The Great Victory in the War Against Iran - in Light of Kabbalah and Chassidus | Parshas Shelach

00:00 The weekly parsha is always a source of life for a Jew and for daily living. We all know the Alter Rebbe’s teaching that a Jew must live with the times, meaning to live with the weekly parsha. Every day, a Jew reads the weekly parsha, lives with it, and draws inspiration and encouragement from it. If that is always true, how strikingly true is it this year, right now? What wondrous Divine providence that in these very days we are reading Parshas Shelach. How powerful it is, in these difficult moments in the Holy Land, to read Kalev’s words—words that give us encouragement, strength, confidence, and resolve. We read verse 30 in the weekly parsha, where Kalev ben Yefuneh says: “Kalev quieted the people before Moshe and said, ‘We will surely go up and take possession of it, for we can indeed overcome it.’” And we read further in the parsha, where Yehoshua and Kalev together say to the Jewish people: “The land through which we passed to explore it is a very, very good land. If Hashem desires us, He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. But do not rebel against Hashem, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are our bread. Their protection has departed from them, and Hashem is with us; do not fear them.” What more do we need than these words? They say it all. This is exactly what we need to hear, to say aloud, to live with, to believe, and to trust will indeed come to pass. So today, let’s delve a little deeper and understand what this exchange was really about. There are several things in the weekly parsha that, when we look at them and think about the words on a surface level, we really don’t understand. There is so much depth here, so much depth in the story of the weekly parsha. What exactly was the story of

02:23 the spies? What did they want? What is going on here? I’m left with so many questions. It is an extraordinarily beautiful and profound parsha, remarkably relevant to us this year. But let’s consider at least a few points, including one of the hardest things to understand. What exactly were the spies saying? What was their argument, and what was the answer given by Kalev ben Yefuneh and Yehoshua bin Nun? Something here doesn’t seem to add up. We know that the spies were not ordinary people. They were the finest of the people, all of them distinguished men, leaders of the Jewish people. They were the leaders of the community. Rashi says they were worthy men. Clearly, Moshe Rabbeinu chose the very best people from among the Jewish people. How did they fall so far? When we begin to hear their complaints—and again, now is not the time to go into every detail of the story—one of the most difficult verses is the one in which the spies return and try to discourage the people, telling the Jewish people that it won’t work. They say: “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than us.” They come and say, “Friends, we can’t do it. We cannot conquer the Land of Israel; we cannot win, because they are stronger than us.” Wow. What is happening here? Why this loss of nerve? “They are stronger than us”—are they afraid? The Gemara in tractate Sotah says something even more difficult: When they said “they are stronger than us,” they didn’t mean only stronger than us, the people. The Gemara says they meant stronger, as it were, than Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The Gemara says: “As it were, the Master cannot remove His vessels from there.” It is as though the spies are saying that Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself could not, as it were, deal with the situation in the land. How could anyone think such a

04:38 thing? How could people so distinguished, holy, and righteous, leaders of the community, have such a thought? Especially after all the miracles and wonders they had seen just in the past year. They had seen the greatest wonders with their own eyes: the Exodus from Egypt, the splitting of the sea, and so on. All those great wonders, the manna coming down. And suddenly they say such things—that “the Master cannot remove His vessels from there.” How do we explain it? On the other hand, Kalev ben Yefuneh hardly addresses their arguments. He barely answers their questions. He doesn’t explain why they are wrong. Not at all. What does he say? “We will surely go up and take possession of it, for we can indeed overcome it.” He doesn’t offer explanations or reasoned arguments; he simply states it as a fact. What exactly is he saying? What is the explanation? “If Hashem desires us, He will bring us into this land”—what exactly is the explanation there? What is this exchange about? We have to understand what is going on. And one last question: When Kalev ben Yefuneh and Yehoshua bin Nun explain that there is no reason to fear the people of the land, why do they say, “For they are our bread”? What does that mean—“our bread”? “Their protection has departed from them”—what does that mean? What is this protection? The point—the point of the story here—is that the spies’ complaint was not at all a simple one. As we said, the spies truly were very distinguished people, and their arguments came from a very deep place in their understanding. In other words, from a rational perspective—even, as it were, according to their G-dly understanding, as well as the human reasoning of people on the spies’ level—there was a strong basis for their complaint. They did not mean, Heaven forbid, that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is weak and that the mighty men, the giants in the land, are stronger than Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Clearly that was not their meaning.

