Moses sends 12 spies to scout the land of Israel. They are supposed to return with a plan how best to conquer it. Yet instead of bringing back hope and optimism to their people, they instill fear and panic within their hearts, telling them of a land so fortified, so powerful, that conquering it would be an impossibility.
This sums up the story we will read from the Torah on this Shabbat.
In order to demoralize the people, the spies reported the following: “There (in Israel) we saw the giants . . . in our eyes we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we were in their eyes.”
These words of the Torah teach us, perhaps, the greatest secret to victory and success. To quote Ford Motor Company’s mogul: “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't - you're right.” It all depends on us. No one can take away our dignity, self respect and self worth other than ourselves.
This then is the meaning of the verse, “. . . in our eyes we seemed like grasshoppers and so we were in their eyes”. It was only because they saw themselves as being insignificant that others did as well. If we believe in ourselves, we will act in a way that can truly change the world.
Let us start by doing a mitzvah today!
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This Thursday we will commemorate the 12th yartzheit (day of passing) of a man known throughout the world simply as “The Rebbe”. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe of Chabad, devoted his entire life to empowering others to succeed; to allow them to see the infinite inner strength they possess.
A world renowned Jewish figure once made the following observation. He said, “Every time I would meet a great Rabbi, brilliant Torah scholar, or pious Jewish leader I would walk out of the meeting and think to myself ‘What a great man!’. After a meeting with the Rebbe, however, I would walk out and think to myself ‘I am a great man!’. He made me feel as if the whole world rested upon me.”
The Rebbe saw within us the potential for greatness.
The chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom once remarked: “The Rebbe did not create followers, he created leaders.”
Each of us has to power to change the world, we need only to unleash it.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Raleigh Resnick