09 Jun PARSHAS SHLACH: SUCCESSFUL MITZVAH AGENTS

Two Attributes of
Successful Mitzvah
Agents
Moshe sent 12 tribal
representatives to spy
out the land. Their
mission was a disaster
that we still pay for to this very day. The night
following their return from the mission was
the night of the Ninth of Av. The nation cried
on that night [Bamdibar 14:1]. The Talmud
comments “You cried for nothing that night, I
will give you something to cry about on that
night for all generations” [Taanis 29a;
Sanhedrin 104b].
The parsha of Sh’lach and its associated
Haftorah present a stark contrast between the
spies that Yehoshua sent, who did their job in
the correct fashion, and the spies who Moshe
sent, who did not do their job in the correct
fashion. The Medrash extensively praises the
spies who were sent out by Yehoshua.
“Nothing is more dear to the Master of the
World than a person who goes on a mission of
G-d and gives his heart and soul to fulfill that
mission. The paradigm of people sent on a
mission who perform with dedication and
devotion are the two representatives sent out
by Yehoshua bin Nun”.

What can we learn from the spies of Yehoshua.
What is the key to being a successful ‘shliach
mitzvah’ [agent for performing a holy task]?
How does one become praiseworthy when
carrying out a mission of G-d?
In order to answer this question, it is instructive
to turn to a second Medrash. The Medrash
comments on the word ‘cheresh’ in the pasuk
“And Yehoshua bin Nun sent out from Shittim
two men who were spies ‘cheresh’ saying…”
[Yehoshua 2:1]. According to one opinion, the
Medrash interprets that the word ‘cheresh’
comes from the term for earthenware vessels
(kli cheres). The two spies disguised
themselves as pottery salesman. According to
a second opinion in the Medrash ‘cheresh’
comes from the word for a deaf person.
Yehoshua told them to pretend that they were
deaf, and thereby they would be able to
eavesdrop on the secrets of others.
In a homiletic fashion, these two interpretations
of the Medrash can be teaching us the two key
ways to be successful agents of G-d in carrying
out holy missions.
The first approach is to be like a pottery
salesman. Pottery is fundamentally different
halachicly than metal utensils. Tumah is
transmitted to a metal utensil by touching it
from the outside. However, an earthenware

vessel contracts tumah even when a source of
tumah is suspended inside its walls — without
actually touching the wall of the vessel.
The Kotzker Rebbe (1797-1859) explained
that the functionality of a metal utensil is its
outside. Its external component (chitzoniyus)
has value. Therefore, it can be defiled by
touching its externality. But the externals of an
earthenware vessel are insignificant. (Pottery
in those days was cheap and did not have a
good appearance.) The outside does not make
any difference. Therefore, the way to defile it
is via its functionality (the inside).
In order to be a successful shliach mitzvah, a
person must be willing to give up on his
externals. He must be willing to say that
externals do not make any difference. The
only thing that matters is the internal
(penimiyus), the functionality of the mission.
The other key to being a successful agent for a
mission of G-d is to pretend that you are deaf.
Any person who has ever undertaken the task
of doing something worthwhile in this world
has been told by at least some – if not most –
people, “You’re crazy! It will never work! It
can’t be done.”
“You want to start a Day School? It can’t be
done. You want to build a Yeshiva? It won’t

work. You want to put up a new mikveh? It’s
not going to happen. You want to start a new
shul? Forget it.” The whole world tells you
that it is a crazy idea!
If a person listens to all the advice, he will
never succeed in accomplishing G-d’s mission.
The people who started our Torah institutions,
40, 50, 60, and 70 years ago, were all told that
it could not be done in America. This happens
in every generation. Whenever we try to start
something new there are always the naysayers
who say it can’t be done.
The only way to be a successful ‘shliach
mitzvah’ is to be ‘cheresh’ — to pretend that
you are deaf to such negative ‘encouragement.’