Spiritual blindness
Dear Friends,In this week’s parasha the Jewish people send spies into the land of Israel to survey the land. The spies, however, come back with a negative report that caused a severe blow to the nation’s faith in God Who had promised them the Land was good and that He would enable them to conquer it. This parasha begins immediately following the incident in which Miriam was punished for having criticized Moses. The Midrash Tanhuma explains the connection between Miriam’s criticism of Moses and the story of the spies. Although the spies witnessed the terrible consequences of gossip they did not apply the lesson to their own lives. They were not deterred from slandering the Holy Land. R’ Yisrael of Pilov sees a profound insight into human nature. One who does not want to see the truth will suffer spiritual blindness, even if the truth can be clearly seen. The spies were not seeking the truth and were therefore blinded to it. They witnessed what happened to Miriam, but did not internalize the message.
A life lesson
The Torah teaches that “a bribe will blind the eyes of the wise” (Devarim 16:19). This refers to every type of bribe, not just financial gain. Honor, illicit pleasures, personal prestige or a vested interest all serve to blind man even to self-evident truths. A bribe distorts one’s way of thinking and how one sees himself.
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