Community Magazine June 2014

the potato chip SYNDROME 16 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE W e all go through ups and downs in life, but this month we read in the Torah the story of a “down” which is so astounding that if it weren’t written in the Torah, it would be difficult to believe. The twelve spies sent by Moshe to scout the Land of Israel are described in the Torah as “ anashim ” (literally, “men”), which Rashi interprets as a reference to their stature of piety. They embarked on their mission as righteous tzadikim , and returned as…heretics. No, this is not an exaggeration made for dramatic effect. In fact, Rashi himself says it. When the spies returned from their scouting mission, 10 of them delivered a frightening report, and insisted that Bene Yisrael had no chance of conquering the land from the powerful indigenous nations. They proclaimed, “ Lo nuchal la’alot el ha’am ki hazak hu mimenu – We cannot rise up against the people, because they are stronger than us” (Bamidbar 13:31). Rashi, however, comments that the word “ mimenu ” should be read not as “than us,” but rather, “than him” – or, more precisely, “than Him .” Hard as it is to believe, the 10 scouts declared that the Canaanite armies were more powerful than Gd Himself. They believed that the Almighty was not all-mighty, that the Creator of the universe was incapable of defeating the militias in Canaan. It took just 40 days for these men to fall from the stature of “ anashim ,” from people handpicked by Moshe Rabbenu for the sublime mission of preparing Bene Yisrael for their entry into the Promised Land, to heretics who denied the fundamental belief in Gd’s omnipotence. A group of 10 righteous tzadikim were transformed in less six weeks into people who believed that men could be stronger than Gd. Is this really possible? The short answer is absolutely yes. The long answer is, well, much longer, but vitally important for us to learn and keep in mind. Who is Wise? Twice in Talmudic literature we find our Sages address the question of “ ezehu hacham – who is wise?” The more famous of the two sources is Pirke Avot (4:1), where the Mishna presents the powerful and timeless answer of “ halomed mikol adam – one who learns from all people.” Less known, however, is the sages’ answer to this question in Masechet Tamid (32): “ haroeh et hanolad – he who foresees the consequences.” The truly “wise” person is one who can anticipate the eventual, long-term consequences of his actions or words. Most of us view things from the limited perspective RABBI ELI J. MANSOUR We all look forward to the summer with great excitement, as a time to relax, but sometimes the laid-back summer atmosphere leads us to be less careful with the so-called 'minor' things. We need to realize that transgressions are like potato chips: they’re very “tasty,” appealing and harmful, and once we start it is difficult to stop.