Ramban on the Parsha | Rabbi Shlomo Friedman (Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh)

── Shiur Outline ──
(0:00) Introduction and Overview of Parshas Shlach
(1:04) Scriptural Basis for Sending Spies
(2:25) Yehoshua's Use of Spies Post‑Sin
(4:01) Ramban on the Content of the Spy Report
(10:01) Ramban on Hebron and Anak's Longevity
(12:51) Spies Report: Milk and Honey
(13:58) Spies' Shift to Negative Reporting
(17:49) Psalms Connection to Future Exile
(19:06) Interpretation of Vetapechem Verse
(20:17) Moshe and Aharon's Plea to the People
(22:30) Divine Assurance Despite Fear
(23:58) Psychological Warfare and Angelic Conquest
(25:18) Jacob's Angelic Encounter Query
(28:27) Punishment Spread Across Generations Explained
(31:46) The Korban for Neglecting or Violating Mitzvot
(36:41) Tzitzit Gematria, Techeiles, and Their Symbolism
(38:11) Ramban’s Summary of the Meraglim Discussion

AI-Generated Summary (AI can be inaccurate. Check important information):

1. Reconnaissance is legitimate — According to the pshat (plain meaning) of the Ramban, sending the meraglim (spies) was a valid military move intended to determine "how" to conquer the land, not "if."
2. Order of greatness — The meraglim are listed in the Torah not by age or tribal order, but according to their individual ma'alah (stature) and level of chochma (wisdom) and kavod (honor).
3. Longevity in Hebron — The mention of Hebron being built before Tzoan reveals the exceptional longevity of its inhabitants, such as the descendants of Arba, illustrating the natural strength of the enemy.
4. The sin of "Efes" — The meraglim's primary wickedness lay in the word "efes" (nothingness/impossible), implying that conquest was naturally impossible despite God’s promises.
5. Private campaigning — The spies were hesitant to lie openly before Moshe and Aharon, so they conducted "party meetings" in private tents to spread the diba (evil report) of an eretz ochelet yoshveha.
6. Fear as rebellion — Fearing the inhabitants of Cna'an was considered a mered (rebellion) because the people should have realized that their survival was already lemalah min hateva (supernatural).
7. Bowing to beseech — When Moshe and Aharon fell on their faces, it was not an act of tefillah (prayer), but a desperate plea to the people to stop their self-destructive behavior.
8. Incomplete MiddotMoshe omitted certain Yud Gimmel Middot (Thirteen Attributes), such as Emet and Zechus Avos, because the people were currently rejecting the legacy of the Avos (Patriarchs).
9. Spreading the punishment — The attribute of poked avon avos was invoked here to spread the punishment over generations, allowing the nation to survive rather than be destroyed instantly.
10. Comfort through Mitzvos — The laws of nesachim and challah following the sin were intended to comfort the nation, guaranteeing that the next generation would indeed enter Eretz Yisrael.
11. Total Shogeg rebellion — According to pshat, the korban for "forgetting all mitzvos" refers to a tinok she'nishba or a generation that mistakenly believes the Torah is no longer binding in galus (exile).
12. The blue reminder — While Rashi uses gematria to link tzitzis to the 613 commandments, the Ramban maintains that the primary reminder comes through the techeiles (blue wool) which draws the eye toward Heaven.

What is Ramban on the Parsha | Rabbi Shlomo Friedman (Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh)?

Shiurim by Rabbi Shlomo Friedman in KBY.

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Thanks Shuey for the DVR.

Thanks Rabbi Lachman for the slot.

Okay,

פרשת שלח.

The Ramban at the beginning of the parshah deals with the very fundamental question

whether in principle it was the proper thing to send מרגלים.

חז"ל indicated from חז"ל the Ramban in this case we get the impression that

it was an improper thing.

After all the Jewish people they were functioning in a manner that was למעלה

מן הטבע.

They had the ענן,

they had משה רבינו,

and thus it was improper.

The problem is that the פסוקים themselves would seem to indicate that it was

acceptable.

Number one,

the פרשה begins with הקדוש ברוך הוא saying שלח לך אנשים and furthermore משה

רבינו says in דברים וייטב בעיני הדבר.

So Ramban says well according to חז"ל we'll have to understand וייטב בעיני הדבר

means that I put up with it and that which the פסוק says שלח

לך אנשים that means הקדוש ברוך הוא said well if you're already sending then

do it in the manner of sending one from each שבט.

That would increase the chances of the מרגלים not sinning if they have the

זכות of all the שבטים together.

But that's something which Ramban mentions towards the end of the piece,

the opinion of עדת רבותינו.

But initially he says that על פי פשט it would seem that it was

proper,

was acceptable.

The מרגלים messed things up with their false report as we'll see with God's

help the Ramban discusses.

But the very idea of sending מרגלים was proper in light of the fact

that the job of the מרגלים was not to decide whether we should go

and conquer the land but rather how we should go about conquering the land.

After all we do find that even after the חטא המרגלים,

יהושע sends מרגלים and the purpose of those מרגלים is to go on a

reconnaissance mission to be able to decide what's the best approach to take,

which place to conquer first.

After all when משה רבינו asks הטובה היא אם רעה,

the question is not well are they strong and we should decide to have

the כנענים get all the land and send on us missiles and whatever other

כטב"מים whatever?

