The sign of fear

 Sh’lach

Num. 13:1-15:41

Précis: Moses is ordered to “send out” (sh’lach l’cha) spies to examine the land. Representatives of each tribe go out, report on its bounty, but also report about its fearsome inhabitants. The People are frightened, and their “murmuring” turns into something close to panic. God tells Moses that He will destroy the People, but Moses intercedes; the People are sentenced to spend 40 years in the wilderness. The parasha then returns to matters concerning the Tabernacle, with a discussion of the offering for unintentional sins. Near its end, the parasha discusses the wearing of tzitzit, a paragraph which is part of the traditional recitation of the Sh’ma. This is the 27th of 54 parshiot, marking the half-way point in the yearly reading.

 

Num. 14:13 “Why is The Eternal bringing us to that land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be carried off! Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?”

       Following the return of the spies, 10 of whom report of the dangers in the land, we see a very rare “trop” (cantillation notation) under the word “better” called a mercha kefula (literally a “double-lengthening”). Most agree that this sign is found in only 5 places: (1) Gen. 27:25, when Jacob is posing as Esau, (2) Ex.5:15, where Israelite slaves ask why they are now required to gather their own straw while making bricks; (3) Lev. 10:1, where Nadab and Abihu offer “strange fire;” (4) here, and (5) Num. 42:32, where Nobah seizes a village and changes its name to his own. [It is also found in the haftarah read last week in Zech. 3:2, where God rebukes Satan as a “brand plucked out of the fire.”]

            As we have seen with another rare sign (the shalshelet), the mark may have significant meaning (with the shalshelet usually assumed to be an indicator of hesitation). Here, the meaning of the cantillation mark is less clear, leading some scholars to assume mere scribal error. Perhaps the best way to think of this rare mark is as a signal that we need to consider the possibility of something “extra-textual” (meaning something of importance is not included in the text).

            In this verse, the mark appears under the word we translate as “better.” The Israelites' expression that it was "better" in Egypt as slaves leads to God’s decision that this generation is not fit to enter the Land, and that they will wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Their impulsive and immediate response was fear. The use of a “double-lengthening” sign might remind us to think before we speak. From that perspective, we can see how easily fear can be transmitted throughout a people.

            FDR famously warned us against fearing fear. We are living at a time when fear is palpable for Jews everywhere, for many other Americans, and certainly for Israelis. Let us pray for the ability to overcome our fears so that we are not doomed to the fate of the Israelites who never reached the Promised Land. Let us all think carefully before we speak, but then speak out as the times demand.