The story of the spies is well known. Moshe sent twelve men to check out the Promised Land. Ten of the spies fell prey to temptation and brought back a bad report. Only Yehoshua and Kaleiv remained righteous and maintained their attitude of trust in G-d. Yehoshua's success in resisting the group can be attributed to the fact that Moshe prayed for him. Moshe said, "May G-d protect you from the plan of the spies." But Kaleiv's success in resisting temptation deserves explanation. How did Kaleiv succeed? According to the Ohr Hachayim, Kaleiv almost didn't succeed. The verse states, "My servant Kaleiv, had a foreign spirit about him, but he filled himself to follow Me." The Ohr Hachayim explains, "The foreign spirit is that Kaleiv almost joined the plot. But as he sensed that he was slipping he strengthened himself." What did Kaleiv do to strengthen himself? The Talmud tells us that he went to Chevron, to the burial place of the forefathers of our people. In that holy location he rejuvenated himself and was infused with strength. From there he was able to return to the group and still maintain his independence and loyalty to G-d. The lesson of Kaleiv is applicable to all of us. So often we find ourselves among people whose standards might be less than our own level of observance. If we do nothing we may find a wavering in our own commitment. But if we disengage for a few minutes, we can invigorate ourselves with Torah or prayer. When we return to the setting- be it business or social- we will be internally stronger. Like Kaleiv we will have the strength to succeed. A few weeks ago, after the morning prayers, I was approached by a young man who was quite agitated. We walked to a quiet place and he described his dilemma. His family was going on an outing to the movies that night and they expected him to join them. After seeing the reviews of the movie, he felt that it was not something that he should be watching. "Did you explain this to your parents?" I asked him. He said he did, but they claim that he will be insulting the family if he does not go. In his teenage ingenuity he had purchased ear plugs which he intended to use that evening. Listening to his dilemma, I decided to share with him the Kaleiv Principle. I explained to him that his situation at the movie was similar to the situation in which Kaleiv found himself. Kaleiv was stuck in an environment that was not to his liking. He was able to meet the challenge by infusing himself with strength from that which he valued. Similarly, I suggested, he should spend an hour now, "getting ready" for the challenge of the evening. "Learn Torah with diligence and let us pray that all will work out well." He left a bit more upbeat, and I could see that he was headed to the local Kollel to study. I began to envision the humorous miscommunication that would most surely occur. He would walk into the Kollel and they would greet him. "So what brings you this morning?" the young scholars would surely ask. "I came because I will have to watch a movie," he would reply. "Uh, so why did you come here?" the scholars would ask. "My Rabbi sent me." The Talmud states: If the Tempter approaches you to do something that is beneath your standard, pull him to the Study Hall. I always wondered: What will it help if he comes with you to the Study Hall? Perhaps the Talmud is referring to the Kaleiv Principle. If you know that you will be in a challenging situation you must ask yourself, "Am I ready? Surely I must first infuse myself with the Torah of the Study Hall, so that I will be better equipped to deal with the challenges that I anticipate." It is equally possible, however, that the Talmud means to literally invite the Tempter to the Study Hall. If he joins you, fine and good. But if he chooses to wait for you outside perhaps he will come to respect your diligence and sincerity. He may actually get bored and realize that the issue wasn't worth a confrontation after all. Rabbi Mordechai Rhine |
Rabbi Mordechai Rhine is the Co-Director of Torah Links of Cherry Hill, and the Rabbi of Young Israel of Cherry Hill. His book, “The Magic of Shabbos,” (The Judaica Press, 1998) is available at Judaica stores worldwide. Additional articles by this author are available at his web site www.teach613.org.
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