But rather the point is if the נגב is a hard place to conquer

so maybe we should first conquer some other part.

If the נגב is of lower quality than other parts maybe we should conquer

some other part.

That was the idea to figure out how to conquer.

And also the Ramban says משה רבינו figured that in light of the fact

it's a דבר פשוט that the מרגלים would bring back a very flowery report

about what a wonderful land it is,

that's something that would encourage the Jewish people and would cause them to travel

to ארץ ישראל with great joy.

Let's take a look about a fifth of the way through the Ramban on

standard printing page רמ"א,

about a third of the way down on the page:

אבל ישוב העניין בזה.

In the new printing if anybody has ד"ש or ש"ד?

שד"א.

Right okay thank you.

אבל ישוב העניין בזה כי ישראל אמרו כדרך כל הבאים להילחם בארץ נכריה ששולחים

לפניהם אנשים לדעת הדרכים ומבוא הערים.

And when the spies come back then they will lead the camp and tell

us well over here meant to go left over there ישר ישר ואז תשאל

whatever over there meant to go straight whatever it is.

ובשובם ילכו התרים בראש הצבא להורות לפניהם הדרכים כעניין שנאמר הראנו נא את מבוא

העיר,

some פסוק where there were some spies that ויתנו להם עצה באיזו עיר ילחמו

תחילה ומאיזה צד יהיה נוח לכבוש את הארץ וכך אמרו בפירוש וישיבו אותנו דבר

את הדרך אשר נעלה בה.

There from ספר דברים.

It says that the purpose of the spies is to teach us which way,

which route we should take,

כלומר הערים אשר נבוא אליהם תחילה משם נבוא בכל הארץ.

זו עצה הגונה בכל כבשי הארצות וכן עשה עוד משה עצמו שנאמר בפרשת חוקת,

וישלח משה לרגל את יעזר,

וכן ביהושע בן נון שני אנשים מרגלים.

Where do we read the הפטרה of יהושע sending מרגלים?

This week of course.

How appropriate.

וכן היה טוב בעיני משה.

There is a significant contrast between the מרגלים of משה and the מרגלים of

יהושע,

but that's not for now.

וכן היה טוב בעיני משה כי הכתוב לא יסמוך בכל מעשיו על הנס.

ויצווה בנמוס המלחמה להיחלץ להישמר לארוב to put an ambush כאשר בא הכתוב במלחמת

העי שהיה על פי ה' ובמקום ארבים.

אז נמלך משה בשכינה ונתן לו ה' רשות.

The רמב"ן seems to go back and forth concerning whether initially משה רבינו was

נמלך בשכינה or once משה רבינו saw then הקדוש ברוך הוא gave him instructions

about how to send the מרגלים.

Okay.

And the רמב"ן says in continuation that when they ask הטובה אם רעה as

he said,

that means if that particular,

if הנגב is הטובה אם רעה,

with the נפקא מינה being whether they should first try to conquer other parts.

Okay.

And the רמב"ן also points out that an additional value in seeing הטובה ורעה,

that he knew that it was going to be טובה,

that way the people would be excited about going to ארץ ישראל.

Okay.

Skipping to maybe we'll just see towards the end in the last about eight

to ten lines.

This is towards the end of page רמ"ב,

five lines before the end of the page.

אבל במשנה תורה הזכיר ועל דעת רבותינו.

ועל דעת רבותינו חטאו.

I would guess it's a new paragraph in the new printing.

ועל דעת רבותינו?

No,

where is it?

Middle of ש"ו.

Middle of ש"ו,

okay.

ועל דעת רבותינו חטאו באמרם נשלחה אנשים לפנינו בעבור שאינם רואים את ישועת ה'

אשר עשה להם תמיד.

והיה להם ללכת אחרי הענן אל אשר שמה יהיה רוח ללכת ומשה קיבל בהם

למלאות תאוותם וייטב בעיני הדבר שסבלתי רעתכם והרשותי לעשות.

וה' ציווה שישלחו איש אחד,

איש אחד למטה אבותיו,

כעניין שנאמר בשמואל שמע בקול העם.

הקדוש ברוך הוא says if the people want a king,

so give them a king.

Okay.

למטה ראובן פסוק ד'.

מנה הכתוב השבטים לא לדגליהם ולא לתולדותם.

It's not clear what's the order,

what's the base of the order of the list of the שבטים.

It says למטה ראובן,

but it doesn't go in the order not of their traveling,

not on the order of who's the oldest.

So suggestion of רמב"ן ונראה שראה למנותם הנה לפי מעלת השלוחים in accordance with

the importance of the שלוחים.

כי היו ראשים ונשיאים בעם כאשר סיפר ואין מעלתם שווה אבל יש בהם גדול

מחברו בחכמה וכבוד והקדים הנכבד הקודם במעלה כי מעלת עצמם מן העם לא למעלת

השבט.

וכן בנשיאים המחלקים להם ארץ כנען הזכירם כפי המעלה לא לתולדותם.

What's interesting is that it emerges that there were מרגלים that were greater than

יהושע and כלב,

although one might say they were greater than יהושע and כלב,

not necessarily in חכמה but rather in כבוד.

What exactly is כבוד?

Greater in כבוד?

More likes,

or maybe they were richer or more well-respected?

