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One definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again, and expecting a different result. One definition of teshuvah is realizing that you are doing the wrong thing again and again, but then choosing to act differently. As the High Holy Days draw closer, we start taking important opportunities to look back on past behavior and wrong choices, and determine to do better moving forward. The great rabbi Maimonides wrote that the truest form of repentance comes when a person ends up in the exact situation in which they previously sinned, and even though they have the opportunity to commit that same sin again, they choose to act rightly instead. While mistakes are inevitable, learning from them and choosing to do right matters most at the end of the day.
Our Torah portion this week gives us a helpful reminder of our people’s missteps and how we might learn from it now. We begin the book of Deuteronomy with the portion Devarim, as Moses and the Israelites wait at the bank of the Jordan River before crossing into the Promised Land. Because of Moses’ past mistakes, he will not be able to go into the land, and so he delivers a long speech to send the Israelites off with his final message and directions.
In part of his speech, Moses retells the story and lessons of the incident of the twelve spies. Earlier in the book of Numbers, as the Israelites approached the land of Israel, the people asked Moses to send spies into the land to get a sense of the state of affairs there: the Israelites were afraid to enter unless they felt that it was safe. Of the twelve spies who went out, ten returned with a bad report. “The people there are gigantic,” they said, “They are huge and intimidating, and we are better off looking for a different land rather than trying to take them on.” But the other two came back with another story. “Yes, they are big and intimidating over there. But we have God on our side, we have the covenant that God made with our ancestors that this is our land, and we are strong enough to settle ourselves in the land of Israel.”
As Moses reminds the Israelites in his retelling, because of the fear and lack of faith that the ten spies showed, the Israelites had to continue to wander until a more courageous generation was ready to go into the Promised Land. And the two spies who did have faith, Joshua and Caleb, became the next generation of leaders who took over from Moses. Moses reminds the people that they once made the mistake of underestimating themselves and God’s protection, wanting to slink away from the challenge rather than charge into their destiny.
We find ourselves in a moment now when Israel is again surrounded by enemies. Like the ten spies, we can say, “This is too frightening, we will be overwhelmed by these huge and intimidating forces. We are better off giving up rather than trying to take them on.” But we commit the same sin as our ancestors if we lack faith, if we lack courage.
We have the opportunity now to do teshuvah, make a different choice in the same situation. We should choose now to have faith in ourselves as a people, just as Israel has done time and time again. Faith in our resilience, ingenuity, and dogged determination. Though the challenges are no doubt daunting and fearsome, we need to choose now to believe in the Jewish people.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Hannah Elkin