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The Land is Very Very Good

 

Just what were they thinking? This preoccupation with spying out the land, so appealing that an entire people clamored to Moshe to make it happen - how did it make any sense to those for whom miracles were commonplace? The mind-bending miracles in Egypt, the crossing of the Sea, the constant representation of the presence of the Shechinah in their midst through the cloud leading them by day and the pillar of fire by night, all the while protected from the elements by the Clouds of Glory - was there anything in their immediate experience that was not miraculous? The impact of G-d's wonders upon each and every one of them was as close as the last meal - and the one before that, and before that. Water flowed in a wilderness from a rock; their bread arrived each day from Heaven. Surely they needed no convincing and no reminder of G-d's ability and willingness to lead them with no regard to the limitations of natural rules and laws. What information could spies give them? What understanding did they seek?

The words they used to explain what they were looking for does not seem to help our understanding of what was on their minds. They said they wished to find out whether the "land was good or bad."² Hashem had already described it as "flowing with milk and honey!"³ Did they not trust Him? Of what consequence was it to them if the "people that dwells in it is strong or weak?"⁴ Why did Moshe concur with the request, declaring it "good in my eyes?"⁵

The last question is the easiest one to answer. Chazal interpret the command Shlach lecha⁶ as "send according to your own understanding." This does not mean that Moshe was to take responsibility for the initiative, but that he should send the spies according to his own understanding of the need to spy out the land, not the mindset of the rest of the people.

Moshe saw no need to assess the physical parameters of the Land. He grasped the incredible holiness of the Land, and therefore realized that Eretz Yisrael would also be plagued by formidable forces of tumah. (This is one of the most basic laws of the spiritual makeup of the universe. Parity must always be maintained between the strengths of available good and its opposite.) Knowing the enemy - the spiritual enemy - is always appropriate. Moshe found it incumbent to learn "where" the forces of tumah in Israel would be found. Would they be strong and concentrated in a given location, or diffuse? Is a given area "good," in the sense of tending to produce people with good character? If so, they would be forewarned about the kind of spiritual challenges waiting for them there. Such an area would demand a different spiritual struggle than an area that naturally produced people of bad character, whose avodah would need to start with the repair of their own inner qualities. It would take people of great spiritual sensitivity to pick up on the subtle cues necessary to make this determination. Therefore, Moshe chose only "distinguished men"⁷ for the mission.

The rest of the people did not understand the purpose of spying out the land in the same way. In their minds, the mission would be a conventional one. As accustomed as they were to miracles, they nonetheless assumed that this period of miraculous assistance would of necessity come to an end with their entry into the land of Israel. There, they would be governed by the same laws of nature that govern all other human beings. Gathering intelligence for the future military campaign - to be waged under very down to earth conditions - made complete sense.

Their error, in a word, was to deny the transcendent nature of Eretz Yisrael. They failed to grasp that this land was outside the parameters of nature. Without this appreciation, they could not take possession of it. That would have to await the next generation, the "young children of whom you said they will be taken captive."⁸They would have full belief and confidence in a Providence connected to the land that is not limited by the natural and the ordinary.⁹ With that belief, they could enter the land and possess it.

The spies are described as having "despised the desirable land."¹⁰ At first, this seems puzzling. Their report about the land was quite good, and quite accurate. They were positively impressed with it being a land of milk and honey, just as promised. What frightened them were the people, the inhabitants, not the blood itself. We can now understand, however, that what they despised and rejected was the special quality of Eretz Yisrael as primarily a spiritual space, a place that transcends nature. Believing Israel to be a land like others is to despise it, to repudiate its most salient aspect.

To drive home this message, the waters of the Jordan split for them just as they crossed over into the land. It was a powerful indicator that the land they were about to enter was not restricted by nature but transcended it. This point remains as true today as back then. A Jew makes his place in the land through his emunah. We open ourselves up to the special kedushah of the land by first believing in its standing outside the boundaries of the natural order.

Rav Yehudah HaLevi explains in the Kuzari that there shines in Israel and Israel alone a Divine light that illuminates through Torah, avodah, and all lofty levels of spirituality. He likens Israel to a vineyard, whose grapes grow best on an elevated hillside. We Jews as well are best nurtured at the spiritual heights of Eretz Yisrael.

