Dear Friends,
Words have meaning, and particular words may have complex nuances.
Just a cursory review of any day’s news will reveal tricky communications by world leaders and, oftentimes, messages by business or elected persons, which thereafter are walked back when it is clear that the speaker has issued a clumsy faux pas.
The meanings of words too often may be understood in different manners by different manners of people. Sometimes that does result in errors or hurt, and sometimes it allows deeper complexity of meaning.
This week in the Torah, a dozen spies returned whom Moses earlier had dispatched to reconnoiter the Land of Canaan, and to determine if it could be conquer. Their report was mixed; some said the land was frightening and giants lived there, and others were confident that the Israelites should move forward. Near the end of their report, after one of the positive representatives, Caleb, had spoken, the
Torah continues, “But the notables who had gone up with him said, ‘We cannot attack that people for it is stronger than we.’” (Numbers 13:31)
His statement seems clear. Yet, looking deeper, we might ask, Who is the “we” to which he is referring? A simple rendering would suggest it is the Israelite people, themselves, our Jewish ancestors. This spy was convinced that the Canaanites were mightier than were we.
Yet, another equally valid understanding of the Hebrew is that the work “we” connotes not the people themselves, but the people and God, together. Reading the text in this manner, this spy is doubting God, and doing so in front of all the people and leadership. This rendering is not merely an evaluation of the Israelites’ military capacity, but it is an indictment of God’s will and devotion to the people.
God was rightly incensed. God informed Moses that God would destroy this people, and reward Moses with a new people who were more numerous and dedicated. Yet, Moses dissuaded God, who relented and determined that the generation of the desert all would perish in their trek, and a new generation which was trusting would then enter the Promised Land.
All of this – a key decision in Jewish history – was built on the nuances and implications of a little, tiny word “we.”
The message is clear: be clear! We ought to be exceedingly careful in word selection. Understanding, and misunderstanding, are results of the smallest of words!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Doug Kohn
Words have meaning, and particular words may have complex nuances.
Just a cursory review of any day’s news will reveal tricky communications by world leaders and, oftentimes, messages by business or elected persons, which thereafter are walked back when it is clear that the speaker has issued a clumsy faux pas.
The meanings of words too often may be understood in different manners by different manners of people. Sometimes that does result in errors or hurt, and sometimes it allows deeper complexity of meaning.
This week in the Torah, a dozen spies returned whom Moses earlier had dispatched to reconnoiter the Land of Canaan, and to determine if it could be conquer. Their report was mixed; some said the land was frightening and giants lived there, and others were confident that the Israelites should move forward. Near the end of their report, after one of the positive representatives, Caleb, had spoken, the
Torah continues, “But the notables who had gone up with him said, ‘We cannot attack that people for it is stronger than we.’” (Numbers 13:31)
His statement seems clear. Yet, looking deeper, we might ask, Who is the “we” to which he is referring? A simple rendering would suggest it is the Israelite people, themselves, our Jewish ancestors. This spy was convinced that the Canaanites were mightier than were we.
Yet, another equally valid understanding of the Hebrew is that the work “we” connotes not the people themselves, but the people and God, together. Reading the text in this manner, this spy is doubting God, and doing so in front of all the people and leadership. This rendering is not merely an evaluation of the Israelites’ military capacity, but it is an indictment of God’s will and devotion to the people.
God was rightly incensed. God informed Moses that God would destroy this people, and reward Moses with a new people who were more numerous and dedicated. Yet, Moses dissuaded God, who relented and determined that the generation of the desert all would perish in their trek, and a new generation which was trusting would then enter the Promised Land.
All of this – a key decision in Jewish history – was built on the nuances and implications of a little, tiny word “we.”
The message is clear: be clear! We ought to be exceedingly careful in word selection. Understanding, and misunderstanding, are results of the smallest of words!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Doug Kohn