"Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: 'Send forth men, if you so desire, and let them spy out the Land of Cana'an that I give to the Children of Israel; one man each from his father's tribe shall you send, every one a leader among them'" (Bemidbar 13:1,2).

Rashi records the report of the Midrash that Hashem told Moshe, "I told them that the land is good; now I will give them the possibility to err and not inherit it." In other words, the reason that the older Jews who left Egypt were not privileged to inherit the Holy Land is because they did not trust Hashem Who told them that it is good, but insisted upon sending spies to check it out on their own.

The following story, which was related by the Chofetz Chaim and appears in the marvelous book Meir Einei Yisroel, demonstrates the benefit one gains when he does trust in Hashem.

Many years ago, a tragedy occurred in Berlin. A Jewish banker was deceived by his employees and they stole his riches and flew town. The man did not give up hope. He hired a non-Jewish lawyer and traveled from town to town hunting for the crooks. Finally, they came to a town where it seemed the men were hiding. Chances were good that with a little more effort they would apprehend them and get the fortune back.

However, Shabbos arrived and the banker did not allow the lawyer to continue the investigation until the Holy Day was over. The non-Jew could not understand how now, when they were so close to success, his boss brought everything to a total halt. But even more strange was the fact that even at the end of Shabbos the Jew didn't rush to make havdalah and sat down to enjoy his melaveh malkah and sing zemiros calmly and with total devotion and trust in Hashem.

During the meal, some policemen knocked on the door and informed them that they had succeeded in arresting the bandits and that they recovered all of the loot. The main reason they were successful, they said, was because the banker and the lawyer did not do anything over the weekend. This made the robbers think that they had left town and so they came out of hiding and walked around openly; allowing the police to apprehend them with ease.

Shema Yisrael Torah Network
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