Following inexorably from this remarkable aspect of Israel is the parallel strengths of the kelipah, the forces of tumah that counterbalance its kedushah. These forces, however, are extrinsic to the land. They can be overcome. (Thus, Yehoshua and Calev urged the people on, "The land is very, very good."¹¹ They saw the land while the forces of tumah were still fully resident, before Klal Yisrael could work to banish them. They still understood that the land was intrinsically good!) When the Torah warns against impropriety, so that "the land should not spit you out in your contaminating it,"¹² it does not mean that the land will become changed in the process. It means that the land must and will maintain its essential holiness, and will expel those who introduce contamination to its borders.

To succeed in the struggle against the forces of tumah once again takes emunah - belief in the ability of a Jew to overpower and shatter those forces. To the degree that a person has ingrained in himself this faith, this can-do attitude, to that degree he is able to take from the holiness of the land.

Conquering the prodigious quantities of tumah associated with the land takes great people. This explains why Moshe chose distinguished leaders as the spies, rather than ordinary soldiers, as is usually the case. Moshe understood that a breakthrough on the spiritual level had to come through great people. (Even they could not do it alone. Yehoshua and Calev were successful, but only after securing Divine assistance - Yehoshua through Moshe's special berachah, and Calev through his davening at the tomb of the Patriarchs.) Moshe also wanted to be armed with the merit of all twelve of the shevatim. He therefore insisted on twelve spies, one per shevet.

The seven peoples who inhabited the land, and who ultimately engaged us in combat, are simply the physical manifestation of the forces of tumah which must counterbalance the extreme kedushah of the land. (The Meor Einayim saw this relationship as a general truth. We sometimes sense ourselves hounded or persecuted by people around us. At those times, the real cause of our discomfort is not the evil in their hearts. The ultimate reason is that we have been engaged by some aspects of Judgment, making us vulnerable to attack. Those dinim from Above then take substantive shape in the form of our persecutors! It is the forces oftumah we really have to contend with, not their agents in human form.)

Most of the spies were unable to complete their mission. Two succeeded. Yehoshua and Calev made use of a technique spurned by the others. They latched on to the merit of a great tzadik. Both Calev and Yehoshua bonded significantly with Moshe. In fact, both attached themselves so thoroughly that each nullified his own sense of self in favor of an association with the tzadik.

This, too, is included in the opening Divine command, Shlach lecha - send according to your own understanding. Your wisdom and insight should shape the minds of those you send.

To succeed in overcoming the forces of tumah that are deliberately placed in our way, we need to be able to eschew our own inner voices, and align ourselves perfectly with the tzadik who is available to us.

 

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Dvar Torah Parshas Shelach

The Soundness of Silence 

 

By: Rabbi Label Lam

 

They reported to him and said, "We arrived at the Land to which you sent us, and it indeed flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. But- the people that dwells in the Land is powerful, the cities are fortified and very great and we saw there offspring of the giant...." (Bamidbar 13:27-28)

What had the spies done so awfully wrong that the Nation of Israel was denied entry to the Holy land for forty years? A great deal of ink has been used trying to explain their tragic flaw and unconscious motives, but it may really boil down to one word. Which word might that be?

Years ago I had the honor and privilege to hear the following story from Rabbi Shimshon Pincus ztl. He told us about a fine young man that had earned a marvelous shidduch -marriage match with a prominent family. This young man was an only child born to his parents after twenty-four years of marriage. Rabbi Pincus ztl. had asked the father if he had any sense of why they merited to have a child that year. Had there been any unusual incident? This was his story:

After twenty three years of childless marriage and approaching the edge of despair the husband did what amounts to an act of desperation. He had heard that on the other side of Jerusalem there was a small Chassidic Synagogue that held out a special promise. Anyone who would attain for himself on the holy day of Yom Kippur the honor of Mafir Yonah their request would most certainly be answered in the affirmative. So with not much more than that hope he uprooted himself from his usual place in the Yeshiva where he had a seat of honor, and traveled to unfamiliar territory where he would be a stranger on a back bench. He arrived early enough on the eve of Yom Kippur and arranged with the one in charge and secured for himself for a hefty price the coveted Maftir Yonah.

After Kol Nidre and all the evening prayers while exiting the synagogue he noticed another young man like himself also not dressed like a Chassid seeming slightly out of place. He approached and asked him why he was praying here in this particular "Shteibl" for Yom Kippur. The young fellow told his tearful tale that he and his wife had been married for almost three years and they had not yet been blessed with children. He had heard that whoever would attain Maftir Yonah in this Synagogue would be granted their heart's desire and he hoped to put in a modest bid for Maftir Yonah the next day.

