This D'var Torah for Parshat Shelach Lecha is written by Leo Baeck College Librarian, Dr Annette Boeckler.

Have you ever identified yourself at the seder with the Exodus generation? Have you and seen yourself as if you yourself had been freed from Egypt? Have you ever thought that Pesach would celebrate your way to freedom? If so, you were wrong, as this week's Torah portion teaches us.

The whole generation of the Exodus died in the desert: “None of the adults who have seen My Presence and the signs that I have performed in Egypt and in the wilderness . . . shall see the land that I promised on oath to their ancestors . . .” (Num 14:22-23)[1]. Just two men: Joshua from the tribe of Ephraim and Caleb from the tribe of Judah survived the desert journey.

So I hope you always identified with Joshua or Caleb during your seders, otherwise you would know now that you were one of those who had to wander through the desert for 40 years waiting to die, so that finally the next generation could move forward to reach the goal. If you have thought that Pesach would be the great march to freedom, this week's parasha teaches that you were mistaken.

What went wrong with the liberation from Egypt? The problem was some sceptical people. When they saw for themselves the destination of the journey, they compared their capabilities with the strength of the large Canaanite fortified cities, the strength of a settled people, and they felt that they were as grasshoppers compared to them (Num 13:33). Of course they also noticed some large grapes on the way, as well as milk and honey, but that did not impress them as much as the mighty walls and the strong people. The mood of a small group infected the whole people of Israel and they all lost courage. When Caleb insisted that “We can do it as God has told us”, the people proposed to choose new leaders who would bring them back to good old Egypt (Num 14:4).

The Generation of the Exodus was not able to trust. You may argue, they were ill-treated, beaten slaves, they learned to survive but not to trust. Now in freedom, however, they are held fully responsible for their attitudes. They could not see how God could have any influence in their case and couldn't trust God, so they got exactly what they feared: they died somewhere in the desert and never reached the goal. In fact, God had wanted to destroy the whole people immediately, but Moses intervened on their side. Finally, we read, ויאמר יי סלחתי כדברך , God had said to Moses: “I have forgiven according to your plea” (Num 14:20). Only that generation died, but the people stayed alive. The Jewish tradition of hope and trust continued with their children.

ויאמר יי סלחתי כדברך (Va-yomer adonay salachti kidvarecha): these words are said at the end of the Selichot Services in the High Holy Day Period[2] and are one of two proofs for God's pardon[3]. Abraham ibn Ezra explained, the word סלחתי (salachti) does not mean that the sins are wiped out, but that God holds back his frustration to make a complete teshuvah possible.[4]  

Besides this key verse in the liturgy of the High Holy Days, our parasha ends with another most important liturgical text.  למען תזכרו ועשיתם את כל מצותי, “That you may remember and do all My commandments. . .” (Num 15:40). The story of the scouts leads to the third passage of the Shema. This passage reflects the whole catastrophe from the Exodus to the disaster of the scouts. It says clearly that there are some commandments on our side to do, as well as it saying that God is our God who had freed us (Num 15:41). People in antiquity used the borders of their clothes as proof of their identity. Documents were sealed with a print of one’s fringe. The third passage of the Shema teaches us, the descendants of those people in the desert, to make the Torah our proof of identity.

This week's parasha sends an alarming signal quite early before the High Holidays. It warns us: If you have identified yourself with the generation of the Exodus, be careful not to follow their ways and to lose trust as they did. Learn from Caleb who said: “We can do it!” (Num 13:30). Sometimes we may not really believe it ourselves, sometimes it looks risky and courageous, but without the courage and hope and trust to go ahead and lead God's people into its future, nothing at all will happen. There will only be some corpses in the desert, and perhaps a next generation.