SHLACH

The beginning and end of this week’s parshah, Shlach, share a similar but not very common term; תור . In the instruction to spy the land, ‘v’yasuru’ is used, and in the parshah of tzitzis, the well known ‘lo sasuru’ is applied. Interestingly enough, the meaning is quite accurately defined with the english word ‘tour’.

Harav Ezriel Erlanger shlitah (mashgiach of Mirrer Yeshivah Brooklyn) gleaned a wonderful insight from this connection. We often think that our tendency to follow our heart and eyes comes from the powerful force of our desire, which is hard to avoid and even more difficult conquer. However, the Torah chose this terminology to inform us of a very different cause for our challenge. CURIOSITY.

Our mind and soul have an unquenchable thirst to learn, explore, and grow beyond our previous limits and boundaries. This creates a tremendous draw to constantly seek new information and original experiences. The Torah is teaching us that this nature is indeniable and unavoidable. The choice remains ours how to satiate this hunger which is part and parcel of the human fibre.

I was present one time when Rav Shmuel Berenbaum z”tzl questioned a talmid who had just returned from a two week “winter break” on the west coast. The young man explained his absence as he was going through a hard time with shidduchim and he felt a need for a change of scenery. The Rosh Yeshivah laughingly chided the bachur, “New Yorkers go to Florida for winter vacation and yet the Floridians come to New York! You see, the point is not the destination but just a change from what you’re used to. A different sugyah or another mesechtah would have offered the same ‘break’ and ‘change of scenery’.”

The Jews felt the need to explore and learn about the new land they were about to enter. “Tour the land!” was Hashem’s response. But as we know, although Hakodosh Baruch Hu was not in favour of this plan, He allows people to make their own choices. This form of exploration was not the recommended approach to our curiosity. Our thirst for ‘news’ does not have to lead us to the green grass on the other side. There is so much to explore and learn within the infinite wisdom of the Torah!

The parshah of tzitzis is the ultimate תור guide. “Lo sasuru achrei l’vavchem v’achrei eyneichem”, don’t explore beyond your physical boundaries! Rather, let the tzitzis with all that they represent be a guide in stretching your mind and soul to go tour areas of thought you never before experienced! Let the number of strings, the knots, the spiral wrapping, and the aquamarine colour lead you to thoughts of all taryag mitzvos and even to a recognition of the כיסא הכבוד!

Judaism is so colorful and varied, so vast and all encompassing, so rich and full of knowledge, it is a tantalizing treat to anyone looking for wisdom, insight, or 'new' worlds to explore.
For a Jew to be broadminded, he does not need to learn from other ideologies. He does not need to follow his eyes to learn about the world outside of him. Nor does he need to open his heart to the materialistic cultures that surround him.

The mind is not bound to the physical four borders of our garment. We can learn from our ‘fringes’ that we can explore and extend beyond what we are used to and yet still be firmly and permanently knotted to the guidelines of the Torah. We can learn to ‘grow’ from our ‘גדילים’. We can see from the single string of heavenly תכלת, that one dose of the ‘other worldly’ experience is enough for our curiosity, to allow us to refocus on growing through the everyday Torah, mitzvos, and nisyonos represented in the majority of simple white strings.



Good Shabbos!