Parashat Shelah- Seeing the Positive
We read in Parashat Shelah of the negative report that the Meragelim (scouts) brought to Beneh Yisrael after their forty-day excursion to the Land of Israel. Rather than returning with an enthusiastic report of the many great qualities of the land, they instead spoke about Eretz Yisrael disparagingly, causing the people to rebel against God and decide not to proceed to the land.
The Sages saw a connection between the sin of the spies and the destruction of the two Bateh Mikdash many years later. The Gemara in Masechet Sanhedrin comments that the night when the spies returned with their negative report was the night of Tisha B’Ab, and the nation spent that night crying bitterly over what they feared was a bitter fate in the Land of Israel. God then decreed that since Beneh Yisrael spent that night crying in vain, grieving over what was in truth a precious blessing, the night of Tisha B’Ab will for generations be observed as a national day of mourning – as this would be the day on which we mourn for both the first and second Temples.
The Sages also found an allusion to the sin of the Meragelim in Megilat Echa, which we read on Tisha B’Ab. The first four chapters of Echa follow the sequence of the Hebrew alphabet, as the first verse (or group of verses) of each chapter begins with the letter Alef, and the second begins with Bet, and so on. Curiously, however, the letter Peh appears (in chapters 2,3,4) before the letter Ayin, despite the fact that Ayin precedes Peh in the alphabet. The Gemara explains that this deviation from the normal sequence alludes to the sin of the Meragelim. The word "Peh" means "mouth," and the word "Ayin" means "eye." The letter "Peh" is placed before the "Ayin" to indicate that the scouts "spoke with their mouths that which their eyes did not see." Rather than telling Beneh Yisrael what they saw with their eyes, they placed their mouths before their eyes, so-to-speak, speaking about that which their eyes did not see.
In truth, the spies did not lie. They told Beneh Yisrael about the giants in Eretz Yisrael, and described the mass funerals that they saw, which suggested that the land is a place that kills its inhabitants. The spies also spoke about the oversized fruits of the land, which they saw as an indication of the land’s generally abnormal qualities.
The spies sinned, however, by "placing their mouths before their eyes" – by going into Eretz Yisrael with a negative predisposition toward the land. They went into the land looking to find unappealing qualities and with the intention of bringing back a negative, disheartening report to Beneh Yisrael. God caused many residents of Canaan to perish, so that the people would be preoccupied with funerals and thus not notice the scouts. The scouts, however, interpreted these deaths as a reflection of the land’s negative qualities. Similarly, the enormous fruits they brought back demonstrated the land’s promising agricultural potential – but the spies viewed them from a negative angle, as signifying the land’s abnormality.
The Sages speak of a quality called "Tob Ayin," which literally means, "good eye." It means looking for the positive aspects of every person and every situation, rather than focusing one’s attention on the negative. The lesson of the scouts is that two people can see the same event and interpret it in two different ways. Ten of the twelve scouts saw a land that was unconquerable and undesirable. Kaleb and Yehoshua, however, saw a land full of promise. It’s all a matter of perception, through which lenses a person chooses to view the situation.
This explains the connection between the spies and the Temple’s destruction, which the Sages attribute to the sin of Sin’at Hinam – baseless hatred among people. The way to eliminate Sin’at Hinam is to view each other in a positive light, focusing on the admirable qualities of other people, rather than constantly looking to complain and criticize. To correct the sin of Sin’at Hinam, we need to correct the sin of the spies, and ensure to look at others positively.
We must all train ourselves in this skill of seeing the positive, viewing our peers and our lives from an upbeat, optimistic angle. One way of accomplishing this is to make a point of giving a compliment at least once or twice a day, and to greet people cheerfully and wish them well. The more we accustom ourselves to dispensing compliments and wishing the best for other people, the more we will begin looking at other people in a favorable light. We will then achieve true happiness and contentment, as we realize just how much good there is in the world, and how much we have for which to feel grateful and appreciative.
