Warning 1: Proceed with caution.
Warning 2: If you wish to comment or ask a question about this post, please read it first. Is it too long for you? No problem, but then don’t comment on it. Chances are, I answered whatever question you want to ask. Please read it before asking.
It is Thursday, which means, per popular demand, I will be sharing my thoughts on this week‘s Torah portion, thoughts I usually only publish on Friday. However, I was also asked to publish on Thursdays.
Disclaimer: This is unlike most of my Torah thoughts, and it may offend some people, but so be it.
After this morning’s events, these thoughts could not be any more relevant.
Proceed with caution!!
This week, we read the portion of Shelach, which means “Send”.
If you think my posts over the past few years encouraging Aliyah were a bit too much, well, wait till you hear about this portion.
Let’s set the stage:
The Israelites had been slaves for 210 years in ancient Egypt. Slavery wasn’t just having to work hard. They were persecuted, they were murdered, and they were treated like subhumans.
God, with the help of Moses, brought the ten plagues on Egypt and totally destroyed what was the world’s leading empire. God and Moses instructed the people to leave Egypt and head to Israel.
The Israelites didn’t get the message. 80% stayed. They stayed in Egypt, and they perished.
Those who left wandered through the desert for 40 years and experienced unbelievable miracles, such as the clouds of glory that guided and protected them. They were like a dome over their heads. (Yep.) God literally gave them food from the heavens. The miracles were endless and incredible.
Then they complained they didn’t like the food. God gave them other food. They complained that the water wasn’t good. So God gave them better water. Then they reached the sea and yelled at Moses, asking him why he had done this to them. Why did he take them out of Egypt, where life was good? Yes, they actually said that. For real.
So God split the sea. The miracles just went on and on, and no matter how spectacular the miracles were, the complaints kept coming.
And then we come to this week’s portion.
The people are told to prepare to go into the land of Israel. And what does the nation do? They request that spies be sent in to assess the land’s habitability.
Famously, they send in the greatest leaders of the nation, the heads of the tribes. Ten come back from Israel and report that they can’t go into the land. The nations there are giants. They say that God was wrong.
Two of the spies come back and say, “Tova Haaretz Meod Meod”, the land of Israel is very, very good.
The nation of Israel, of course, as per their usual behavior, believed the negative reports and, as a result, is punished for generations.
The obvious glaring question is, what is wrong with them??
How, after everything God had done for them, do they still complain? How do they not trust God? How do they not jump into the sea? How are they not eager to enter the land? How do they think sending spies is necessary? And how do these leaders speak badly about Israel? And how does the nation believe them?
This is a question that bothered literally all of the commentators on the Torah. And, not to compare, but this is a question that has bothered me my whole life and continues to bother me. I never had an answer.
Until now.
Before I continue, a disclaimer is necessary. What I am going to say now is not coming from a place of judgement. It’s coming from a place of love.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I will repeat my question. What is wrong with us??
After all that God has done for us, how can we not see Him? How do we not hear Him and what He is telling us to do? Can He possibly be any clearer?
Let’s start with the positive.
God turned Israel from what once was basically a third-world country to a thriving and flourishing country. He, with the help of the people of Israel, made Israel a country that leads the world in technology. He transformed Israel into one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and despite regional challenges, the people of Israel are among the happiest in the world.
That wasn’t enough for Jews worldwide to come home. It was still too hard for them.
So God gave us El Al. “But the service is so bad. They’re so rude….”
So God made it easier and gave us organizations like Nefesh B’nefesh to make aliyah easier. “They don’t help enough…”
So God said, “Ok, I’ll go about this differently. If they don’t come home because of how amazing Israel is, I’ll remind them how terrible it is for a Jew to be at the mercy of a foreign government.”
So God planted actual Jew haters in Congress.
“They’re not mainstream. They don’t affect me.”
So God said, “Wow, these guys are stubborn. It doesn’t affect them? Ok, I’ll fix that.”
