(לב) וּפִגְרֵיכֶ֖ם אַתֶּ֑ם יִפְּל֖וּ בַּמִּדְבָּ֥ר הַזֶּֽה׃ (לג) וּ֠בְנֵיכֶ֠ם יִהְי֨וּ רֹעִ֤ים בַּמִּדְבָּר֙ אַרְבָּעִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה וְנָשְׂא֖וּ אֶת־זְנוּתֵיכֶ֑ם עַד־תֹּ֥ם פִּגְרֵיכֶ֖ם בַּמִּדְבָּֽר׃ (לד) בְּמִסְפַּ֨ר הַיָּמִ֜ים אֲשֶׁר־תַּרְתֶּ֣ם אֶת־הָאָ֘רֶץ֮ אַרְבָּעִ֣ים יוֹם֒ י֣וֹם לַשָּׁנָ֞ה י֣וֹם לַשָּׁנָ֗ה תִּשְׂאוּ֙ אֶת־עֲוֺנֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם אַרְבָּעִ֖ים שָׁנָ֑ה וִֽידַעְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־תְּנוּאָתִֽי׃
(32) But your carcasses shall drop in this wilderness, (33) while your children roam the wilderness for forty years, suffering for your faithlessness, until the last of your carcasses is down in the wilderness. (34) You shall bear your punishment for forty years, corresponding to the number of days—forty days—that you scouted the land: a year for each day. Thus you shall know what it means to thwart Me.
(39) When Moses repeated these words to all the Israelites, the people were overcome by grief. (40) Early next morning [their fighting force] set out toward the crest of the hill country, saying, “We are prepared to go up to the place that ה׳ has spoken of, for we were wrong.” (41) But Moses said, “Why do you transgress ה’s command? This will not succeed. (42) Do not go up, lest you be routed by your enemies, for ה׳ is not in your midst. (43) For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there to face you, and you will fall by the sword, inasmuch as you have turned from following ה׳ and ה׳ will not be with you.” (44) Yet defiantly they marched toward the crest of the hill country, though neither ה’s Ark of the Covenant nor Moses stirred from the camp. (45) And the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country came down and dealt them a shattering blow at Hormah.
והיא לא תצלח. העליה אל ראש ההר לא תצלח או העברת פי השם אין בה הצלחה:
ומלת ויעפילו הוא מלשון חוזק מלשון עפל בת ציון ורז"ל דרשוהו מלשון אופל שהלכו חשכים שלא ברשות גבוה. ואין ספק שישראל באמרם הננו ועלינו לא עשו תשובה גמורה כי היה להם לומר למשה התפלל בעד עבדיך כי חטאנו לה׳ אבל בטחו בכחם ובגבורתם לעשות חיל ולא בחר ה׳ בזה. ולכך לא הצליחו במעשיהם ולא קבל הקדוש ברוך הוא תשובתם כמו שקבל תשובת הנשוכים מהנחשים לפי שהודו לפשעם ואמרו למשה חטאנו כי דברנו בה׳ ובך ולכן קובלה תשובתם ונתרפאו:
There is no doubt that when the Israelites said "We are ready to to go up," that they had not done complete repentance. They would have needed to say to Moses: "Pray for your servants because we have sinned before God." But they trusted in their strength and valor to make an army and God did not choose it.
ויעפילו לעלות. וכפרש״י בשם התנחומא שהוא מלשון אופל. הכונה שהיו הרבה מן המעפילים מאמינים ויודעים שלא יצליחו. ויפלו במלחמה. אבל מכ״מ היה כדאי להם להרג בא״י ולהיות נקבר שם ולא במדבר. אבל ההשגחה באה והפר עצתם בזה ג״כ כאשר יבואר:
(R. Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin 1816-1893)
They defiantly. Rashi explained in the name of the Midrash Tanchuma that ויעפילו connotes darkness. The intention is that there were many of those who went up who believed and knew they would not succeed and would fall in war, but nevertheless they considered it worthwhile to be killed in the Land of Israel and be buried there and not in the desert. However, Hashem annulled their plan.
They knew they had lost their chance to live in the land of Israel. They just thought maybe, at least, they could die there. Now there's something in this tragic gesture that, after all the fear and disappointment of this whole drama, finally displays a great and beautiful love for the promised land.
But perhaps it was a love more powerful than was ever required. God only wanted them to have faith in the goodness of the land as a place to live and thrive. Now the land has suddenly become so sacred that it's worth dying for.
And that was never the point. So God stopped them from their desperate attempt to fling themselves across the border. Providence came and denied them even this.
Because if the choice is between the fear of living and the courage to die, then this is really no choice at all. Because there's no real difference. The same kind of panic that kept them from wanting to go in the first place was now also motivating their sudden change of heart.
They had made it clear now twice that they were dominated by fear. And so they were not ready.
These people who had just come out of Egypt, who had been traumatized by hundreds of years of slavery, were simply not yet mentally strong enough to become a fully developed nation.
They had been liberated, but they were not yet truly free. And so their fate will be to wander and wander for 40 years in the desert. They will wander until they reach the real destination, a place of freedom inside themselves.
And that place unfortunately is much, much further away.
From Rabbi David Kasher, Best Book Ever Podcast: Overkill - Parshat Shelach, Jun 21, 2022
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/overkill-parshat-shelach/id1588788530?i=1000567332269
For discussion:
1. The people own up to the their sins and say, "Hatanu," "We have sinned." Why was that insufficient for them to carry on with the mission of entering the Promised Land?
2. Do you agree or disagree with the different interpretations?