I'm not sure.

וחברון שבע שנים נבנתה.

חז"ל say כבוד התורה,

but also כבוד sometimes means money and property.

משל אבינו עשה כל הכבוד הזה.

In any case,

there's an enigmatic פסוק וחברון שבע שנים נבנתה לפני צוען מצרים.

חברון was built seven years before צוען מצרים.

Why is that of any relevance?

So רש"י says what he says,

but the רמב"ן על פי פשט says the following.

We're told חברון is also known as קרית ארבע.

Okay.

Now.

Now,

the רמב"ן based on פשט understands that there was a fellow whose name was

ארבע.

This fellow whose name was ארבע had a son whose name was ענק.

ענק had children named אחימן,

ששי,

and תלמי.

Okay.

Now,

the פסוק records that אחימן,

ששי,

and תלמי,

the children of ענק,

they still were alive.

Why's that of any significance?

Well,

hey,

חברון was an ancient city.

How ancient?

It was built before צוען מצרים.

And who built חברון,

this ancient city?

Mr.

ארבע.

And Mr.

ארבע's grandchildren אחימן,

ששי,

and תלמי were still alive.

Oh boy.

So,

there in ארץ כנען,

apparently,

people have great amount of longevity.

They are amazing people.

They are presumably difficult nation to conquer if they're such strong people of such

great longevity.

Actually,

this חברון שבע שנים נבנתה,

was this part of the report of the מרגלים?

No,

this was before.

So,

the תורה's telling us,

the תורה's telling us what longevity existed in ארץ כנען,

that אחימן,

ששי,

and תלמי,

the grandchildren of the builder of this city,

which was an ancient city because after all was built before צוען מצרים,

were still alive.

Okay,

so let's see this inside the רמב"ן.

וחברון שבע שנים אפשר שבנה חם.

So,

he quotes רש"י.

ונראה בעיני בדרך הפשט כי חברון היא קרית ארבע הוא האדם הגדול בענקים ששמו

ארבע והוא הבונה אותה.

Okay.

על כן נקראת על שמו.

It's called קרית ארבע because of him.

וזהו שנאמר ושם חברון ושם חברון לפנים קרית ארבע האדם הגדול בענקים הוא.

וזה האיש הוליד בן וקרא שמו ענק ועל שמו נקראו הענקים.

וכאשר אמר הכתוב כי שם בחברון אחימן ששי ותלמי ילידי הענק וחברון שבע שנים

נבנתה לפני צוען מצרים לומר שבנה אותה ארבע לבנו ענק שבע שנים לפני היבנות

צוען מצרים שהיא קדמונית.

It's an old city.

להגיד הפלגת חיי האנשים האלה.

Okay.

Skipping or פסוק כ"ז.

וגם זבת חלב ודבש היא.

So,

this is already part of the report of the מרגלים.

בעבור שצוה אותם לראות השמנה היא אם רזה,

והשיבו לו כי שמנה וגם זבת חלב ודבש היא.

ועל שאלתו היש בה עץ אם אין,

השיבו לו זה פריה.

כי כן צוה אותם להראותו.

So,

all this was okay.

That's what they were told to do.

ועל כל זה אמרו אמת והשיבו מה שנצטוו.

Now,

concerning the strength of the people,

then the מרגלים should have said,

והיה להם לומר שהעם היושב עליה עז והערים בצורות,

כי יש להם להשיב אמרי אמת לשולחם,

כי כן צוה אותם החזק הוא הרפה אם במחנים אם במבצרים.

אבל רשעם,

the wickedness of the מרגלים expressed itself במלה אפס,

שהיא מורה על דבר אפס ונמנע מן האדם שאי אפשר בשום עניין.

אפס כי עז העם has the connotation that it's impossible,

impossible to conquer due to the fact that they are strong.

No way will we be able to conquer them because they are so strong.

Now,

they didn't explicitly say we can't conquer it,

but they indicated that's the case.

And why they were not initially so explicit?

Because they were afraid of משה ואהרן.

They knew that משה ואהרן would not be thrilled with their stating that we

can't conquer the land.

So,

the רמב"ן says,

did they answer all the questions?

Well,

most of the questions,

but they did not address המעט הוא אם רב.

Why'd they not answer?

And they also didn't say הטובה היא אם רעה.

They did say השמנה היא אם רזה,

but not הטובה היא אם רעה,

says the רמב"ן.

And why did they not address טובה או רעה?

Why'd they not address המעט הוא אם רב?

Because they planned on saying that it's an ארץ אוכלת יושביה,

that it's a land they can't survive over there.

And therefore,

they didn't want to say that there's many.

Now eventually,

when they saw that the people were hedging and there were still some people

that were interested in going to the land,

then they were more explicit and then they said לא נוכל לעלות אל העם

כי חזק הוא ממנו.

Then they said that even if they don't sit in their walled cities,

they come out of their walled cities,

we won't be able to conquer them.

And then a later step,

when they were still in the presence of משה רבנו,

so they didn't so actively campaign against not going to the land,

although they did say that we're not going to be able to conquer the

land.

But then when they went into they had party meetings,

they went into the tents of the various שבטים,

and then they said ארץ אוכלת יושביה.

