In this week's parsha (in Israel) we read Shelach, which recounts the tragic episode of "the spies". Moshe Rabbenu sent spies representatives of each of the tribes to spy out the Land of Israel before the Jewish People would enter.

Ten of the twelve spies returned with a negative report which weakened the heart's of the people and convinced them that the Land was not good for them. The Torah tells us that the sinful spies spoke disparagingly against the Land of Israel, and this caused destruction. The spies themselves were punished, G-d Decreed that the people would have to wander the desert for 40 years before entering, and this date (the ninth of Av) became set as a tragic date from that time forward for our People.

Obviously, the true depth of the sin of the spies needs to be understood, as on face-value it seems like the punishment was disproportionate. Furthermore, it needs to be understood why the spies would have done such a thing to begin with? 

The Zohar explains that the reason behind the spies' sin was that they were tribal leaders while the People were in the desert, but as soon as they entered into the Land of Israel they assumed that Moshe would appoint different leaders and they would lose their position of power. Their drive for this honor was so great they were willing to sin and cause the tragic destruction that they did. Although it may be hard to grasp that people would go so far for their own honor, our Sages teach us that "envy, lust and honor remove a person from the world". This is something we see playing out in a global sense specifically in politics as elected officials all over the world are willing to do outrageous things with catastrophic impact because of their own egos. On a personal level how often do we do things for our own honor? How often are we unwilling to apologize or mend broken relationships just because of our own honor? If we take a step back we will see that the destruction we cause by our own stubbornness to act with a bit of humility can cause toxic situations to fester. It can literally cause us tremendous stress and health dangers, while destroying family and friends along the way.

Shabbat Shalom,

Heath