In this week’s Parsha, we learn about the mission of the spies. They were charged to spy out the land of Eretz Yisroel. Despite being great individuals, the spies failed miserably. They gave a false and negative report of the land. How did they make such a mistake? They were such great people!
I heard from my father, Rav Yitzchok Fingerer shlita, that Rav Chanoch Henoch of Alexander teaches us something so important – a lesson for life. He says that Shlach Lecha means that if you’re in the service of Hashem, if you’re on a mission, you have to be God-centered and not self-centered. If you’re working for Hashem, you’re not working for yourself. Shlach Lecha – send forth that part of you that’s all about you, and work for Hashem. You can’t think about yourself, about your stature, and reputation. You have to think about Hashem.
The spies fell short of doing this. They were too much into themselves and therefore they messed up. Rav Chanoch Henech of Alexander is teaching us that as much as we have to believe in ourselves, we have to believe more in Hashem. We have to understand that sometimes there’s a part of us that gets in the way.
One night, a man named Tzemach was leaving Yeshivas Torah Voddath when he noticed his friend Avraham, who was learning at a different yeshiva, leaving the building. Tzemach called out, “Good night, Avraham.” Rav Avraham Pam zt”l, the Rosh Yeshiva and great Gadol, who was leaving the building at the same time, turned around and said, “Good night” to Tzemach.
The next day, Tzemach apologized to Rav Pam and explained that he had called out to someone else named Avraham. Rav Pam assured him that he did nothing wrong and, seeing that Tzemach felt bad, invited him to join him for a Shabbos meal. This is the reaction of someone who spent a lifetime in service of Hashem, and not just focusing on his own personal needs.