So take a look פסוק ל"ב ויוציאו דיבת הארץ אל בני ישראל כי הלכו

מלפני משה ואהרן ויאמרו עליהם כי היא ארץ אוכלת יושביה כי מתחילה כשיאמרו להם

לפני משה ואהרן שהארץ זבת חלב ודבש שזולת שהעם חזק וכל העם היה אומר

כי יכול נוכל היו העם פוסחים.

They were hedging והם בוטחים בכחם ובגבורתם ומהם בעזרת השם הגבורה.

Some people said,

hey,

we have such a mighty army,

we have the best technology,

and some people said we'll be able to conquer the כנענים not based on

our technology but based on God's סיעתא דשמיא.

So when the מרגלים saw that there were still people that were interested in

conquering the land,

אז הוציאו להם דיבה בפני עצמם,

meaning not in the presence of משה אהרון דכתיב הארץ אשר עברנו בה עד

שילינו כל העדה וזהו טעם אשר אמר וישיבו ילינו את כל העדה להוציא דיבת

הארץ,

because originally they saw that there were some people that were listening to משה

אהרון.

Then they started to tell lies.

Okay,

and the continuation of the פסוק speaks the מרגלים mentioned that the people there

were אנשי מדות and the מרגלים'ס point was that only mighty people could survive

in that land.

רמב"ן says that's not a very logical thing to say because after all,

if the land is so lousy and the conditions there and the nutrition there

and the water there is so lousy,

then the people are not going to be giants.

If they're giants,

apparently it does have wonderful qualities.

Okay,

י"ד א',

ויבכו העם בלילה הוא.

So that night everybody started crying.

Now חז"ל say in a very famous line they cried for nothing and הקדוש

ברוך הוא says אני קובע בכיה לדורות.

Now do you have any such indication in the פסוקים that that's the case?

רמב"ן says certainly it's explicit in the פסוקים in ספר תהילים.

After all,

in ספר תהילים there's a פרק that talks about the Jewish people in the

מדבר and there the פסוק says that when the Jewish people complained וימאסו בארץ

חמדה ולא האמינו לדברו וירגנו באהליהם לא שמעו בקול השם,

then it says וישא ידו להם להפיל אותם במדבר להפיל זרעם בגוים ולזרותם בארצות.

So it's explicit in that פסוק in תהילים that הקדוש ברוך הוא said as

a result of the חטא המרגלים that also in the future this is going

to be a time of going to גלות.

Even after you come into the land in the future,

it's going to be on תשעה באב that you people are going to go

into גלות.

But is it also indicated in the פסוקים here?

רמב"ן thinks that perhaps yes.

After all,

there's a פסוק that says here in the פרשה,

וטפכם אשר אמרתם לבז יהיה,

וטפכם אשר אמרתם לבז יהיה.

Now פשט in that פסוק is וטפכם,

your children about whom you said they will be לבז.

But the פסוק could also be understood,

and this is perhaps how חז"ל understand it,

that טפכם as in fact you said,

you complained that hey,

our children going to die,

this is going to be terrible.

So as in fact you said that that's you asked for it,

you got it,

that's what's going to happen that your children are going to be לבז.

So take a look a few lines before the end of the piece on

י"ד א',

אולי ידרוש שזה מהפסוק וטפכם אשר אמרתם לבז יהיה יאמר וטפכם כאשר אמרתם.

In fact will be לבז יהיה בבוא פקודתם when they will sin they will

be punished on גלות at this time.

כי אני פוקד עון אבות על בנים *Ki ani poked avon avos al banim*

ועון אוחזי מעשי ידי מעשי אבותיהם בידיהם *ve-avon ochezei ma'asei yedei ma'asei avoseihem bi-yedeihem*.

והבאתי אותם עתה שידעו את הארץ ידיעה בלבד *Ve-heveisi osam ata she-yedu es ha-aretz

yediyah bilvad*.

So your children will come into the land,

but eventually they're going to go into a גלות *Galus*.

Okay,

פסוק ה *Pasuk Heh*,

ויפל משה ואהרן על פניהם *Va-yipol Moshe ve-Aharon al peneihem*.

So sometimes משה ואהרן *Moshe ve-Aharon* ויפלו על פניהם *va-yiplu al peneihem* is for

the sake of תפלה *tefillah*.

Over here it's not for the sake of תפלה *tefillah*.

Over here it's to beg the people.

משה רבינו *Moshe Rabbeinu* saw that the people they're messing up big time.

Imagine משה רבינו *Moshe Rabbeinu* realizes that they're just,

when you see somebody doing something terrible for himself,

you just you want to stop him anyway you can.

משה רבינו *Moshe Rabbeinu* asks them please,

you're you're killing yourselves,

you're messing up the Jewish people.

So says the רמב"ן *Ramban*,

שראו *she-rau*,

we're פסוק ה *Pasuk Heh*.

שראו שהיו העם נועצים לעשות ראש ולשוב מיד ויקומו הצדיקים משה ואהרן וישתחוו לאפם

ארצה לאמר להם אל נא אחי תרעו ולא תהיה זאת לכם לפוקה *She-rau she-hayu

ha-am no'atzim la'asos rosh ve-lashuv miyad va-yakumu ha-tzaddikim Moshe ve-Aharon va-yishtachavu le-appam artzah leimor

lahem al na achai tare'u ve-lo tihyeh zos lachem le-fukah*.

