Parshat Shelach recalls the catastrophe caused by the heads of the tribes that went out to spy the Land. After coming back from their trip, ten of the spies spoke up against the Divine command to conquer the Land, and convinced the nation that it was impossible to do so. The devastating result was that Israel was condemned to stay in the desert for another forty years. It is incumbent on us to look for the root causes of the rebellion, so that perhaps we can yet avoid making a similarly fatal error.



During the spies' trip, it seems a critical event happened in Hebron: "They ascended in the south and he arrived at Hebron, where there were Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the offspring of the giant." (BaMidbar 13:22) The one person who arrived in Hebron was Calev. Rashi brings down that he went to pray at the graves of the Patriarchs. Why did the others not arrive in Hebron? The answer likely lies in the mention of the three giants. The Radak, and the Maharsha after him, comment that all but Calev did not go to Hebron out of fear of the giants there.



It is not surprising that the rebels among the spies would refuse to go to Hebron. They were looking for excuses to be able to convince Israel that conquering the Land was impossible. And later, we indeed see them using the fact that there were giants in the Land as a main argument (BaMidbar 13:28). However, what about Yehoshua? Why did he not go to Hebron?



Being distinguished leaders of Israel, it seems unlikely that the ten rebels told Yehoshua and Calev that they were afraid, or that they wanted to rebel. Rather, they came with a halachic reasoning: Pikuach nefesh, the concern for saving lives, prevents us from going. It might be that Yehoshua did not go because he accepted the psak (halachic decision) of the majority. If so, Yehoshua was not to blame for anything. In the absence of an explicit command by Moshe to enter Hebron - to which Yehoshua would surely have listened - the psak was legitimate, even though it was motivated by rebellion.



If so, why did Calev not do as Yehoshua? Was he allowed to endanger himself in order to pray? It is more than clear that Calev did not make a halachic mistake. For one, he was given Hebron as a heritage for his bravery (Yehoshua 14:10-14). Moreover, the passage in Devarim 1:36-38 - in which Moshe stresses that Calev followed HaShem completely, but refrains from saying the same about Yehoshua - seems to imply that the status of Calev was higher than the status of Yehoshua.



The conclusion must be that in certain cases it is commendable, and certainly permissible, to take a risky course of action without an explicit Divine command at hand. Obviously, one should ask one's rabbi in case of any doubt. However, two applications of the principle are so close to what Calev did, and so important for the people of Israel, that they should be beyond discussion.



Firstly, there is no explicit command for Jews outside of Israel to now pick up their lives and move to Israel. However, whoever wants to follow HaShem completely should do so, even in the light of the current security situation. Secondly, there is no explicit command to become a "settler" in areas that are predominantly still occupied by Arabs, but whoever does so goes in the sacred footsteps of Calev.