07:04 It would be foolish even to think that. The deeper meaning of their complaint when they said, “For they are stronger than us,” was that this was so according to the rules Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself established in the nature of creation. In other words, the spies were making a rational argument. They said: Clearly Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world. He established the rules of creation. He made the world operate according to the laws of nature. “Hashem your G-d will bless you in all that you do.” Of course Hashem gives the blessing; of course everything comes from Him. But nature exists, and a person has to take its rules into account. “In the beginning, Elokim created the heavens and the earth.” As is well known from the teachings of Kabbalah, based on the Zohar, “Elokim” has the same numerical value as “hateva,” meaning “nature.” This is the G-dly power invested in the rules and laws of nature. And from that standpoint, in the natural situation in the Land of Israel, as the spies saw it by their reckoning, they were facing mighty warriors, giants, Nephilim—a situation that, by the laws of nature, would not work. “The Master cannot remove His vessels from there.” That is, given the way Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world and established the laws of nature, we cannot do it. After all, we want to enter the Land of Israel and conquer it according to the laws of nature, and that way it won’t work. Chassidus explains this at a deeper level: Entering the Land of Israel was not merely about conquering it in a physical, practical sense, about taking the territory. This was a spiritual conquest. The purpose of the Jewish people’s entry into the Land of Israel was to transform the land of Canaan into the Holy Land, to make the Land of Israel a place of holiness, where Jews could serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu, perform mitzvos, and make the Land of Israel a holy place. And here the spies argued: The materialism, the physicality

09:36 In Eretz Yisroel, it is so difficult, so powerful, that the moment the people enter Eretz Yisroel, we will lose it. We won’t be able to do it. “It is a land that consumes its inhabitants”—in the spiritual sense, a land that consumes its inhabitants. They meant that materialism, earthliness, physicality, consumes a person. It drags him down, makes him fall, causes him to lose sight of the—the purpose, to no longer know what the purpose of life is. “A land that consumes its inhabitants,” the spies argued. According to the natural order, even the owner cannot take his vessels out of there. In other words, Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world, He made the vessels, and He made the world so physical and materialistic that it is impossible to make this world a dwelling place for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. It won’t work. In the desert, when we are with Moshe Rabbeinu, when we have the manna from heaven, Miriam’s well and the Clouds of Glory, and Moshe and Aharon and all of that—there, we can live as Jews. But in Eretz Yisroel, with all its physical, materialistic nature, and “Six years you shall sow your field and prune your vineyard,” and so on, it is impossible. There it won’t work. That was the spies’ argument, and to that came Calev’s answer. Calev came and told them: “We can surely do it. We will go up and take possession of it.” “Calev quieted the people before Moshe.” Right, Moshe—Calev did not come to offer them intellectual answers. He did not come to explain how these things work according to reason. Calev ben Yefuneh. “Calev quieted the people before Moshe”—Calev tells the Jewish people: This is not a matter of reason. Calev tells the Jewish people: This is a point of pure, inner faith found in every Jew. “Calev quieted the people before Moshe”—we are connected to Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe Rabbeinu connects us to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. “I