So he started sending antisemites to harass Jews on the streets of America and Europe.
“They’re just making noise. They’re not really dangerous.”
“Ok, wow,” God said. “I’ll turn up the flame.”
So God made sure Jews could not walk around freely in academic institutions.
“Stop being hysterical,” the Jews said, “Life here is good. Don’t believe what you see on the news.”
So God upped the flame. Jews began to be assaulted on the streets. Physically assaulted!
“The police will protect us!” they said.
“Wow,” God said, “Are these guys for real?”
So, he had the world’s leading rapper release a song called “Heil Hitler,” so no one can say that this isn’t Germany all over again.
Even that didn’t help. God was losing hope. They just weren’t getting the message. So God sent an actual psychopath to try to burn Jews alive (again)—still nothing.
All they did was complain.
So God said, “Ok, making Israel amazing didn’t work. Making America horrible didn’t work. I guess I’ll have to show them that I am watching over Israel.”
So God brought us open miracles in Israel. He had a man, Dr. Danny Gold build a modern-day cloud of glory called the Iron Dome. Still, people refused to see God.
So God said, “Ok, so when the miracle of the Iron Dome fails and still missiles don’t kill Israelis, there is no way they don’t see Me then.”
So he had thousands of missiles and rockets fall into empty spaces. Empty spaces in a country smaller than New Jersey that has no empty spaces.
Still nothing.
So he had missiles land on buildings. On HOSPITALS. Massive damage. Almost no casualties.
God literally split the sea for Israel every day for two years—open miracles. Beepers blew up. Walkie Talkies too, eliminating the most evil people in the world, no matter where they hid. In less than a week, Israel brought a country 70 times its size to its knees.
Miracles. Miracles. Miracles. Miracles. Non-stop miracles.
Did the Jews come home? No. What did they do? They complained.
“Israelis are rude. I could never live there,” they said. “Real estate is too much there. I could never live there. I can’t make a living there. I could never live there. I don’t speak Hebrew. I could never live there. My kids are in school here. I can’t just pick them up and leave. I could never live there.”
Complaint after complaint after complaint after complaint.
God is telling us in every obvious way to return to the land of Israel. The people of Israel are fighting an existential war, and instead of our brothers and sisters in exile saying, “We need to be there. They need us there. This isn’t the time to stay here in America or Europe. I’m going home.”
Instead, they say, “It’s safer here. I’ll stay here. You had October 7th!”
“Yes, “ we answer from Israel. “But we have the IDF…that failed at their mission on that day. But there’s still a mission!”
“They have bombs landing,” they say.
“Yes, but we have the IDF,” we answer from Israel.
“You have enemies who want you dead,” they say.
“Yes, but we have the IDF,” we say again.
No matter what Hashem did, no matter how many open miracles He performed, the Jews still didn’t get it. They stayed back.
But God didn’t give up so fast. He made the miracles continue.
Endless ballistic missiles landed on this tiny country, and the casualties were minimal. There were direct impacts on hospitals, apartments, and houses, resulting in little to no casualties.
“Maybe they’re not so dangerous…”
So He showed us how dangerous they are and what one such missile can do.
The nation denied it was God. They said it was only the IDF we should be thanking.
“It has nothing to do with God; it is Israel’s aerial defense systems,” they said.
So God took those systems and told them to take a break. So they missed some missiles. We should’ve had hundreds of casualties, if not more.
But God had other plans.
The miracles just kept coming.
A direct hit on one of Israel’s largest hospitals, resulting in total destruction. But there were only some light injuries.
“Ok, maybe no one was there.”
It was 7 AM, and the hospital was packed. Patients were in their beds. Zero casualties.
God said, “Surely now they can’t deny that I’m performing miracles in Israel. Surely now they’ll come home.”
Silence…
At this point, God can’t be happy!
