Imagine this:

You have a friend – let’s call him Bob.

Bob complains to you: “Nobody likes me. Nobody wants to hang out with me”.

“That’s not true!” You exclaim. I am having a bunch of friends over tonight. Come join us.”

Everyone comes over, and Bob does too. All of the friends chat with Bob, inviting him into the conversations, offering him drinks, asking about his job, his family, etc.

Later on:

Bob: See? Nobody likes me.

You: What do you mean? You were chatting with people the whole night. Everyone was friendly to you. 

Bob: Yeah, but they didn’t really like me. They were only being polite, since it was at your house, and you’re popular. 

Bob has convinced himself that nobody likes him. Therefore, even when there is evidence to suggest otherwise, he keeps viewing himself that way.

In this week’s Torah portion, Shelach, we learn an important lesson about perspective. 

Moses sends twelve spies to the land of Canaan. They come back 40 days later. Caleb and Joshua insist that the land can be conquered, as G‑d has commanded, and give a positive report; however, the other ten spies give a negative report. These ten spies warn that the inhabitants of the land are giants and warriors “more powerful than us.” 

What happened with these ten spies? How could they forget about trusting G-d, who delivered ten plagues, and took them out of Egypt to freedom? How could they forget to have faith?!

Rabbi Shraga Simmons explains:

“The spies lost their anchor. They got so wrapped up in the pragmatics of conquering the land, that they took G-d out of the equation – and never put Him back in! The original question they’d been assigned to answer – ‘How to conquer the land’– suddenly became a question of ‘should we or shouldn’t we.’”

What caused this twist to occur?

G-d’s presence was palpable in the desert: a rock provided a steady supply of water, Clouds of Glory kept enemies at bay, and a daily supply of manna fell from heaven. Yet these “open miracles” were to cease upon entry into Israel.”

The spies mistakenly believed that G-d’s guidance and protection would cease as well.

When viewing things from the perspective that “we’re doing it ourselves” (i.e. G-d isn’t helping), the spies aligned everything they encountered with that preconceived notion.

For example, the spies saw funerals wherever they went. They exclaimed in their report: “The land through which we have passed…it devours its inhabitants!”

The spies didn’t realize that the funerals were actually helping them to succeed in their mission. In fact, G-d caused an unusual number of funerals to occur specifically during the spies’ visit “in order to divert the population’s attention from the unwelcome Jewish visitors.

“The land devours its inhabitants”? This was a misinterpretation.

When people have a strong idea though, they begin to see everything through that lens.

We may go through times in life when we have our own “negative report” playing in our head…and that negativity can start to colour our perspective, wherever we look.

It is important to remember that G-d loves us. We must do our best to live with Emunah (faith) and Bitachon (trust).

Let us avoid making the same mistake as the spies. 

Shabbat Shalom,

Danielle