LESSON 37: To Be A Zealot, Part 1
 
Let’s say that you decide to go to away for Shabbos some place relaxing, which is exactly the opposite of where your children want to spend their Shabbos. “Do we have to go?” one child whines. “It’s so boring there!” another ones throws in. “I’m not going!” declares the third one. Even though you expected such a reaction, it is still somewhat upsetting to hear it. How do you respond, if your heart is set on heading out there for a long-earned break? It depends upon a few factors, including the day on which all of this is taking place. If it is only Tuesday, it is easier to remain calm, and say: “We’re going, and you’ll see that it is more enjoyable than you think, so stop complaining.” It probably won’t matter to you that they are still complaining as you walk away, planning what to take with you on your Shabbos vacation. Being only Tuesday, there are still three days to get the children on side. However, should Friday roll around, and as you load up the car to go, they are still resisting and putting up a fight, it becomes increasingly more difficult to suffer their complaints. Suddenly, as time slips away and Shabbos comes closer, you find yourself pulling rank and using threats to get everyone on board so that you can get going in good time. When the Spies came back with their evil report and rejected aliyah, it was “Tuesday”, so-to-speak. One might have expected God to say to them, “Look, the reason why you are not crossing the Jordan river today is because you are not ready to do so. You asked to spy the land; I didn’t send you. In the meantime, stop complaining and wait and see. By the time you get to the border of Eretz Canaan, you’ll be ready to cross it and all will go well, just as it did when you miraculously left Egypt and miraculously crossed the sea. Have a little trust already!” However, instead God punished the Jewish people as if it was already “Friday”, as if they were supposed to go in at that time, but had refused to do so. The question is, why was their rejection of Eretz Yisroel taken so sternly at a time that they weren’t even required to enter the land yet? Why didn’t God just tell them to wait a few days and see what changes were in store, what growth they were destined to accomplish in the meantime to prepare them for conquering the land?
Monday, February 11, 2008