25 Jun PARASHAT SHELAH: WE ARE NOT GRASSHOPPERS!

Parashat Shelah tells
the tragic story of
“Het Ha’meragelim”
– the sin of the spies,
who were sent to scout
the Land of Israel in advance of Beneh
Yisrael’s entry into the land. The spies
returned and dissuaded the people from the
entering Eretz Yisrael, telling them that the
nations living there are too powerful, and
that the land in any event is not worth the
struggle it would take to capture it.
The Torah tells us that Moshe sent the
spies into the land, “Ve’ha’yamim Yemeh
Bikkureh Anabim” – “and the days were
the days of the first ripened grapes” (13:20).
The spies embarked on their mission
in late spring, at the time when the first
grapes ripen in Eretz Yisrael. This detail,
which at first seems hardly relevant, might
actually hold the key to understanding the
fundamental nature of the spies’ mistake.
The word “Anabim” (“grapes”) is spelled,
“Ayin,” “Nun,” “Bet,” “Mem.” The
phrase “Bikkureh Anabim” may be read
to mean “before ‘Anabim’” – referring
to the letters that precede the four letters
which comprise the word “Anabim.” These
letters are “Samech,” “Mem,” “Alef,”

“Lamed” – the letters that spell the name
of the Satan (which we do not pronounce).
The Torah here is indicating to us that the
spies’ failure resulted from the fact that
“Bikkureh Anabim” – the Satan was right
behind the “grapes.” What does this mean?
In several contexts throughout Tanach, the
Jewish Nation is compared to grapes, to a
vineyard, or to wine. Just as wine becomes
prohibited for a Jew when it is handled by
a non-Jew, likewise, Am Yisrael becomes
defiled when it comes under foreign
influence, when we imbibe values and
follow practices which are foreign to our
values and beliefs. This is the concept of a
Korban, which involves the sprinkling of
blood on the altar in the Bet Ha’mikdash.
Wine is compared to blood, and so
the sprinkling of blood represents our
purification. Our “wine” has been defiled
through sin as a result of foreign influence,
and so we cleanse ourselves by sprinkling
sacrificial blood on the altar.
The way we protect ourselves from a
condition of “Bikkureh Anabim,” whereby
we come under the influence of Satan, is
by maintaining clear barriers between us
and foreign values and culture. Even as
we engage in general society, we must

firmly distinguish between
the timeless values and
traditions of the Torah, and
those of society. We cannot
let the Satan get too close
to us – and so we must have
a very clear distinction in
our mind between what
we know and believe to be
true and correct, and what
general society believes to
be true and correct.
And this was precisely the
mistake of the spies.
When they returned to the rest of the nation
and described to the people the strength
of the nations living in Eretz Yisrael, they
said, “There we saw the giants… We were
like grasshoppers in our eyes, and so we
were in their eyes” (13:33). The spies
were impressed and dazzled by the people
of Canaan, and so they felt inferior, and
intimidated. In their eyes, the people in
Canaan were “giants,” and they were but
tiny “grasshoppers” in comparison to these
great nations.
This is how we end up in a situation of
“Bikkureh Anabim,” where we come

under the sinful influence of the Satan –
when we look with admiration and envy
at foreign cultures and lifestyles, and feel
uncomfortable with our own.
We must never feel like “grasshoppers.” We
must live with pride and confidence in our
Torah beliefs and lifestyle, knowing with
absolute certainty that we are following
the laws given especially to us by Hashem
so that we forge a special bond with Him.
If we live with this confidence, instead of
looking to foreign culture as an example for
us to follow, we will succeed in distancing
ourselves from negative influences, and
living with genuine, steadfast commitment
to G-d and His Torah.