Shlach: The Tourist Trap
Shlach: The Tourist Trap

Once again we come to the Torah portion of Shlach, where Moshe sends 12 ‘spies’ to scout out the promised land of Canaan. We all know of the disastrous results of the mission. Ten of the twelve scouts bring back an exceedingly negative report which causes the people to weep in fear about entering the land.

The appeals by the other two scouts, Joshua and Caleb, that the conquest of the land is possible, fall on deaf ears. God punishes the ten scouts and those who cried by decreeing they shall wander the desert for 40 years and die there without entering the Promised Land. Only Joshua and Caleb are spared from that terrible fate.

But what was the real sin of those ten scouts. True, they spoke badly of the land, doubted God’s ability to conquer it, and caused widespread panic and fear among the people, but what else? Was it just their bad report, poor self image, and lack of faith that sealed their fate?

The Lubavitcher Rebbe makes an interesting observation. At no point in this story in the Book of Numbers are these scouts called ‘meraglim’ (spies). In fact, they are constantly referred to with the verb "latur", which is the equivalent of the English word, ‘tourists’!? The Rebbe implies that they failed in their mission because instead of simply being ‘tourists’ they turned this trip into a ‘spy’ mission, which is not what God intended.

Think of a tourist group. They get on their tour bus, they see the sites, they snap dozens of pictures, they bring back souvenirs, and then they go home and tell everyone back home how great their trip was.

Ten of the twelve scouts lost site of what their mission was. They were not military men sent on a ‘mission impossible’ to plan an attack, they were tribal leaders, diplomats, heads of state, on what we might call a ‘fact-finding mission’, if you will. Instead of snapping photos and showing slides to all their friends back home, this biblical tour group used the souvenirs they brought back (giant fruit) to scare the people out of ever wanting to cross into the Promised Land. They failed miserably as tourists and goodwill ambassadors.

I happened to be in Jerusalem for a meeting this week and decided to treat myself to an ice cream cone on the Ben-Yehuda midrechov (pedestrian mall/shopping area). As I sat at one of the tables on the street to enjoy my ice cream, an older, American woman sitting near me smiled.

“Can I borrow that spare chair?” she asked. “I have to put my feet up. I’m traveling back to America tonight.”

My interest was piqued and I asked her where ‘home’ was.

“Indiana,” she said. “Tonight I fly from Tel Aviv to JFK to Baltimore, and then take a train to Indiana.”

Before I could finish asking her if it was her first trip to Israel, she had already replied.

“This is my 16th trip to Israel,” she smiled proudly. “I love it here!”

Then her story came out. This is a devoutly Christian woman named Bunny Warlen who came to Israel with a group of non-Jewish college students from all parts of the world. Their goal is to raise awareness about Israel for these future leaders who, after an intensive tour of Israel, will speak about their experiences at their home university campuses across the globe.

Their tour had already covered the Golan Heights, the Dead Sea, Tel Aviv, and were wrapping up their Jerusalem portion of their trip that day. She explained that prior to this trip these young people knew nothing about Israel other than what they read in the press and many believed the lies they read about Israel being an Apartheid state. This trip opened their eyes to the reality that Israel is a thriving country, the only democracy in the Middle East, and is composed of a diverse population of people of many cultures, backgrounds and religious beliefs.

As I was talking with her, the young students arrived after completing their Jerusalem shopping. They were all so friendly. A couple of Asian looking girls with California accents came up and shook my hand and introduced themselves. They were having the time of their lives on this sunny Jerusalem afternoon. Another student, an African-American young man wearing a baseball cap, came up and hugged Bunny.

“He’s studying at M.I.T,” she explained. “He’s from Oklahoma originally and is also an amazing saxophone player.”

I could not help but smile as the students waved and walked away into the ice-cream parlor. Bunny explained to me that her group raised the funds for their trip ($3000 per student to come to Israel) themselves without any sponsors or government help. I was truly amazed and impressed.

“We just love Israel,” Bunny beamed. “I’m coming back with a group of senior citizens in July!”

I soon bid farewell to Bunny and she gave me her e-mail address. Our meeting was a pleasant surprise and totally unexpected when I first sat down to enjoy my ice cream.

A well known joke tells the story of a man who dreams that he has to decide if he will spend his afterlife in heaven or hell.

He asks to see heaven first. A door opens and he sees people in white robes praying and studying all the time.

He then asks to see hell. A second door is opened and he sees people drinking, partying, and dancing to music. He decides on the spot that he wants to go to hell. The devil makes him sign all the necessary paperwork and he is led through a door, but to his surprise all he sees is people being whipped and engaging in hard labor.

“Wait a minute!” the man objects. “What happened to the other place with the music and the party?”

“Oh, that?” the devil replies. “That was when you were a tourist. Now you are an ‘oleh chadash’ (a new immigrant)!”

Even though it may be difficult sometimes, our challenge today is to continue to view the land of Israel through the eyes of a tourist. Like Bunny and her tourist group, we too, especially those of us who live in Israel all year round, must try to constantly fell the joy of being in the Promised Land, the land of Israel.

Instead of focusing on the scouts' bad report, let’s remember what Joshua and Caleb, the original ‘tourists’ said about the land of Israel. "Tova haaretz meod, meod". “The land is very, very good!"