12:00 stand between Hashem and you to tell you the word of Hashem.” Moshe Rabbeinu is the one who teaches us how to surrender ourselves completely to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. When a Jew surrenders himself completely to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, then we can surely overcome it. We will go up. We will be able to do it. Nothing can stop us. As Rashi says, Calev told them: Even if He tells us to make ladders to climb to the sky, we can do that too. In other words, Rashi is telling us that a Jew’s connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu is a connection above nature. The rules of nature do not quite apply here; we are not proceeding according to the rules of nature. Here it is “Calev quieted them,” and the word “quieted” is precise. It is a matter of silence. Silence means surrendering oneself. If you truly want to be vessels for Hashem’s blessing, if we want to defeat the seven nations, conquer the land of Canaan and turn it into Eretz Yisroel—both physically and spiritually—we must have that “quieted” within us: to be silent, to listen to Moshe Rabbeinu, to follow Moshe Rabbeinu’s instructions and commands, which are the commands of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Then “we will go up and take possession of it, for we can surely do it.” We have the strength and will be able to overcome them. According to what is explained in Chassidus—and this is a very deep subject, but at least the central point—the nations of the world, if we are speaking of the seven nations at their spiritual root, really are very strong. And the spies’ claim, “For it is stronger than us”—as we said, the spies were not foolish people. They were elevated people, and they knew the truth. If we speak of the root of the matter, the works of Kabbalah say that the root of the land of Canaan and its seven nations comes from the seven middos of the world of Tohu. As is known in Kabbalah, there is the world of Tohu and the world of Tikkun. In the world

14:15 of Tohu, which is a spiritual world, there is an extremely powerful, lofty light and energy. That is the meaning of “it is stronger than us.” The root of the nations, of the seven nations that were in Eretz Yisroel, is in the seven middos of the world of Tohu, where the lights are exceptionally strong and forceful. That is, in fact, their power, and that is where the spies’ fear came from. They really do have power. How will we be able to do this? To this Calev ben Yefuneh comes and tells them: “Calev quieted the people before Moshe.” True, the world of Tohu has power, but the world of Tikkun, the world of Moshe Rabbeinu, has an even greater power. That power is bittul, surrendering oneself to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So he tells them, “Do not rebel.” Once we go with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, this is what he goes on to say in the verses: “If Hashem desires us, the land is very, very good.” It is not about reason. It is not about logic or intellectual explanations. It is about Hashem’s desire—His deepest desire. Hakadosh Boruch Hu chose precisely this: serving Him in this physical world. Hakadosh Boruch Hu chose Eretz Yisroel, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu desires the Jewish people. He wants us, the Jewish people, to turn the land of Canaan into the Holy Land. This is a matter of deep desire. Chassidus explains that this desire is something higher than intellect, higher even than will. It expresses the innermost dimension—the will, the delight, the deepest part. “Hashem desires us”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants us, desires us. His deepest delight is in a Jew, and therefore “the land is very, very good.” Interestingly, the word “very” appears twice. Not just once. The repetition of “very” means this is the deepest thing. “Very, very” is beyond reason and understanding. Saying “very” twice means that there is nothing

16:31 like Eretz Yisroel with this connection. To take nature itself, physicality itself, and make a dwelling place for Hakadosh Boruch Hu there—that is “the land is very, very good.” Hashem desires us, and He will give us that strength. You say, “It is stronger than us”? Here comes the answer of Calev and Yehoshua: “They are our bread; their protection has departed from them.” What is contained in these words? “They are our bread; their protection has departed from them.” There is what Rashi says. First of all, Rashi says, “They are our bread”—we will eat them like bread. What is in this Rashi? What does it mean that we will eat them like bread? Interesting words: “They are our bread.” We will conquer them, we will defeat them—“they are our bread,” we will eat them like bread. What do they mean by these words? The Rebbe says something wonderful. When they say, “They are our bread,” we already learned earlier that Rashi told us they received bread in the morning. The Jewish people in the desert received bread in the morning and meat in the evening. Rashi asks: Why bread in the morning? Because they asked for bread properly, so they received it with affection and a welcoming countenance. That is called “in the morning.” In the evening, it was no longer with affection, because they had not asked for the meat properly. So when the Torah tells us, “They are our bread,” it means that just as we received the bread in the desert with great affection and a welcoming countenance from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so too with the conquest of Eretz Yisroel: Hakadosh Boruch Hu will not only help us conquer the land, but it will be like bread. Hakadosh Boruch Hu will give us the strength to conquer Eretz Yisroel just as we eat the manna—with great affection and a welcoming countenance. So we have nothing to fear. At the inner level—what we have said is the straightforward meaning; now comes the depth of Chassidus: “They are our bread.” We know what the Arizal teaches us: in everything in the world there are sparks. Every thing

