Page 240 - BAMIDBAR

8
bamidbar
The sin of lashon hara may begin with a small word, but grow to epic
proportions. We find that the spies originally spoke disparagingly about
the Land and eventually spoke ill of Hashem Himself.
The Torah forbids even words of avak lashon hara, for they are liable to
result in terrible slander. The fast of Assarah b’Tevet is considered as
severe as Tishah b’Av, for it marks the beginning of the end.
The sin of the spies is connected to the sin of Miriam, because the spies
should have taken a lesson from her and not spoken lashon hara.She was
guilty of lashon hara even though she spoke in front of Moshe, since she
knew he was humble and would not speak up to defend himself. It was # 26347-EYAL-6
considered as if she spoke behind his back.
If Miriam, who did not have negative intentions, was punished, all the
more so were the spies, who purposely spoke disparagingly, deserving of
retribution. How can we compare Miriam’s speaking about a human being
to the spies’ report about an inanimate land? Speaking about the Land of
milk and honey is akin to speaking against Heaven itself. For this, they
were held accountable.
Included in the sin of the spies was the fact that they wished to defer entry
into Eretz Yisrael, thus denying Bnei Yisrael the opportunity to observe
the mitzvot of the Land. Thus they would damage the entire Torah. For
this, they were punished.
The pasuk states, “They went and came to Moshe and to Aharon.” Both
their coming and going were with evil intentions. The Zohar explains that
when they returned from scouting the Land, they sought to speak
negatively about it, in order that Am Yisrael should be scared to enter,
and thereby they would maintain their posts as Nesi’im. But the Torah
calls them distinguished men. Why was even their going considered evil?
On their great level, they should have obviated the need among the nation
for touring the Land. They should, instead, have strengthened the level of
the people’s emunah, trusting that the Land was just as good as Hashem
had promised. Their encouragement to send forth spies proved that they
had evil intentions from the start.