In this week’s parasha, as we know, the spies ( Meraglim) were sent by Moshe Rabbenu and came back with a disastrous report. They said the land was impossible to live in, there were giants, etc. and the people cried.
Eventually it was decreed that they’d spend the next 40 years in the desert. To this day, every year on Tisha B’Av, we commemorate this disastrous event. Hashem said we cried for no reason, so he gave us a reason to cry.
What was it that the spies said that caused the people to panic?
What was their mistake?
The Chafetz Chaim tells us that the spies came back and said the land was very holy. They told Benei Yisrael, “You are now currently in the Kings palace.... You can’t compare someone who sins in the King’s palace to someone who sins outside of palace. Therefore the only one that can survive there is a total, completely righteous Sadik.” They said that the land was not on their level. They felt like grasshoppers next to the giants. They told Benei Yisrael that they too would melt out of fear. And that because of that fear, they’d lose their faith. And then they said that once their faith was lost, G-d’s protection would be removed.
They would be so petrified they wouldn’t survive. They told the people:
שְׁמִירָתוֹ הִיא לְפִי גֶּדֶר בִּטְחוֹנוֹ שֶׁל הָאָדָם בּוֹ
Hashem’s protection depends on your level of Bitachon.
The Chafetz Chaim points out that this was their mistake. This was where they went wrong. When they said that Hashem’s guarantee only applies to the perfectly righteous, to Sadikim, that was a mistake.
The Chafetz Chaim tells us Hashem doesn’t ever say
אוֹשִׁיעֲךָ רַק בְּאֹפֶן שֶׁתִּהְיֶה צַדִּיק,
“I’ll only save you if you’re righteous.”
There is no such rule. Who is righteous? No one is perfect. If Bitachon was predicated on being perfect we’d never get anywhere. Hashem doesn’t tell us that. What He does say is:
לֹא אוֹשִׁיעֲךָ אִם תִּהְיֶה מוֹרֵד,
I won’t save you if you’re a rebel.
You can’t rely and be a rebel. You can’t purposely anger G-d. But as long as you’re basically a good person, with ups and downs, and you’re in the ring fighting your yetzer hara, you’re capable of Bitachon.
The Chafetz Chaim tells us:
וְכָזְמַן שֶׁאֵין אָדָם מוֹרֵד בְּהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לַעֲקֹר מִצְוֹתָיו בְּכַוָּנָה, יוּכַל לְקַוּוֹת לְכָל טוֹב
As long as you’re not a rebel, you can hope for all good.
That’s why the four words of Yehoshua and Caleb were, "אַךְ בַּה' אַל תִּמְרֹדוּ".
“Just don’t be a rebel to Hashem.”
This is an important concept:
The Yetzer Hara tries to attack our Bitachon. It doesn’t just cause us to sin. It also causes us to have the wrong Hashkafa. And, says the Chafetz Chaim,
יֵצֶר הָרָע זֶה שֶׁל מְרַגְּלִים נִמְצָא גַּם אֶצְלֵנו
The Yetzer Hara of the Meraglim is the very same one we have to deal with today.
We start to think: “I’m not good enough. I don’t do Mitzvot all day, I don’t learn enough, forget it, why bother....” That’s a mistake. The Yetzer Hara tries to seduce us in any way possible. It’s our job to overcome those mistaken feelings. We should think of Hashem like a parent, and ourselves as a child that messed up. Does the parent give up on the child? No. They hug and kiss, the child says,”I’m sorry” and continues to rely on his father.
We should not make the mistake of the spies and think that Bitachon is only for righteous Sadikim.
Bitachon is for everyone.