The man just listened with astonishment. He could have slammed him with the sad news that he had already locked up the important honor for himself and made a good case why he was more needy and deserving but he rather said nothing. He just picked himself up and left returning to his place on the other side of Jerusalem. That year his wife was expecting and she gave birth to their child. He felt that he his deepest wish was granted that year not because he got Maftir Yonah but rather because he didn't say a word and he let someone else have it instead.

Sure the spies had all kinds of hidden reasons and agendas but none of that became relevant or was actually punishable until they spoke out what should not have been said. If they would have remained disciplined in their speech, then no harm would have been done, but when they said the word "but" their world began to unravel. Whenever I get an invitation to speak I have a strong sense that the host is less concerned that I know what to talk about and more worried that as a speaker I should not say something offensive or inappropriate. If only the spies could have held back, and not said that one extra word, who knows what blessings may then have flowed like milk and honey in the merit of the soundness of silence.

 

   

 

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 Woodmere Lanes

"...not the place for a frum Jewish woman, no matter what."

As frum Jewish men have been sent to prison along with other criminals, do you have a suggestion as to what our community should do with frum Jewish women criminals?  A former president of OU had a suggestion:  
What's your opinion? -Allen R

Dear Allen: 

This is the article you make reference to.  My response follows below.

-Suri

Wendy Runge

Elliot Ganchrow writes:

This week's Five Towns Jewish Times has an article by Rabbi Chaim Goldberger and an accompanying ad from Rabbi Michel Twerski and Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky about the case of an Orthodox Jewish film maker Wendy Runge. Mrs. Runge was indicted in Iowa for fraud in connection with tax credits that she received from the state. According to Rabbi Goldberger, he attends the trial of Runge so that he can ensure that she receives a fair trial. After all he is certain of Runge's "absolute innocence". He is hopeful that the state of Iowa "run this trial fairly and properly, without prejudice or injustice." The not so subtle insinuation is that the state is anti-semitic and out to get local Jews. The accompanying ad from Rabbi Twerski is not as subtle. Calling this a case of Pidyon Shevuyim, the ad says that the state was looking for a scapegoat. The ad continues "..in the wake of the sensational Rubashkin scandal, they settled on the conspicuously Jewish Mrs. Runge and charged her with 15 felony counts that could place her in prison for 25 years!!" He goes on to add that its clear that Iowa is anti-semitic and on a mission to discredit Jews in the state. Rabbi Kamenetsky adds that he met with Mrs. Runge and adds his support to the ad. The ad concludes with an address where checks in support of Mrs. Runge can be sent.

Those of us who are somewhat familiar with the law realize that anti-semitic conspiracies are generally rare and are quite uncommon in the offices of the state attorney general's office. Not to mention the equation with the Rubashkin case doesn't make much sense as Rubashkin was convicted in federal court, not in Iowa state court. The article or ad do not explain what Runge was charged with and why they are convinced that she is innocent. Suffice to say, the ad was preposterous and embarrassing.

Now comes word that Runge has pleaded guilty to one count of felony fraud.

From WHOTV:

"The first film tax credit trial ended in a win for the state. Wendy Weiner Runge pleaded guilty to one count of fraud. By doing that, the state dismissed the other four charges against her. The only time we heard from the Minnesota movie maker during the trial was when she admitted her guilt. "They contained false statements your honor," Weiner Runge told the Judge. "Statements that were false that you knew were false?" asked Polk Count District Court Judge Douglas Staskal. "Correct," she answered. "Did you do this for the purpose of obtaining economic assistance from the state of Iowa?" "Yes sir," replied Weiner Runge says. In her statement to the court, Weiner Runge said she acted with Tom Wheeler, the former head of the Iowa Film Office when she changed the documents. Her guilty plea isn't connected to the movie, The Scientist, even though her production company collected $1.85 million dollars in tax incentives for making the movie. Her plea applies to one of the projects she had in the works. Weiner Runge filed 13 applications with the state just before the state placed a cap on the program. Today, she admitted that she committed fraud when she swapped one project for another. Deputy Attorney General Thomas Henry Miller says the state isn't done getting to the bottom of what went wrong with the tax incentive program. "We wish to continue to investigate and unravel and solve what happened here to hold accountable those who did in fact commit crimes and thefts and abuses against the Iowa Film Office and against the people of the state of Iowa," he says. Fraudulent practice in the first degree carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. After accepting her guilty plea, the judge made it clear that there is no guarantee for sentencing. She also agreed to testify if asked by the state in any upcoming film tax credit trial."

