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Why did Moshe pray for Yehoshua before sending him with the spies? The Targum says it was because of Yehoshua's humility, but humility seems like a strength, not a weakness. The shiur explains that while humility enables Torah (תורה) greatness, it also makes leaders vulnerable to peer pressure - as seen when Rabbi Zechariah ben Avkulas's excessive humility caused the Churban.
The shiur examines the Targum Yonasan Ben Uziel's explanation of why Moshe renamed Hoshea as Yehoshua before sending him with the spies. The Targum states that when Moshe saw Yehoshua's humility (anavtanuso), he prayed for divine protection. This raises a fundamental question: why would humility, typically considered a virtue, require special divine intervention? Rabbi Zweig develops this theme through a sobering example from Gittin regarding the destruction of the Second Temple. The Gemara (גמרא) recounts how Bar Kamtza, seeking revenge after public humiliation, convinced the Roman emperor that the Jews were rebelling by sending a sacrifice with a hidden blemish. When the sacrifice arrived at the Temple, the kohanim faced a dilemma: they could not offer a blemished sacrifice according to Jewish law, but rejecting it would confirm Bar Kamtza's claim of rebellion.
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Parshas Shelach - naming of Yehoshua
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