Shlach 5773 - English

By Rabbi Daniel A. Kripper

Beth Israel - Aruba

The well known event of the spies (Numbers, chapter 13) constitutes a revealing chapter of the Hebrew Bible, on the crucial consequences of our belief system.

The children of Israel found themselves in the wilderness, moving slowly towards the land of Canaan, the Promised Land. Full of uncertainty and fear regarding their future, and under Moses’ command, a reconnaissance mission is sent, made up by twelve conspicuous representatives of the different tribes, to the purpose of traveling around the country, so as to observe the land’s characteristics and attributes and those of the people who inhabited it.

And finally, at the end of forty days, these chieftains return to the Hebrew camp, carrying rods with bunches of fruits, reflecting the mercies of the land. But nevertheless, most of the delegation declared themselves against a possible conquest. In their words, the land was occupied by “men of great size… and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them” (13:32-33).

As was to be expected, this report caused a tremendous discouragement among the people, spreading despondency and defeatism among their ranks. The most critical time came when the project, the vision itself, was questioned, as well as the possibility of fulfilling the mission they considered as their goal.

Facing this widespread opinion, only two scouts, even acknowledging the difficulties involved in the endeavor, urged the people not to lose heart and continue marching forward.

This episode, which happened thousands of years ago, dramatically illustrates the power of faith, ideals, and inner conviction.

The attitude of hesitation and negativism shown by most of the scouts and by the people were just a symptom of a mentality shaped by centuries of slavery and oppression, experienced in the Egypt of the pharaohs.

Is it strange, then, this trembling reaction and what a biblical commentator called “locust complex”, before the perceived magnitude of the challenge that was awaiting them?

As Stephen Covey put in, “The way we see things is the source of the way we think and the way we act”. The challenge is to identify the beliefs that restrict our consciousness, in order to transform them into new beliefs that are constructive, positive, and expand the horizons of our experience. Beliefs condition our behavior and, at the same time, determine the kind of experience we invite. For that is what beliefs are: filters, guides which move us through life, although never immutable: we should not confuse the map with the territory. You may think that this is easier said than done, but it is something absolutely attainable, and without a doubt, liberating.

Interestingly, in Spanish, both verbs, to believe and to create, conjugate the same way in the first person of the present: “yo creo” (I believe, I create). And what you believe, you create in your life.

You have the power to choose your thoughts and beliefs. The first step is to dissociate yourself from your old beliefs, in order to gradually modify them, while you take in the expansive beliefs.

New beliefs have the potential to awake and develop some higher talent, purpose or quality you can turn into action, as well as raising the level of awareness towards your true self-fulfillment.

Rabbi Daniel A. Kripper

Beth Israel - Aruba