Shlach Lecha: The Land of Emuna

Our most basic precept of emuna is that everything comes from Hashem. A pebble can't be moved from one place to another unless Hashem so desires. All the more so, current events are none other than the current day's messages and wake-up calls from Above.
 
Personally, I do my utmost to avoid any involvement with politics. Yet, that doesn't mean ignoring the vital messages that Hashem sends by way of the happenings all around us. Probably the most significant message for the friends of Israel everywhere, and particularly for those of us who are fortunate enough to live in the holy Land of Israel, is the mega pressure being applied on Israel to "negotiate" with crass murderers who have both vowed and made every effort to destroy her. Not only that, but Israel's arm is being twisted by so-called friends to vacate, G-d forbid, vast tracts of our tiny hallowed homeland. Once again, let's not stoop to politics and let's not be angry at anyone. This is all Hashem's doing; but what's the message that Hashem is conveying?
 
Let's preface by noting a classic historical argument: which is worse, the sin of the golden calf or the sin of the spies? My beloved rabbi and teacher Rav Shalom Arush, may Hashem bless him always, answers unhesitatingly – the sin of the spies. Here's why:
 
The Jews were impatient in waiting for Moses to return from his forty days on Mount Sinai. They fell into the bad influence of the erev rav, the riff-raff tagalongs who left Egypt with them, and built the golden calf. But, as the Torah itself testifies, only 3,000 of the 600,000 Jewish men participated in this embarrassing idolatry fiasco, in other words, one out of two hundred, or a half of one percent. Not a single woman participated either. Moses returned to the summit of Mount Sinai, prayed for another forty days and forty nights, and Hashem said, salachti kidvarecha, "I have forgiven according to your words." The Torah thus hereby testifies that Hashem forgave the sin of the golden calf.
 
After recalling how Moses's prayers saved the Children of Israel following the golden calf, King David writes in Psalm 106, "And they (the Children of Israel) were disgusted with the Land of Charm (Israel) and they didn't believe in his word (the word of Moses, who told them in G-d's Name to enter the Land of Israel). They whined in their tents and did not heed the voice of G-d." The Midrash tells us that Hashem declared right there and then, "They have cried for one night for naught; now, I shall give them reason to cry for posterity!"
 
That particular night was Tisha B'Av. Our sages tell us that all the calamities of Tisha B'Av throughout history – including the destruction of both Holy Temples and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain – all result from the sin of the spies.
 
Superficially, one might question Hashem's justice and ask, why does crying for one night warrant punishment for posterity? Is that fair? The answer is threefold:

1. Whereas only 0.5% participated in the Golden Calf fiasco, all the Jews whined and complained about Hashem when the spies returned and slandered the Land of Israel.

2. Whereas The Golden Calf was a one-time mistake, the Jewish people are still crying and complaining; in that respect, our current national problems are an extension of the sin of the spies insofar as we are still crying and complaining like they and their generation did.

3. The Spies and their generation lacked emuna in Hashem and in His servant Moses. We still lack emuna in Hashem and in our great spiritual leaders, so once again, we're still paying the price of the Sin of the Spies.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe of saintly and blessed memory warned and pleaded with anyone who'd listen that relinquishing even one square foot of our beloved homeland would lead to a catastrophe. People have forgotten Yamit and the settlements of Northern Sinai; today they are in the hands of an old/new Egypt that's realigning itself with radical Islam. The unilateral disengagement from Gush Katif has yielded only negative results, such as the strengthening of Hamas and the falling of missiles in Ashdod and Ashkelon. The Lubavitcher is far from alone in his cry to strengthen our belief in Hashem and in our holy homeland. Do we listen? The words of the tzaddik are Hashem's words, certainly not to be ignored.
 
Even without the calls of our contemporary spiritual leaders to make Aliya as soon as possible, let's ask ourselves some serious questions: why don't we come to Israel as Hashem commands us? Why do we ignore the Gemara that tells us that the Land of Israel is the Land of Emuna? Why do we doubt Hashem's ability to give us a livelihood in Israel? Why are we so hesitant to give up foreign habits and lifestyles? Is this not a perpetuation of the Sin of the Spies? We all know the answer as soon as we take a good hard objective look at ourselves.
 
Don’t feel bad – not everyone can uproot this very second and move to Israel. But, what we’ll be held accountable for is why we didn’t pray to Hashem and ask Him to help us make Aliya? Why did we prefer Cowboy Stadium to the Western Wall? Why didn’t we at least yearn for the priceless gift of our Land of Emuna? Why didn’t we heed the words of our spiritual leaders?
 
When our own political leaders disdain the words of our spiritual leaders and continue their futile attempts to placate the nations of the world and their leaders, we continue to suffer. Why? It's nothing other than the Sin of the Spies revisited, this time in living color and broadcast by CNN and Fox News.
 
Yet there's no despair in the world at all. Rav Shalom Arush says that each of us – this very moment – can rectify the sin of the spies and put and end to our problems, both personal and national. All we have to do is, first, replace our whining with constant expressions of gratitude to Hashem. And second, we must strengthen our emuna, for without the emuna that everything is from Hashem and everything is for our ultimate best, there can be no gratitude.
 
Every day, we say the praise of our people in Shirat Hayam: "And they believed in Hashem and in His servant Moses." Emuna in Hashem and in our true tzaddikim is the key to our national success. Coupled with our constant expressions of gratitude, emuna will lead to a marvelous and miraculous salvation, speedily and in our days, amen!