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Parshat Shlach
By: Rabbi Moshe Goodman, Kollel Ohr Shlomo, Hebron

בס"ד

לשכנו תדרשו

Uniting with the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land 

והיה באכלכם מלחם הארץ

"Hear O Israel Hashem is our God HaShem is One!”

These words are the words of faith for every Jew at all times from the time one learns to speak till death. Rav Kook teaches us that in truth this faith is instinctually embedded within us from conception. Nevertheless, we must develop this faith so that it becomes a full and constant part of our consciousness in everything that we do, as it says, 'in all your ways you shall know Him'. (Prov. 3, 6)

We find the story of the Spies both in the book of Bamidbar and the book of Dvarim. However, the emphasis on the nature of the sin involved in this episode is quite different in these two books. In Bamidbar much emphasis is put on the spies themselves and on their tale-bearing, while Dvarim puts more emphasis on the People's belief in the words of these spies, their fears, and their lack of faith in regard to conquering the Land of Israel.

If we take a close look at the three groups of mitzvot juxtaposed to the episode of the spies, 1) the mitzvot of libations, 2) challa, 3) and sin-offering on idolatry, we find that even in the book of Bamidbar there seems to be a striking emphasis on the dominance of faith in regard to the Land of Israel. To begin with, both the mitzvot on libations and on challa are prefaced we the verse, 'when you come to the Land', and as such are also halachically linked to the Land of Israel. In regard to libations, all agree that libations are somewhat dependent on the Land of Israel, although there is a controversy between R. Akiva and R. Yishmael as to the level of this dependency.

R. Akiva is of the opinion that this dependency applies only to privately operated altars (not at the time of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of Shilo, or the Bais HaMikdash when these altars are prohibited) which could not offer libations outside the Land of Israel. R. Yishmael differs, saying that this verse teaches us that all libations could not be offered with private sacrifices (even on public altars even in the Mishkan) till the Land of Israel was both conquered and settled at the period of the Mishkan in Shilo. In any case the link between libations and the Land of Israel requires explanation: why is this specific detail of the sacrifices so linked to the Land of Israel?

On a simple level we can explain that, although offerings from animals are more indirectly connected to the Land, the offerings of the libations, i.e. wine (from grape-vines) and meal (from wheat) offerings, are directly connected to the Land from which they literally emerge and grow.  Thus, the Torah teaches us a valuable lesson of faithfulness to the Land of the Holy Presence, as if to say that these products that come directly from the Land retain their 'faithfulness' to the Land, at least to a certain degree, even in the holy Mishkan/altar and cannot be offered outside this Land (acc. to R. Akiva) or be offered before this Land is conquered and settled (acc. to R. Yishmael). In regard to the mitzvah of challa-taking, we have already explained in the past that this mitzva applies on a Biblical level, as implied in the verse, only in the Land of Israel and only when the majority of Israel has settled in this Land. Challa is one of the unique laws that has one of the most far-stretching implications into every-day life. Our Sages learn from our title quote that it is possible for pastry to be liable of challa only after it is baked, 'when you (literally) eat of the bread of the earth' even if it was not liable when it was dough (for example, if an insufficient quantity was kneaded). Thus, halacha maintains that even when baked cookies or cakes, etc., that were previously exempt from challa, are put together into one basket or tray in a quantity enough to render them together liable for halla, they suddenly do become liable for challa-taking and cannot be eaten till challa is taken! This again highlights how the spiritual energy inherent in the Land of Providence, indeed makes us pay attention, and greaten our consciousness of faith, to how a seemingly mundane 'earthly' activity such as putting cookies in a basket contains within it high Divine implications.

Lastly, comes the mitzva to bring a sin-offering if one sinned in idolatry. Why does a sacrifice to atone for idolatry receive such special attention here, and not its more natural place in the beginning of the book of Vayikra? Based on what we have just explained, it becomes clear that the sin of idolatry is singled out from all other sins and brought specifically here, because it entails a breach in the most basic faith of a Jew in one God, and since the mitzvot brought here deal most directly with faith, it is here that the atonement for lack of faith takes its most natural place.

Ultimately, one of the most essential sources of faith in the Land of Providence is the return to Hebron. It is from this city that Kaleb drew the spirit of faith and courage to trust in God in conquering the Land: 'HaShem is with us - do not fear them!' 

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Real Stories from the Holy Land #122:

“While writing the section in this dvar Torah dealing with challa in the Land of Israel, I was suddenly asked by someone to explain a passage in Gemara Hulin about eating meat and milk together and its relation to challa. It 'turns out' that the main answer to the question I was asked laid in the difference between challa in the Land of Israel versus challa in the Diaspora...”   

Sources: Kidushin 37a and Sifri Zuta, Rambam Bikurim 6, 16, Yoreh Deah 325

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