“Come on, guys,” He said. “Help Me help you! How else can I show you that you need to go home?!”
Nothing helped. All we did was complain.
So, if you’re a Jew living outside of Israel, I have one question for you. No, scratch that, God has one question for you.
What’s it gonna take? What does Hashem have to do? Should He just give up on you? Is there nothing He can do to get you to open your eyes?
That’s the thing, though. If learning from history has taught us anything, it’s that we don’t learn from history.
This is what we do, in every generation. We don’t see the miracles right before our eyes. We justify them. We explain them. We refuse to see Hashem.
“I am not running away,” Jews always end up saying. “This is my home.”
“No, it’s not,” God answers.
“If we all go to Israel, won’t we be an easy target?” they say.
“No, I will protect them over there,” God assures them.
“Stop being hysterical,” they say. “This isn’t Germany.”
“Really?!” God asks.
And what about the spies? The leaders of the nation? How on earth did they justify contradicting God Himself by saying that they cannot go into the land of Israel?
I don’t know. Why don’t you ask the leaders of the Jewish people in 2025? Why isn’t every American Rabbi encouraging his community to get on a plane and go to Israel? How is there any leader in the Jewish world who still believes they should stay in the diaspora?
Do they not see God?
“No, but Israel is a secular country, and our kids are religious,” they say. “They won’t do well over there.”
“We have to stay here and fight,” the rabbis say.
“No, that’s not your job,” God says. “Your job as a leader is to lead by example. Go home! Now!”
“Look at all those self-hating Jews in Israel,” the rabbis counter. “Why would I go there?”
“Those are My children,” God said. “Be careful how you talk about My children!”
“I would rather have my congregation stay here, where they can do Torah Commandments, where they can learn Torah, where a negative surrounding does not influence them,” the rabbis answer. “Sure, I pray hundreds of times a day, asking God to bring us back to the land of Israel. We have prayed for thousands of years for the ingathering of the exiles. But get on a plane for 10 hours?? Na, I’ll stay here.”
You know how on Passover, one of the four sons, the evil one, excludes himself from the nation and refers to the nation as “Them”, and not “Us?” Well, when American Jews refer to Israel as “Them”, they are doing the same thing. There is no “Them”. You are part of “Them”. It’s only “Us!” Get back in the game!
Why can’t we break the cycle? Why can’t it be different this time? Why can’t we see God’s hand in the incredible things that are happening to us on a daily and hourly basis?
The answer is, “We were better off in Egypt, better off in America, better off in Europe.”
Same objection, but in a different generation.
Today, for Jews to come home, they don’t have to wander through the desert for 40 years. They can get on a plane, enjoy some fine El Al cuisine. A little humor never hurt anyone so they can watch a few Seinfeld episodes on their way home.
And still, they don’t come home. So, what was wrong with the Jews in the desert? I don’t know. What is wrong with Jews in 2025?
An apology is an order. I know some of my words will surely offend someone. For that, I am sorry. I am sorry I offended you, but let there be no mistake, I am not sorry I wrote them.
I wish someone had offended my grandparents in Germany and told them what I just told you. Surely it would’ve offended them. But so be it. It would have saved Jewish lives…
And so, I’m sorry if you’re upset with me. But if one Jew reads this and thinks, “Hmm, maybe he’s right,” it was worth it.
Sorry. But not sorry.
Come home, folks. You need us, but even more, we need you —and we need you now!
You are watching history unfold before your eyes, and you are standing on the sidelines. Be a part of history. Come home.
Am Yisrael Chai with or without you. But we’d be a lot more “Chai” with you!!
And when we dance again, don’t you want to be part of that circle? We do. We want you there dancing with us! Come home!
Shabbat shalom.
Hillel Fuld, named Israel’s top marketer and “The man transforming Startup Nation to Scale up Nation” by Forbes, is a tech journalist, startup marketer, and technology expert. He is a strong advocate for Israel on social media.
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