A Lesson in Appreciation

Howard Salamon

Pammy and I would like to welcome everyone to Sammy’s Afruf. A special welcome to our new daughter in law, “Brookey.”

I thank my wife Pammy for arranging this beautiful Shabbos. The less I have to do with all the preparations, the nicer it comes out! I also thank my in laws Bassie and David Gold. My mother-Babbie couldn’t join us today as she is a little under the weather. Even though my father isn’t here to celebrate this beautiful Simcha, it’s very comforting to know that Sammy, who had a very strong relationship with him, is continuing in many of the Torah values which my father A”H embodied, including his good sense of humor. I also welcome our new Machutin Howie Bienenfeld with his daughter Jenna and her children. We were in Florida with the Bienenfelds a few weeks ago to celebrate Sammy and Brook’s engagement party. Over that Shabbos we spent with the family learned some amazing stories of Howie and Carol ‘s chessed. These stories I heard were from other people, friends and acquaintances, as the Bienefelds are very discreet when it comes to chessed. Truly remarkable people and a great inspiration for all of us to learn from.

In this weeks parsha Shelach, we read about Moshe’s directive to send spies into Israel. The nation wanted to prepare themselves for any & all eventualities before they would enter the land. The Pasukim say,

God says to Moshe, “Send for yourself men and let them spy out the land that I gave to the children of Israel. One man representing each tribe of his forfathers you shall send. Each one of them leaders.”

The Gemarah in Soteh tells us,

Rash Lakish says, “Shelach Lecha-Send for yourself- On your own.”

God did not command Moshe to send the spies. Since God knew the nature of the spies and that they would ultimately talk bad against Eretz Yisrael, He certainly wouldn’t command it. And that is what is written in sefer Devarim when before he died, Moshe retells the story of the spies saying,

“And it was good in MY eyes.” And Reish Lakash says, “It was good in my eyes (Moshe’s eyes) to send the spies, but not in Gods eyes.”

After Bnei Yisrael received the Torah, God told them to conquer the land, but they needed some extra security for themselves so they decided—on their own—to send a reconnaissance mission. We all know what happened afterwards. They went into the land and ultimately brought back a bad report. After they came back from seeing the land, the pasukim say,

But, the people that dwell in the land are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very great and we also saw there the children of the giant. Caleb silenced the people toward Moshe and said, “We can surely go up and conquer it, for we can surely do it.” But the men who went up with him said, “We are unable to go up against the people, for it is too strong for us.” They spread words or speech meaning an [evil] report about the land which they had spied, telling the children of Israel, “The land which we have passed through to spy out is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it were huge!”

Now the pasuk I would like to discuss is pasuk Alef:

The whole congregation went up and raised their voices The people cried on that night.

The Gemara in Taanis 28 says on the words

“They cried on that night.” That night was the night of Tisha Baav, the 9^th of Av”. God said to them, “You cried for nothing, I am going to establish for you a crying for generations.”

Meaning, Tisha Baav was established because of their crying for no reason. There are 2 questions we can ask. 1. It seems like God is being vindictive or vengeful. However, we know that God is a perfect being and good in all His ways. The Torah says Hashem is “Kel Rachum Vechanun”—God is kind, mericiful slow to anger etc. How can we understand this punishment of Tisha Baav, mourning the Temple for our complaining for no reason?

Another question is how does having no Beis Hamikdash fit the crime of complaining for nothing? It could have been any another punishment?

On the words,

God said to them, “You cried for nothing, I am going to establish for you a crying for generations,”

A great Rabbi said the following:

God is not taking revenge or being vindictive. He is saying, “You—Bnei Yisrael—were living under hashgacha —Gods divine providence in your lives. You complained for no reason.”

God told them, “The land is good-Go in and conquer it.”

But you didn’t trust god. You needed to have additional security, so you decided to scout the land for yourselves. Additionally, you distorted the truth about the land because you were scared.

God is saying, “You didn’t appreciate living under My divine providence: Yetziyas Mitzrai; Receiving the Torah. Living under divine providence daily in your lives. Now you have to see what it means living without God’s constant providence.

So it’s not revenge but God teaching them a lesson: Appreciation for their great situation under God’s constant providence. And why is not having the Beis Hamikdash the punishment for not appreciating God’s providence? Because having the Beis Hamikdash is the ultimate manifestation of God’s constant providence with the nation.

This lesson to appreciate what we have in life is a crucial idea…for all of us, and especially for a chasson and kallah. We all tend to look at what the next person has and not appreciate all the blessings we have.

Brooke you have a wonderful family with great Torah values and with great lineage from whom to draw.

Sam you also have wonderful grandparents and past generations as well; models of Torah values. I can say that you both have pretty much everything in life and the only thing that you lack are each other, which will be taken care very shortly. Our Bracha to you both is that you should always remember these beginning days in your relationship and appreciate one another and see all the brochos that you have. If you do, we are confident you will have many successful years in good health and happiness.

Mazal Tov!