Shelach Lecha- Correcting the Past

Rahav and the Spies    art by Laya Crust

Parsha- Shelach Lecha (Numbers 13:1- 15- 41); Haftarah- Joshua 2: 1- 24

The parsha of Shelach Lecha tells the story of twelve leaders who were appointed to spy on the land of Canaan. When they returned to the Israelites’ camp they carried fantastic fruit and tales of fantastically dangerous enemies.

The haftarah for Shelach Lecha took place 40 years after the above mentioned story.  Joshua, Moshe’s successor sent two spies (as opposed to the twelve men) into Jericho to assess the situation. The two men went straight to an inn at the edge of the city walls owned by a woman named Rahav.  It was a brilliant move.  The spies would be able to talk to citizens and travelers at the inn to ascertain the mood of the community.

It is common for women to be unidentified in Tanach text. If you remember the story of Samson’s birth, Samson’s mother was never identified. Manoah his father, on the other hand, was named 16 times. Maybe Rahav, the innkeeper, was named because she was a heroine. She put herself at risk to help the two spies escape even though she knew that their purpose was to usher an attack on Jericho. The information she shared with them was key to their confidence in conquering the land. She said, “We have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Mitzrayim, and what you did to the two Kings of the Emori…as soon as we heard these things our hearts melted, neither did there remain any more courage in any man because of you…”

Let’s look back at the parsha. After the twelve men returned from their mission with messages of doom and gloom the people began to rebel against God. God responded in anger, threatening to destroy them all. Moshe stopped God’s rage by telling Him, “if you kill all these people as one person then the nations that have heard your fame will say, “Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he promised them and so He has killed them in the wilderness.” We may have thought this was Moshe speaking in hyperbole but Rahav’s words (“We have heard how the Lord”, etc….)  proved that Moshe had been correct. God’s reputation and His protection of the Israelites were recognized by the neighbouring nations.

In the parsha, we read Moshe’s tribute to God’s glory: – “haShem erech epayim v’rav chesed noseh avon vaPesha  v’nakeh”. ” The Lord is slow to anger, great in love, forgiving iniquity and transgression.”  This was mirrored by Rahav’s statement that “…the Lord your God. He is God in Heaven above and on the earth beneath…” Those words were a declaration of faith of God’s greatness.

We see by these parallels that the haftarah is a mirror to the events in parshat Shelach Lecha. It may also be a “tikkun” or mending of those events. The slave mentality had to be erased from the nation before it could take the initiative to have faith in God’s promise and fight the inhabitants of Canaan. When that slave mentality was erased Joshua could investigate the land wisely. The unnamed spies could gather the pertinent information without their egos getting in the way. Rahav could show the spies their route- or “rehov”- while acknowledging the breadth- “rahav”- of God’s greatness, and help b’nei Yisrael in its battle.

The two stories read together bring another dimension to consider when we read our history. According to Midrash, Rahav converted to Judaism and married Joshua. One Midrash states that Jeremiah and 7 other prophets descended from her. Just as with Tamar and Ruth, Rahav’s faith and righteousness created a legacy for the future of the Jewish people.

I hope you enjoyed this perspective on the lessons from this week’s parsha and haftarah.

May we see peace in the Israel and the rest of the world. May shalom encompass us all.

Shabbat Shalom, Laya

Shelach Lecha

 

Joshua 2: 1- 24

Joshua- prophet and leader, circa 13th centruy BCE

This haftarah takes place just after Joshua has succeeded Moshe as leader of the nation.

He secretly sent two spies to Jericho to investigate the city and the surrounding countryside. They went to to the home of Rahav, a harlot and innkeeper whose inn was located in the outer wall of Jericho.  The leaders of Jericho found out that the two spies had gone there and they questioned Rahav about their whereabouts.  She misled the city leaders, hiding the spies under bales of flax on her roof top, and helped them escape the town safely. The spies climbed from her window out of the city walls using a red cord she had given them They told her to put that same red cord in her window so that when the Israelites later attacked Jericho, her home and all those in her home would be spared.

My illustration at the top of this page shows Rahav on the roof of her inn with the two spies. They are holding the red cord that she will show from her window.

This haftarah is paired with the parsha that describes the previous occasion Israelite spies went on a mission to investigate Jericho. The two parallel stories play out very differently.  In the parsha Moshe appointed twelve men, one from each tribe, to spy on the land and bring back fruit of the land. Moshe spoke to them and gave them instructions publicly. They returned laden with beautiful grapes, pomegranates and figs but with warnings that the mission was impossible. Their negative report was public too. A rebellion was averted, but not before God said that these Israelites did not merit entering the land of Canaan.

Of the twelve men who were sent only Joshua of the tribe of Ephraim and Caleb of the tribe of Judah believed that B’nei Yisrael, led by God , would be able to possess the “land of milk and honey”.

In this haftarah we see that Joshua learned from the earlier experience. Rather than send a large delegation of twelve well known men he sent only two unnamed spies. It was a secret mission- b’nei Yisrael did not know about it. Moshe had given the twelve spies a long list of things to report. This afforded them the chance to discuss and debate amongst themselves and discover elements to be afraid of. In contrast Joshua gave his two emissaries one goal- to observe the land of Jericho. In that way Joshua avoided getting unwanted advice from tribal leaders who did not have enough faith in the invisible hand of God.

The two spies returned with the information Joshua needed. This haftarah is our introduction to the triumphant entrance of the children of Israel to the land that God had promised them.

It is intriguing that Rahav, the woman who helped the Israelites was a harlot, an innkeepeer, and wasn’t a member of b’nei Yisrael. Yet she recognized the strength of the one God who led the Israelites and she was ready to pledge her future to Him. It’s an interesting story that has a number of hints to other stories in our canon. Read it through-see what you can find.

Have a Shabbat Shalom, and thank-you for reading this week’s entry!