political Science Association- explains in his work on Biblical leadership:

“If the inhabitants of Canaan actually were small and weak, faith would neither be required to conquer them nor God to provide. But if the reports were essentially accurate-so that in a fair fight, man to man, the Hebrew people would face defeat, possibly destruction-their faith would be tested.” (Aaron Wildavsky, Moses as Political Leader pg.130-131)

Here the people are called upon to bravely declare the faith that has been formed through collective experience. Instead the utter failing of all involved is felt as we are told, “The whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night. All the Israelites rallied against Moses and Aaron. The whole community shouted at them ‘if only we had dies in the land of Egypt…’” (Numbers 14:1-3) Every trial and teaching seems “for naught” as the people once more show the lack of memory characteristic of all slaves. This indeed is God’s own conclusion:

“And the Lord said to Moses, how long will this people provoke Me? And how long will it be before they believe Me, for all the signs which I have performed among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a greater nation and mightier than they.” (Ibid. 14:11-12)

Moses, however will not accept this offer:

“And Moses said to the Lord ‘…Now if You shall kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak saying: because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to them, therefore He has slain them in the wilderness. And now I pray you, let the Power of my Lord be great, according to what You have spoken…Pardon I pray you, the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of Your love and as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.” (Ibid. 13-19)

In principle Moses’ argument consists of two components. First a demand that God not act to desecrate His own name by destroying the nation. Yet the plea goes further, beseeching God to actively “be great” in granting love as well as pardon to the people. The Divine response is given:

“And the Lord said: I have pardoned according to your word. But truly as I live, and all the world is filled with the glory of the Lord: surely, all those who have seen My glory, and My miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice: surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who provoked me see it.” (Numbers 14:20-23)

Here God deals with each of Moses’ requests. He accedes to the first demand; the nation shall not be killed as “one man.” However unalloyed forgiveness is not to be felt. Moses has succeeded in saving his people from death, but this generation’s fate is beyond intervention:

“Pardon as we know now, need not mean the absence of punishment. God acts in history but does not displace it. The decision is finally proportioned. The people conceived of as a social entity, will survive. But this generation, save Caleb and Joshua, who kept the faith, will wander forty years-a year for each day the spies spent on their mission” (Aaron Wildavsky, Moses as Political Leader pg.132)

It is imperative that we realize that this single failing is not the cause of Divine judgement. Rather we are made aware of a much greater flaw. As God makes clear these are the people who “have seen My glory, and My miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice” (Numbers 14:23) The failing here is not in the specific deed rather it lies in the greater reality it indicates. The people have consistently proven themselves incapable of rising beyond the confines of the world of Egypt. The tests that were once of necessity have not yielded progress. This is made undeniable as the people cry, “Let us appoint a head and return to Egypt.”(Ibid. 4) Israel has made their oppression into an idol of delusion. In truth a nation incapable of memory is doomed to recede into the past.

Moses is now charged to deliver the verdict to his people:

“say to them: as I live, says the Lord, as you have spoken in my ears so shall I do to you: your carcasses shall fall in the Wilderness; and all that were numbered of you…shall by no means come into the land…but your little ones, whom you said, should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you despised. But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your backslidings, until your carcasses be consumed in the wilderness. According to the number of days that you investigated the land, even forty days, year for day, year for day, forty years shall you bear your iniquities and you shall know my Displeasure.” (Numbers 14:28-34)

Here God reveals the true purpose of His program. One generation shall be punished measure for measure, “year for day, year for day.” Simultaneously another shall be reared with an inescapable awareness of the past as they “wander in the wilderness forty years.”

Nevertheless not all fail in their tests. As he is faced with the death of his people and the promise of a nation of his own, Moses will accept neither God’s conclusion, nor His offer. Instead he casts his lot once more with his people. Yet it was only a few chapters ago that Moses overwhelmed by his people’s demands had turned to God and declared:

“Why You have dealt ill with Your servant, and why have I not enjoyed Your favour, that You have laid the burden of all this people upon me? Did I conceive all this people, did I bear them, that You should say to me ‘Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries an infant,’ to the land that You have promised on oath to their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give all this people, when they whine before me? I cannot carry all this people by myself, for it is too much for me. If You would deal thus with me, kill me rather, I beg You, and let me see no more of my wretchedness.” (Ibid. 11:11-15)

Moses never appears less fit for his task than in these words. Indeed as the nation break into fearful accusation as a result of the report from Canaan no guiding leadership is to be found. Instead we are told, “Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembled congregation of the Israelites” (Ibid. 14:5) In their place Joshua and Caleb rise to sooth the fears of Israel. Ultimately God must intervene appearing before the nation:

“As the whole community threatened to pelt them [Joshua and Caleb] with stones.” (Ibid. 10) Long lost is the image of the inspiring Israelite leadership who had once contended with Pharaoh.

Yet Moses raises himself, refusing to cast away the people whom he had once called a “burden.” Moses’ words bear semblance to a plea made once before. There on the peaks of Sinai; God had similarly proclaimed, “Let me alone that my wrath may burn against them and that I may consume them: and I will make of you a great nation” (Exodus 32:10) Yet we cannot compare commitment at the height of inspiration to utter devotion despite all failure. Wildavsky well describes the significance of the decision made here:

“The identification of Moses with the Hebrew people is never more complete than when he deliberately chooses to share their wandering, suspended for so long between the home that was and the homeland yet to be…already old, Moses must have realized that, without divine dispensation, forty years for him was tantamount to a life sentence. He, too, was close to killing what he loved most.” (Aaron Wildavsky, Moses as Political Leader pg.133)

Sadly, The nation will not know of his sacrifice. Instead they shall only see the prophet who delivered their sentence of exile. Here in the wilderness of Paran dreams are brought to their deaths. Israel shall not yet taste the fruit of the land, God shall not yet have His nation of priests, and Moses must reconcile himself to the reality of perpetual wandering. Yet far from the inspiration of Sinai, Moses claims the title of leader in its true form. Forever tied to his people and their flaws, Moses shall learn to search through the ashes and help build anew the dreams of the past.