If we think of it, the
commandment lo taturu is very
harsh. How can one not follow one’s
heart? How can a human being not feel,
how do you not explore your emotions, not think about what you are
feeling?
13:27 We
came to the land you sent us to, it does indeed flow with milk and honey, and
this is its fruit. 13:28 However, the
people who inhabit the country are powerful, and the cities are fortified and
very large… 13:32… The land that we traversed and scouted is a land that
devours its inhabitants … 13:33 … and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves,
and so we must have looked to them.
If I were to draw a
loose and far fetched connection between the sin of the spies and the commandment
lo taturu, the bad report about the promised land may be
compared with the negative opinion people form in their youth about virtuous
life and conventional marriage, based on the ‘well-meaning’ advice of skeptics,
as well as examples. A virtuous hard
working mother, unloved and scorned by the philandering father. Nice Jewish boys chasing after non-so-nice,
not-so-virtuous girls. Teachers who saw
it all, assuring that there will be no creativity beyond the kitchen walls of
the marriage castle, who tell you that your personality will be ruined and
dissolved to fit the mold – “a land that devours its inhabitants”.
The soul wanders
through the desert in despair and disbelief, bowing to idols of its own making,
pretending, painting itself attractive to the skeptics and sinners, trying to
survive in the wilderness, to fit in, to accommodate. 14:20 Salachti kidvarecha I have forgiven as
you have asked. But you will not
enter the land, only your children.
With a poignant
heartache we read 15:2 Ki tavou el eretz moshvoteichem When you will come to the Land of
your dwelling places … 15:18 B’voachem el haaretz When you come to
the Land to which I am taking you,
realizing that most people who hear these words will never come to the
Land, they can only learn and guide their children, who still have a chance,
before it is too late, if they follow all commandments ... v’lo taturu…
When taken out of
context the episode about stoning the man who went to gather wood on Shabbat is
a stark example of fanaticism and cruelty – was it really that bad, he just
went out to gather wood, he did not kill, did not embarrass or abuse anyone, did
not steal anything, from the point of ‘just being a good person’ he’s done
nothing outrageously harmful. But it
matters when it happened – after the great prophet begged God to forgive the
people, invoking the divine attributes of mercy, after the people were condemned
to wander forty years and die in the wilderness, when their only hope in life is for the children to enter the promised Land, the only place where they
may find happiness is the World to Come, when they are left alive only by
Hashem’s great mercy.
Allegorically, if we
were to compare the nation of Israel
The concluding
paragraph of the sidra is a warning not to repeat the sin of spies, do not look
back, do not think of going back to Mizraim, do not listen to the false report
of your heart and eyes, look forward and see the light.
When you come to the Land - will it ever happen, will I ever merit such honor - just keep Shabbat and bake challah.
Another interpretation of the commandment lo taturu has to do with mindfulness in terms of control over one’s tongue. I often catch myself blabbering uncontrollably like a sixteen year old in response to a friendly smile. Whenever my heart warms up it loosens my tongue, with the dire consequences of saying sarcastic words I’d never say in a more controlled state of mind. If anything could remind me to speak gently and seriously!
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