Where's the אל נא אחי תרעו *al na achai tare'u*?

Where's that from?

As you see,

בראשית *Bereishis*.

יאמר על מי *Yomar al mi*?

אל נא אחי תרעו *Al na achai tare'u*.

Isn't that what לוט *Lot* tells the people from סדום *Sedom*?

No?

If I'm not mistaken,

I think.

ולא תהיה זאת לכם לפוקה *Ve-lo tihyeh zos lachem le-fukah*,

it shouldn't see to it this won't be a pitfall,

a מכשול *michshol*.

על כן אמר לפני כל קהל עדת בני ישראל כי להם השתחוו לאפם וכן

ויפלו על פניהם ארצה וישתחוו ג' פעמים וטעמו לפני כמו להם *Al ken amar

lifnei kol kehal adas Bnei Yisrael ki lahem hishtachavu le-appam ve-chen va-yiplu al peneihem

artzah va-yishtachavu gimel pe'amim ve-ta'amo lifnei kimo lahem*.

What's that?

Says it says they bowed down לפני *lifnei*,

which means towards them,

asking them,

וכן ויחבקו וגם אחיו וכולי *ve-chen va-yichbeku ve-gam achav ve-chulei*.

Okay,

and of course it didn't work.

They didn't listen to משה ואהרן *Moshe ve-Aharon*.

פסוק ז *Pasuk Zayin*,

טובה הארץ מאד מאד *Tovah ha-aretz me'od me'od*.

If though the מרגלים *meraglim* spoke of positive qualities,

nonetheless כלב *Kalev* and יהושע *Yehoshua* they want to contradict that which מרגלים *meraglim*

said,

הארץ אוכלת יושביה להכחיש הדבר לאמר שאינה אוכלת יושביה כי אויר טוב וארץ זבת

חלב ודבש *ha-aretz ocheles yosheveiha le-hach-chish ha-davar leimor she-einah ocheles yosheveiha ki avir tov

ve-eretz zavos chalav u-devash*.

Okay,

פסוק ט *Pasuk Tes*,

very important רמב"ן *Ramban*.

אך בה' אל תמרדו *Ach ba-Hashem al timrodu*.

So what ימרדו *yimrodu*,

what merit?

It's natural to be afraid.

So says הרמב"ן *ha-Ramban*,

כי רצונם לחזק העם היושב בה ימרדו בה' הנכבד *ki retzonam lechazzek ha-am ha-yoshev

bah yimrodu ba-Hashem ha-nichbad*.

Why is it a מרד *mered*?

Cause they should have realized something very simple.

כי לא בכחם יצאתם ממצרים *Ki lo be-chocham yetzasem mi-Mitzrayim*.

Hey,

how'd you leave Egypt?

Is it cause you were so smart?

Cause you're so great?

Cause you have such great technology?

No,

הקדוש ברוך הוא *Akadosh Baruch Hu* took you out of Egypt.

So just like הקדוש ברוך הוא *Akadosh Baruch Hu* took you out of Egypt,

he can also bring you into ארץ כנען *Eretz Kena'an*.

כי יד ה' עשתה עמכם להפליא והוא הבטחתו שתורישם מפניכם אם כן האמינו ותצליחו

ואמרו ואתם אל תיראו כי לחמנו הם *Ki yad Hashem asah imachem le-hafli ve-hu

havtachto she-torishem mipneichem im ken ha'aminu ve-satzlichu ve-amru ve-atem al tir'u ki lachmenu hem*.

Now what's it mean לחמנו הם *lachmenu hem*?

A piece of cake.

We would say a piece of cake,

over here it says a piece of bread.

נפקא מינה *Nafka mina* whether you're meant to say מזונות *mezonos* or המוציא *hamotzi*

when you eat the כנען *Kena'an*,

but whatever,

we don't believe in cannibalism,

but ואמרו ואתם אל תיראו כי לחמנו הם *va-amru ve-atem al tir'u ki lachmenu

hem*.

Why לחמנו הם *lachmenu hem*?

So says רמב"ן *Ramban*,

אפילו על פי טבע *Afilu al pi teva*,

we can conquer them.

Why?

כי בטבע מנהג שבעולם יפלו לפנינו כי נפל פחדנו עליהם והניח אותם לאכלם כלחם

*Ki be-teva minhag she-ba-olam yippelu lefaneinu ki nafal pachdenu aleihem ve-heniach osam le-ochlam ke-lechem*.

As we find in the הפטרה *Haftarah* of course that רחב *Rachav* says that

hey,

we're all trembling,

everybody's everybody's scared of you.

And of course psychological warfare,

that's very very important.

סר צלם מעליהם *Sar tzillam me-aleihem*.

So רש"י *Rashi* says well,

the righteous they already died.

אבן עזרא *Ibn Ezra* says that they're they're so afraid they won't even take

their shields to go into a battle.

הרמב"ן *ha-Ramban* has a couple of other פשטים *peshatim*,

one of the פשטים *peshatim* he says that this is a reference to שרי

מעלה *sarei malah*.

After all,

חז"ל *Chazal* speak of the fact that no nation will be conquered unless their

ministering angel on high is first conquered.

