Making Sense of the Sedra: Shelach
The courage of your convictions
The Jewish psychologist Abraham Maslow is most famous for his Hierarchy of Needs pyramid as a theory explaining human motivation. What is less known tis that he developed an additional theory explaining human demotivation which he called the Jonah Complex. He suggested that at times we evade our destiny and fulfilment of our potential due to fear of success and that responsibility that would come with it.
When Moshe provides the instructions to the spies for their mission to scout out the Land of Israel, he asks them to check if “there are any trees in it or not?” (Bamidbar 13:20). Rashi explains that Moshe was asking them to ascertain whether there would be a worthy individual who would provide the inhabitants with protection.
According to Chazal (Bava Batra 15a), Iyov protected his generation like a tree. Chazal also says (Sotah 35a) that Iyov died on that day and the residents were busy eulogising him. What connection does Iyov have to the spies?
In their negative report the spies said that the inhabitants of the land were mimenu (stronger). Rashi says that they were saying, so to speak, that the inhabitants were stronger than Him (Hashem).
How could the spies say such a thing when they undoubtedly knew that Hashem was all-powerful? They had personally witnessed the exodus from Egypt, splitting of the sea, giving of the Torah and miraculous protection provided to them throughout their sojourn in the desert!
The root of their downfall was internal fear – a ‘Jonah complex’. Once they became small in their own eyes, their perspective of what they saw was mirrored. “We were in our own eyes as grasshoppers,” the spies proclaimed, and only then “so were we in their eyes” (Bamidbar 13:33). Once their self-belief began to waver, it was only a matter of time that this self-doubt extended to a lack of belief in Hashem and His capabilities.
The fear of succeeding in standing up for your beliefs with the courage of your convictions led to the spies’ monumental error. This is the connection to Iyov. Iyov wasn’t scared to face up to his friends who mocked him and he wasn’t scared to be alone in his faith, despite his surroundings.
When Chazal says that Iyov died on that day, they weren’t merely describing a historical occurrence, but rather a deeper symptom. The notion of Iyov – the protection provided by being steadfast in your beliefs – died within the spies.
Whilst the spies failed and fell into the trap of the Jonah complex, Calev and Yehoshua provided the antidote as the paradigms of self-belief and not giving in to the pressure of your surroundings.
May we merit to do likewise.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
