Parshas Shelach 5782: Blind faith is AWESOME!
Parshas Shelach 5782: Blind Faith is Awesome!
Torah Psych101
Dr. Jonathan M. Lasson
Parenting can be a funny thing. We tell our kids what to do and what not to do. I’ve mentioned many times that when kids ask for something, 90 percent of the time, parents will respond---“NO!” It is the natural instinct we take once we get that parenting green card. We get access to the NO button. This often causes kids to become sneaky, oppositional and defiant of not just their parents---but of authority in general. Many parents will incredulously ask their kids---why don’t you just listen the first time? It is really a silly question, but one that has been asked by parents for generations.
Parshas Shelach deals with בני ישראל who have become sneaky, oppositional and defiant because they chose logic over law. The Parsha begins by talking about the infamous spies who gave a bad report about ארץ ישראל. It did not work out so well. The next part deals with the מפילים who disregarded the word of Hashem and decided to go to ארץ ישראל even after they were told it was not a good idea and that G-d will not be with them. “Don’t go because Hashem will not be with you. You won’t succeed against your enemies!”
אַֽל־תַּעֲל֔וּ כִּ֛י אֵ֥ין יְהֹוָ֖ה בְּקִרְבְּכֶ֑ם וְלֹא֙ תִּנָּ֣גְפ֔וּ לִפְנֵ֖י אֹיְבֵיכֶֽם׃
They end up going anyways and they are decimated by Amalek and Canaan. However, before they get decimated they tried to rationalize and even tried to apologize. We really do want to go to that beautiful land. They said, you’re right, we should NOT have listened to the מרגלים. We sinned!
וַיַּשְׁכִּ֣מוּ בַבֹּ֔קֶר וַיַּֽעֲל֥וּ אֶל־רֹאשׁ־הָהָ֖ר לֵאמֹ֑ר הִנֶּ֗נּוּ וְעָלִ֛ינוּ אֶל־הַמָּק֛וֹם אֲשֶׁר־אָמַ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה כִּ֥י חָטָֽאנוּ׃
Why couldn’t Hashem accept their apology? Maybe they were doing sincere Teshuva? They recognized that it was not a good idea to listen to the מרגלים and now they sincerely want to go to ארץ ישראל?
Rabbi Zweig Shelitah suggests a novel idea that I would like to expound on. What was wrong with the apology? The apology was for listening to the מרגלים. They felt bad that they listened to a bad report and acted in turn. However, they did NOT apologize for NOT listening to Hashem. When they originally listened to the מגגלים, they followed a logical story proposed by the ten spies. The did not follow the law being dictated to them. People don’t like to be dictated to. They were behaving like oppositional children. They were dead set on going to ארץ ישראל despite being told not to.
In order for parents to help get their children to listen to them, they need to show how awesome they are. When I say awesome, I don’t mean that parents have to be cool and start acting like teenagers. They really have to establish a sense of awe where their children actually respect their word as the law. Parents should be in synch with each other and be firm. This is not to say they should not show love but they need their children to respect their wishes whether they understand or not.
As author Robert Fulgrum stated---“Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.” If we as parents teach by example and remain firm with our values, there is a good chance that we will be among the small percentage of parents who succeed in getting their children to follow law over logic.