שלח

The sending of the spies was agreed upon by the higher Da'at (Knowledge / דעת), as if the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Send for yourself" (Numbers 13:2). But why did He say this, to clarify and elevate?

In the commentary of the Maharsha (Sotah 34b), it is explained that the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Moses, "Send for yourself," as if to say that the higher intention was to send only two spies, as it was said, "Send for yourself men" — indicating a minimum of two. However, Moses himself wanted to send twelve spies, and so did the tribes, who insisted that each tribe should have its own representative.

In the Ma'or VaShemesh by Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Epstein, it is explained in our portion that the Holy One, blessed be He, indeed commanded Moses to send spies, but did not command more than two. It was known that only Joshua and Caleb would remain in their faith and praise the land of Israel. The rest went of their own accord, as if they were mixed among the people of Israel, and Moses rebuked them for this in Deuteronomy 1:22, "And you approached me, all of you."

Therefore, Moses had to fulfill their desire, and they brought back a negative report about the land. According to this, the phrase "Send for yourself men" implies a minimum of two, indicating that they would remain in praise of the land of Israel and also be among those who would enter the land. Thus, the scripture says, "One man, one man" (Numbers 13:2), to indicate that it refers to each tribe, and not to mistake that it refers to their fathers.

The scripture specifies "according to the tribe of their fathers" to clarify that it refers to all twelve tribes. The phrase "one man, one man" alludes to the righteous men, the minority, who did not go by the command of the Lord but went of their own accord. The command was only to send two, as explained by Rashi: "Send for yourself men" implies that if they go more, it is a test from the Lord, blessed be He, who examines hearts and kidneys, declaring the end from the beginning.

Thus, Rashi's interpretation of "Send for yourself" is that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "According to your understanding," implying that if you wish to send, send righteous men. But if you think it is a good mission, know that they will fail, for the land is indeed very good. However, "according to My understanding," this mission is not intended to succeed but to test all of Israel, as it was known from the beginning that their intention was not to speak well of the land of desire.