When Fear Becomes Terror: Shelach Lecha.22

By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman

Fear and faith are two sides of the same coin. They both play an important part in the continuous struggle for survival. Fear keeps us from safe from danger; faith keeps us going when the going gets tough. Of course, when fear gets out of hand, it can also hold us back from making progress. Likewise, faith too, when it turns fanatical, holds its own dangers. In this week’s Torah portion, Shelach Lecha (“Send Forth,” Numbers 13:1—15:41), we see an example of the fear that holds us back, and the consequences of giving in to our terrors.

“Shelach lecha!” God commands Moses. “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel” (Num. 13:1, NKJV). From this verse we see that God’s faith is unwavering. There is no doubt of God’s full commitment to the promise God had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Now, four hundred years later, it is their descendants, the People of Israel, whose faith is weak and who need a lesson in courage and conviction.

Moses does as commanded; he sends out twelve spies, each a tribal leader. The spies scout the land for forty days, and at the end bring back their report. There’s good news and bad news. The land is indeed fertile and fruitful, as God and Moses had promised. As proof, they display a gigantic cluster of grapes and a sampling of other fruit. However—it is populated by fierce men who live in heavily fortified cities. Resorting to legend and myth, ten of the twelve spies describe these “men” as “Anakites, sons of Nephilim” (giants descended from mythological, semi-divine beings first mentioned in Genesis 6:4). What’s worse, they continue, “We were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” 

The disparity in size and power that they describe is stunning, causing shock and fear to spread among the people.

Only two of the spies—Joshua and Caleb—reassure the Israelites that, with God at their side, victory is possible.

But the Israelites do not listen to them. Instead, they rebel, announcing their intention to return to Egypt rather than confront what they see as certain death at the hands of “giants."

Not unexpectedly, God is incensed at this failure of faith and follows through with extreme consequences: The Israelites will have to remain wanderers in the wilderness—an entire year for each day the spies scouted out the land, forty years in total. Additionally, during this time, all those born into slavery in Egypt will die out in the desert; only those born free would be able to enter the Promised Land. 

It's a tough prospect, but for the Israelites, these forty years will turn out to be a period of growth and learning. Their faith in God and Moses will be tested many times. Yet perhaps because of the struggle, or perhaps because they will need to weather harsh conditions in the Wilderness, they will emerge from this period stronger than ever. Their faith in themselves and in God will increase with each encounter. And at the end of the forty years, they will prove true descendants of Jacob, whose God-given name, Israel, means, “You will struggle with humans and with the Divine, and you will prevail.”

In this Torah portion, through the story of the twelve spies sent out to scout the Promised Land, the Israelites learn an important lesson: Fear can be helpful when it keeps us safe. However, when we let night terrors rule our thoughts and actions, progress becomes impossible. 

At the end of the day, fear holds us back, but hope and faith have the power propel us forward. With God’s help we have the power to overcome any obstacle that stands in our way. 

That is what has kept us going for more than three thousand years now.

© 2022 by Boaz D. Heilman