18:41 In this world, bread—“Man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds from the mouth of Hashem does man live.” A person does not live on bread alone. Within the bread is a Divine force. When a person eats bread, he refines the spark and elevates the Divine spark within it. That is the purpose of our physical eating. The verse tells us that Kalev ben Yefuneh said to the Jewish people: “They are our bread.” The entire reality of the land of Canaan, all seven nations living there, is our bread. Just as we eat bread, elevate the spark within it, and turn it into an offering to Hashem, so too with the seven nations: “They are our bread.” There is a Divine spark within them, and we have the power to transform the land of Canaan into the Holy Land, to elevate the sparks of holiness within the Land of Israel. Then Kalev continues: “Their shadow has departed from them.” What is contained in those words, “Their shadow has departed from them”? Shadow. There is a wonderful teaching from the Baal Shem Tov. As Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev writes in Kedushas Levi, this was one of the things the Baal Shem Tov would always say. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev was among the great disciples of the Maggid of Mezritch. As we know, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev says in the name of the Baal Shem Tov that he would often tell the people: “Hashem is your guardian; Hashem is your shadow at your right hand.” The Baal Shem Tov asks: What does “your shadow” mean? Your protector? No. “Your shadow,” the Baal Shem Tov says, means a shadow. Just as everything we do is reflected in our shadow, so everything a person does here in the world, every good deed, is reflected above, so to speak, with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He is, so to speak, our shadow. If we do something good, He responds with goodness. If, G-d forbid, a person does something wrong, that too comes back to him.

20:47 Our goodness, our very being, our behavior, creates a shadow above. When a person is happy, he arouses joy above. When a person has trust in Hashem, he arouses kindness above. Every action of ours casts a shadow above. Kalev tells the Jewish people: As for the nations of the world, “their shadow has departed from them.” They do not have that power. They too had such a shadow. Rashi says there were righteous people even within the land of Canaan. At that time, various people lived there who did good deeds, good things. But “their shadow has departed from them.” The shadow of their deeds, which could bring about goodness and kindness from Hakadosh Boruch Hu above, so to speak, is gone. They no longer have it. They no longer have that power. So, on the one hand, “They are our bread.” We have the ability to defeat them—as we said, with a shining countenance, with Hashem helping us, so that victory in the war comes with joy and love. And we have the power to elevate the sparks of holiness within this entire reality. On the other hand, “their shadow has departed from them.” They do not have that shadow; they do not have that ability. A Jew, with every good deed he does, creates a shadow. He brings about “Hashem is your shadow”—“Hashem is your guardian; Hashem is your shadow at your right hand.” As the Baal Shem Tov says: “Know what is above you.” Know that what happens above depends on you. It is all in our hands—in our deeds, our trust, our faith, our prayers, our joy. Through these, we bring about that the shadow, Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so to speak, does those very things down here in this physical world. So this is the wonderful message we take from the weekly parsha. In these days, each of us needs to internalize Kalev ben Yefuneh’s powerful, encouraging words, words full of depth. “And Kalev silenced

23:00 the people before Moshe.” These are the words we need to live with in these days and to see fulfilled—and we will merit to see it fully and completely. “We will surely go up and take possession of it, for we can surely do it.” “The land is very, very good.” “If Hashem desires us, He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.” May we merit to see the complete Geulah. We are all waiting, now at the most intense moments, when the whole world sees the true reality: the victory of light over darkness, the victory of holiness over impurity, the victory of good over evil. May we already merit to see the words of the weekly parsha fulfilled, along with the words of the haftorah that follows the parsha: “For all the inhabitants of the land have melted away.” All these words, all these blessings, all these verses: “Hashem has given the entire land into our hands,” and “all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before us.”