So סר צלם מעליהם *sar tzillam me-aleihem* או ירמוז לשרי מעלה שאינו אומה נופלת

עד שנופל השר שלה תחלה כענין שכתוב יפקוד ה' על צבא המרום וכולי ופירש

בספר דניאל שיאמר כבר סר הכח השם בצלם יחיו הגוים והשם המשפיל אותם איתנו

על כן אל תיראום וכן הוא במדרש שיר השירים ונסו הצללים אלו שרי אומות

ומלאכים שלהם כי הם הצל על האומות כבר הזכרתי זה במקומות אחרים *o yirmoz

le-sarei malah she-eino umah nofeles ad she-nofel ha-sar shelah techilah ke-inyan she-kasuv yifkod Hashem

al tzva ha-marom ve-chulei u-fairesh be-sefer Daniel she-yomar kvar sar ha-koach ha-sam be-tzillam yichyu

ha-goyim ve-Hashem ha-mashpil osam itanu al ken al tira'um ve-chen hu be-Midrash Shir ha-Shirim

ve-nasu ha-tzellalim elu sarei umos u-mal'achim shelahem ki hem ha-tzel al ha-umos kvar hizkarti

zeh be-mekomos acherim*.

It's interesting.

When is יעקב אבינו told by the מלאך:

כי שרית עם אלוהים ועם אנשים ותוכל?

Before or after he meets עשו?

Before.

So what's it mean?

כי שרית עם אלוהים ועם אנשים.

Who's the אנשים?

לבן and עשו.

So it means שרית עם אלוהים ועם אנשים ותוכל.

Answer:

that once יעקב already waged a war,

had this battle with שר של עשו,

who was not able to overcome יעקב,

so then just being able to approach עשו would be a lot simpler.

Okay,

skipping to פסוק י"ז.

משה רבינו invokes the י"ג מידות minus some of them.

He doesn't mention all the י"ג מידות.

So רמב"ן addresses:

why did משה רבינו leave out some of the י"ג מידות?

After all,

he was told after the חטא העגל that י"ג מידות is the key to

forgiveness.

So why'd he leave out some of the י"ג מידות?

Says רמב"ן in the middle of the piece:

והזכיר במידות ארך אפים ורב חסד לא הזכיר אמת.

כי במידת אמת יחייבם.

מידת האמת is when הקדוש ברוך הוא promises something good,

so it's going to happen.

But over here,

מצד מידת האמת,

due to their sin,

they weren't worthy of coming into ארץ ישראל.

ולא הזכיר נוצר חסד לאלפים because after all,

כי לא בזכות אבות נתפלל משה.

משה רבינו felt uncomfortable mentioning ברית אבות.

After all,

ברית אבות,

the אבות had a love for the Land of Israel.

So to say,

hey,

protect them based on זכות אבות is not appropriate when the Jewish people over

here are in effect rejecting the מידות of their forefathers.

כי לא בזכות אבות נתפלל משה עכשיו ולא הזכיר בתפילה זו לאברהם יצחק ליעקב

כלל.

וטעם בעבור שהארץ נתנה לאבות,

מהם ירשוה,

והם מורדים באבותם ולא יחפוץ במתנה שלהם שאבותיו בוחרים בה מאוד.

ואיך יאמר שנשבעת להם בך וכל הארץ הזאת לזרעכם,

והם אומרים אי אפשנו במתנה זו.

ולא הזכיר וחטאה,

בעבור שאלו מזידים ופושעים.

As רמב"ן mentioned earlier,

this is considered to be a מרד,

a חטא במזיד.

ולא ידעתי למה,

why doesn't he mention רחום וחנון?

He's not sure.

Perhaps he thought,

says רמב"ן,

that דין מתוח עליהם,

so over here רחום וחנון הקדוש ברוך הוא is not going to forgive.

He just asks for ארך אפים that הקדוש ברוך הוא should not punish them,

should not give them all the punishment now.

And along similar lines רמב"ן says that it says פוקד עוונם על זרעם.

Does it mention that משה רבינו says פוקד עוון אבות?

Anybody have a חומש over here?

When משה רבינו in פסוק י"ז,

the next פסוק,

י"ח.

פסוק י"ח.

What does he say?

פוקד עוון אבות על בנים על שלשים ועל רבעים.

So משה רבינו does mention that.

So why does he mention that?

So says רמב"ן,

he mentions that because over here it's not that הקדוש ברוך הוא wants the

children to be punished דווקא,

but he wants the punishment to be spread out.

If the punishment is in one shot,

so hey,

there's not going to be a continuation.

So he wants the punishment to be spread out over the generations.

And in fact,

says רמב"ן,

מזו היתה הגזרה לקבועם בכיה לדורות בלילה הזה.

So it's interesting.

The fact that it's נקבעה בכיה לדורות is not only a punishment,

it's also something which provides the means to which the Jewish people be able

to survive the punishment of the חטא המרגלים.

Had it been in one shot,

then perhaps we would be destroyed and wouldn't be able to survive.

Okay,

skipping to ועבדי כלב,

פסוק כ"ד.

So why is it only mentioned כלב,

why not יהושע?

Well,

it would be inappropriate now to mention the שכר of יהושע because what was

the שכר of יהושע?

That he would lead the Jewish people into the land.

And now,

in light of the fact that משה רבינו did not sin yet,

it was not appropriate to mention that.

