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How could the spies, who were shotrei that sacrificed themselves for fellow Jews in Egypt, later terrorize the nation with their negative report? When people perform noble actions while harboring internal resentment, they create psychological pressure that explodes in the opposite direction. This explains why Dasan saved Jews but then attacked Moshe, and why the spies couldn't accept being powerless again in Israel despite Hashem (ה׳)'s protection.
This shiur explores a fascinating psychological paradox from Parshas Shelach regarding the twelve spies sent to scout the Land of Israel. The Torah (תורה) identifies these spies as 'nasi' (princes), yet Rashi (רש"י) explains they came from the pool of shotrei Bnei Yisrael - the Jewish overseers in Egypt who voluntarily took beatings from Egyptian taskmasters when their fellow Jews couldn't meet Pharaoh's impossible quotas. This raises a troubling question: how could people who demonstrated such noble self-sacrifice for their brethren later give a prejudiced, terrorizing report that caused the entire generation to be punished with forty years in the desert? The speaker develops this question further by examining Dasan and Aviram, who were also shotrei. Despite Dasan being saved by Moshe from an Egyptian beating, he immediately reported Moshe to Pharaoh the next day for killing the Egyptian, nearly causing Moshe's death. This pattern of ingratitude and rebellion continued throughout their relationship with Moshe, even though they had initially demonstrated tremendous mesirus nefesh for other Jews.
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Parshas Shelach - Numbers 13-14
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