So Runge, who took the fifth during the trial, now admits that she is guilty of fraud. Thus, the cries of anti-semitism now appear to be like the child who cried wolf. It is a black eye for our community when respected Rabbis vouch for the innocence of our people, claim that the state is anti-semitic and then turn out to be wrong. Such finger pointing should not be the role of our Rabbinate as it makes our community look like we do not take this type of criminal activity seriously.

Three questions:
1. Will the Rabbis involved in the ad and article admit next week that they were wrong and that Mrs. Runge is a felon and a fraud and deserves a jail sentence?
2. Will all involved apologize to the Iowa public servants whose reputations were soiled by these accusations?
3. Will all the money that was collected by the "Rabbi's Tzedakah Fund" on behalf of Runge be returned to the donors?

Part II

Wendy Weiner Runge tried to appear contrite Tuesday morning as she faced sentencing for fraud, telling a judge she was truly sorry for deceiving the state while trying to make movies in Iowa.

But outside the Polk County courtroom, the Minnesota filmmaker has been defiant about her culpability in Iowa's long-running film tax-incentive debacle - a move that got the 46-year-old mother of four a 10-year sentence in Mitchellville women's prison.

Judge Douglas Staskal criticized the head of Polynation Pictures before sentencing her for attacking prosecutors and judges in public statements she has made, while blaming her plight on antisemitism and "some sort of political conspiracy."

He said the sentence was a difficult decision to make for a woman with no prior criminal history, but he could not ignore the "complete arrogant and defiant" way in which she had denied responsility for her crime.

"This is a case in my judgment that calls out for the court to send a message to you and others who would engage in this kind of behavior that it's not accepted, that it's criminal and it will not be tolerated," Staskal said.

Staskal's comments jolted the novice filmmaker, who had showed little emotion during much of her week-and-a-half-long trial in February. She wept quietly Tuesday in a corner of the second-floor courtroom before being ushered out by her attorney, Matthew Whitaker.

Whitaker said he had not decided whether to appeal, adding: "We are still weighing our options."

Runge, an Omaha native, decided to accept a plea agreement proferred by prosecutors after both sides rested in her February trial. The first-degree fraudulent practices charge to which she pleaded guilty did not apply to "The Scientist," a 2008 film that received $1.85 million in state tax credits.

Rather, she admitted she made false statements to procure tax credits for two uncompleted movies called "Forever" and "Run" before Iowa's film program was suspended in late 2009. 

But Runge hedged when she appeared before Staskal to accept that deal in court, saying she was "directed to do so by Tom Wheeler," head of the Iowa Film Office at the time. And in her ongoing blog about the case against her, she has repeatedly denied doing anything criminal and professed to be a victim of malicious prosecution and misconduct by state officials. 

Staskal scolded her for playing the victim Tuesday, saying "there was nothing muddying the water" in her case and said she was neither sincere nor genuine.

Runge's plea was the third in connection with the scandal that engulfed the fledgling film incentive program a year and a half ago, leading to the firings or resignations of six state economic development managers. Two of her former partners who were more cooperative with prosecutors received much lighter sentences Tuesday before Staskal.

Matthias Saunders, a pivotal player in Polynation's deals with the state, received an up to 10-year suspended sentence for first-degree theft and two years probation, meaning he will stay out of prison if he complies with the terms of his release. 

Saunders, 39, who has been living in Georgia, ran a company called Maximux Production Services, and profited from services his company provided that prosecutors said were highly inflated or didn't exist.

Chase Brandau, 26, also of Minnesota, received a deferred sentencing for second-degree theft. He will be able to wipe the felony from his record if he successfully completes to two years of probation. All three will have to pay restitution to the state, the amounts of which have not yet been determined.

Thomas H. Miller, who prosecuted the Polynation partners on behalf of the Attorney General's Office, said lack of remorse is not typically an overriding factor in such sentencings, but Runge showed none.  

 

Syd Mandelbaum, MA, MBA
CEO and Founder
Rock and Wrap It Up!

Part III

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