Planting in the Land
Rav Yitzchak Hirshfeld on Parshat Shelach

I would like to share with you a Gevaldige Malbim on Bamidbar (14:21) which sheds light on so many of the mysterious processes affecting the history of the Jewish people.

The Gemara (Psachim 87b) teaches that the purpose of Israel's exile among the nations is to make it possible for Geirim to join the Jewish people. If we Jews had remained isolated and insulated in our own land then the spiritual riches to which we are heir would have remained eternally ours and ours alone.

But does this make sense? If sin is bad and punishment is retribution how can the result of exile bring about a greater good than if there had never been an exile?

The answer lies in the proof text (Hoshea 2:25) cited by the Gemara "Uzratiha Li Ba'aretz - I will plant her (Israel) in the land." One plants a handful of seeds in expectation of a great harvest of grain. The scattering of a few seeds of Jewish presence will ultimately bring a great harvest of souls.

The Malbim teaches that the metaphor of "planting" must be analyzed carefully. In order for a seed to sprout, it decays and disintegrates. Decay and disintegration are preconditions for growth. Just as certain seeds are not eaten but set aside for planting, so too, certain times, certain generations and certain people are destined for death and exile in order to bring about the greater flowering and flourishing of the glory of Hashem.

If there had been no Chet Hameraglim, Moshe Rabenou would have led the Jewish people into Eretz Yisrael in a most wondrous fashion. The redemption would have been complete and final; no destruction, no exile - no Geirim. All gentiles would have been deemed forever irrelevant to the ultimate redemption.

But the Meraglim did sin - and the forty years of wandering in the desert were the forerunners of all future wanderings and dispersion. And then "Ve'oolam Chai Ani V'yimaleh Kvod Hashem Et Kol Ha'aretz" (Bamidbar 14:21) "The glory of Hashem will in the end extend to the far corners of the world." In the end even sin will bring about the glorification and sanctification of His great name.

"Yitkadal V'yitkadash Shmei Rabbah!"

from Classic Divrei Torah on Parshat Shavua
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