It's interesting how did משה רבינו understand why it focuses just on כלב?

Don't know.

In any case,

ועבדי כלב ולא הזכיר יהושע,

כי פירש לכלב שכרו שיוריש הארץ אשר בא שמה,

ועם יהושע אין ראוי לפרשו עתה שיהיה.

הוא במקום משה.

וקדם הכתוב,

so why is it mentioned and why or where does it mention Caleb first?

כי אם כלב בן יפונה ויהושע בן נון בעבור שהוא כי הוא הקדים לחלוק

על המרגלים.

He's more active in protesting the מרגלים more than יהושע.

חפץ חיים has some מהלך about how יהושע and כלב each one dealt differently

with the threat of the מרגלים.

משה רבינו later speaks of יהושע first due to the מעלה of יהושע.

Okay.

פסוק ל"ז,

מוציאי דיבת הארץ רעה כבר פירשתי,

כי העוון הגדול of the מרגלים היה בעבור הדיבה שהוציאו כי ארץ אוכלת יושביה

היא.

והיה שקר גמור,

שהיתה מלאה עמים רבים,

כמו שכתב יהושע,

הם וכל מחניהם עם רב כחול אשר על שפת הים לרוב וסוס ורכב רב

מאד.

Okay.

פרק ט"ו פסוק ב'.

The Jewish people are told about the מצוה of נסכים and about חלה,

and it speaks of the fact that those מצוות will be when you come

to the land.

רמב"ן says that these פסוקים are here to comfort the Jewish people and to

tell them the following.

The Jewish people were afraid that just as they sinned and not going to

enter the land,

there's a חשש that also their children will sin and not enter the land,

even after the 40 years.

But says משה רבינו,

הקדוש ברוך הוא tells them no,

your children definitely going to enter the land.

Okay.

פסוק כ"ב.

You have over here a section which is not all that clear that speaks

of some קרבן that's brought when you don't do the מצוות.

So what does that mean?

So the בעלי פשט say,

well,

the אבן עזרא sounds like,

well,

if there's a מצוה you're meant to do and you don't do it,

then you need to bring a קרבן.

Person oversleeps זמן קריאת שמע,

needs to bring a קרבן.

Person didn't take לולב,

needs to bring a קרבן.

That's what the אבן עזרא sounds like the פסוק is saying.

But חז"ל did not understand that.

חז"ל say that this refers to a person that does which עבירה בשוגג?

עבודה זרה.

Could a person do עבודה זרה בשוגג?

Sure.

רמב"ן,

as רמב"ן speaks about,

all sorts of people do עבודה זרה.

There might be all sorts of situations of עבודה זרה בשוגג.

So a person worships עבודה זרה בשוגג,

needs to bring a קרבן.

But first רמב"ן discusses על פי פשט.

So he quoted the אבן עזרא,

says it refers to a person that didn't do an עשה.

רמב"ן says,

no,

no,

no,

we're not talking about a person that was just inactive because the פסוק in

the continuation speaks of מעיני העדה נעשתה לשגגה.

Something actively done wrong.

So says רמב"ן,

and that this is referring to a person that doesn't do the מצוות but

rather does the opposite.

So על פי פשט it refers to a person that violates all עבירות.

How could you have a person that violates all the עבירות?

So says רמב"ן,

לשון הכתוב שלא נוציא אותו מפשוטו משמעו.

I'm on page רנ"ב,

first word line is ע"ג,

עבודה זרה.

לשון הכתוב שלא נוציא אותו מפשוטו משמעו is יאמר כי בכישלון מכל המצוות עברו

על כל מה שציוה השם לכם ביד משה,

שלא תעשו דבר מכל מה שציוה אתכם,

תביאו הקרבן הזה.

לכן לא הזכיר כאן כאשר יאמר בקרבנות החטא אחת מכל מצוות.

In פרשת ויקרא,

it speaks of if you violate one of the מצוות.

Over here it doesn't say that.

Why?

Because it's talking about a person that messes up in כל התורה כולה.

How do you manage to do that?

ועניין זה כפי משמעו קרבן מומר לכל התורה בשוגג.

A person that is מומר לכל התורה.

How do you have a מומר לכל התורה בשוגג?

כגון ההולך ונדבק לאחת מן האומות לעשות כהם,

לא ירצה להיות בכלל ישראל כלל,

וזה בשוגג כגון שיהיה יחיד תינוק שנשבה בין האומות.

A תינוק שנשבה בין האומות,

so quite possibly he's going to be violating all the מצוות of the תורה

בשוגג.

How could you have a קהל?

So he says also a קהל.

Because they might think that the time of the תורה,

the תורה was just binding for X amount of time and it's no longer

binding.

Or people might think that once we go into גלות,

or a person might take the attitude that hey,

the תורה says do the מצוות get שכר.

So...

The implication is,

you don't want the שכר,

don't do the מצוות.

כל האומר אי אפשי,

we know of תקנת חכמים,

שומעין לו,

that this person,

he had a slight mistake,

he thinks this is not only true of תקנת חכמים,

also דאורייתא.

כל האומר אי אפשי,

הקדוש ברוך הוא said if I'm מכבד parents,

if I keep שבת and get שכר,

okay,

I'm not interested in this שכר.

Which of course is very incorrect,

but that's what this guy thinks,

so that's the שוגג.

