Living outside the bubble

Twelve Jewish leaders were handpicked by Moshe to go and scout out the land of Canaan. Hashem promised to give the land to the Jews, and their job was to figure out the best way to approach this on the ground. Although Hashem promised miracles, we also need to do our part using natural means. 

 

Though they witnessed the ten plagues in Egypt, the miraculous Exodus, the splitting of the sea and the revelation at Sinai, ate heavenly bread and drank water from a rock, ten of the scouts said that conquering the land can’t be done. “But the men who went up with him said, ‘We are unable to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.’” (Shemot 13:31)

 

The Hebrew word for “than we” is “mimenu” which can also be translated as “than him.”  The Talmud says that they were saying - as shocking as it sounds - that the people of the land are too strong for Hashem to overcome. As the Talmud says (Sotah 35a): “it was as if the owner of the house (referring to Hashem) could not take his utensils out of there!”

 

As Chassidus explains, they were not referring to Hashem’s physical ability to lead the Jews into Israel and remove the Canaanites. Their problem was a spiritual one. Our purpose is to connect with Hashem and bring holiness to the world, they said. Here in the desert, eating holy bread, drinking miraculous water, surrounded by miraculous clouds, in a spiritual bubble, we can pursue holiness and spirituality. The land that we saw, however, “consumes its inhabitants.”  Once we get involved in the physical world and day to day life, not only won’t we purify the world, but we will be consumed by it. 

 

The utensils they referred to are the holy “sparks” buried in the world, as explained in Kabbalah. As we bring goodness to the world, we “elevate” and reveal these sparks.  The spies felt that this would be impossible while involved in agriculture and other physical pursuits.  “The owner won’t be able to take his utensils –  meaning His holy sparks – out of there.”

 

But this was a grave mistake.  The whole point of our creation as human beings in physical bodies is to transform the physical.  The purpose is not to live in a spiritual bubble in the desert, it is to immerse ourselves in the physical world and harness it for goodness and holiness.

 

Which brings me to another question:  Why was the punishment for this mistake the exact opposite of the purpose – to spend 40 years in the desert?  If our goal is to transform the world, it would seem that Hashem would want us to get to it ASAP.  Why waste 40 years?

 

The answer is that the people needed preparation.  It was obvious that they were not yet ready for the challenges of the physical world.  They spent 40 years in the bubble studying Torah, and then they could take on the task of bringing that inspiration to the world.

 

This is an answer to some pushback I got for what I wrote last week.  I talked about the need to remain active in our older years and contribute to the world.  A few people asked me what about people who “don’t work” and just study Torah?  And there are those who challenge Yeshiva students who spend their years until marriage studying Torah.

 

Well, first of all studying Torah is work.  To truly study Torah in the ideal way is toil.  It requires tremendous intellectual and emotional strength, and is the most vigorous mental work that a person can do.  I heard from a scientist last week, who went to learn Torah for two years in Yeshiva.  He said that he was shocked to find out that Talmud study was deeper and more vigorous than anything he had studied in all his years in university. 

 

We have survived as a nation throughout the millennia, without a country and through all the attempts to annihilate us, because of our unwavering adherence to Torah – both practice and study.  So Torah study is not only important, it is our very life.

 

The lesson from the 40 years in the desert is that in order to survive in the world and fulfill our mission of transforming it, we need the inspiration of Torah.  Just like then, every Jew should spend their early years steeped in Torah, ideally in the “bubble” of a Yeshiva, and then the rest of his or her life carry the message through home, family and their surroundings.

 

And the people who are doing the work of transforming the world need the inspiration of Torah scholars to guide us along the rocky path, navigating the pressures of the world and making sure it does not “consume” us.

 

So to get back to the retirement issue, one way to be active and to contribute to the world is to immerse ourselves in Torah.  But I do believe that at this point in life it should not be in a bubble.  We should use our talent and scholarship to teach, guide and mentor others, so that this symbiotic relationship will bring about the ultimate goal – the complete transformation of the world as a home for Hashem, with the coming of Moshiach.