Or in a generation,

or if the Jewish people when they go into גלות,

like they ask יחזקאל,

hey,

הקדוש ברוך הוא sold us,

so we're no longer His servants,

we could do whatever we want.

Of course יחזקאל tells them that ain't the case.

You still have that relationship with God.

Or suggests רמב"ן at a time when most of the people forget the תורה.

There was such a time in history,

says רמב"ן,

when most of the people,

not all חס ושלום,

but most of the people.

למעשה,

חז"ל understand that refers to,

this פסוק refers to a person that worships עבודה זרה בשוגג.

And after all,

if a person worships עבודה זרה,

let's say the person that he is מדקדק his תפילין,

מהודרדיקע תפילין,

ציצית,

wears תכלת,

and does all the מצוות in the book,

except for one,

that he worships ישקא.

So hey,

so unfortunately the מצוות that he does are meaningless if a person's involved in

עבודה זרה.

So that's how חז"ל understand this פסוק.

Okay,

skipping to ציצית,

how does ציצית remind us of the מצוות?

So רש"י says,

well the גימטריה of ציצית is 600.

צדי 90,

יוד 10,

so that's צדי יוד 100,

צדי יוד 100,

תף is 400,

you have 600.

Well how do you get up to 613?

Well that's simple,

you have eight strings on each of the corners,

and you have how many knots?

Five knots.

So all together we have 613.

Says רמב"ן,

one second,

I didn't catch that.

Can you go over that again?

He says in the תורה,

ציצית is spelled with only one יוד,

not two יודס.

So the מפרשים try to,

what's it called...

says רמב"ן,

no no no,

the reason we have זה זכרתם is based on the תכלת.

תכלת דומה לים ים דומה לרקיע.

I don't know if it would be wrong to say that רש"י wanted to

give some רמז that would work for even those of us,

there are some people here,

any people here not wearing תכלת?

Okay,

there are some people here not wearing תכלת.

So רש"י wanted to give some רמז.

It could be that some מפרשים say that על פי פשט,

you know sometimes a person,

if there's something I know I need to do,

so I'll put something on my desk which is totally unconnected to anything,

and I'll later come back and say that's meant to remind me of something.

Often I'll forget what it's meant to remind me,

but the idea is if you have these strings on your בגד,

so you remember it's meant to remind you of something,

you say what's it meant to remind me?

Of course,

of the מצוות.

So רש"י just gives some sort of רמז of how it's connected to the

מצוות.

Okay,

to review some of the things which we've seen רבותי.

The רמב"ן understands that in principle,

על פי פשט,

sending מרגלים was not a bad idea,

because the purpose of the מרגלים was aside from encouraging the Jewish people what

a beautiful land,

was to figure out how to conquer the land rather than whether to conquer

the land.

Okay,

the רמב"ן says the מרגלים are listed in the order of their greatness,

not in the order of the age of the tribes.

Okay,

the פסוק speaks of חברון being built seven years before צוען מצרים has to

do with the longevity of the people there in the land.

Okay,

the מרגלים problem was not the fact that they related that the כנענים were

strong,

but the fact that they initially hinted and then said explicitly that no way

will we be able to conquer the land.

Something which they originally were hesitant to say in the presence of משה,

but then they were more explicit when they saw that people were not listening

to them.

Okay,

the פסוק says ויבכו העם בלילה ההוא and חז"ל say that they were בכיה

של חנם and were punished with a בכיה לדורות,

which the רמב"ן understands is not only explicit in the פסוקים in תהלים,

the פסוק in תהלים,

but is also something which one could find a רמז to over here.

משה רבינו and אהרן says ויפל משה ואהרן על פניהם,

he says this was not for prayer but rather to beseech the Jewish people.

אך בה' אל תמרדו,

the רמב"ן says that the fear of the Jewish people,

very interesting,

the fear is considered to be a חטא.

Why a חטא?

Because they should have realized that that which they conquered,

that which they left מצרים,

was based on what God did for them,

based on miracles,

not something בדרך הטבע.

Okay.

הרמב״ן also indicated that some of the leaders,

I don't remember if this was לחמנו הם,

this was יהושע and כלב said,

כי בדרך הטבע we'll be able to conquer them due to the fact that

the כנענים they are so scared.

סר צלם מעליהם,

different interpretations what this means.

The הרמב״ן points out that משה did not mention all of the י״ג מדות

because some were not appropriate such as mentioning זכות אבות.

The הרמב״ן says that which תורה speaks of נסכים and חלה is to indicate

the Jewish people that eventually they will enter the land,

their children will enter the land.

The פרשה of a קרבן that needs to be brought if one doesn't do

the מצוות,

the בעלי פשט say if a person doesn't do some מצוות עשה,

the הרמב״ן says no,

the פסוק speaks of actively doing something wrong.

על פי פשט it's someone that violates all the תורה actively,

הרמב״ן,

בשוגג.

And the הרמב״ן has a number of ways that that could take place.

The הרמב״ן says that he quotes חז״ל that say this refers to a situation

a person that worships עבודה זרה בשוגג and we had מחלוקת רש״י הרמב״ן how

וראיתם אתו וזכרתם works.

רש״י said some גימטריה,

the הרמב״ן said based on תכלת.

Have a wonderful שבת.