Shelach - The Tourist
Meaning comes from commitment, not observation
On behalf of our entire Mekor community, I want to wish a heartfelt mazal tov to Emily Holloway and Jacob Zieper on their upcoming marriage. We are delighted to share in this simcha—Emily’s Shabbat Kallah and Jacob’s aufruf Shabbat! It may seem jarring that Parshat Shelach, with its somber themes, falls on a Shabbat that brings such joy to our community. This parsha contains one of the most painful and bewildering narratives in the Torah, a story that ultimately precipitates many of the hardships our people have suffered throughout history.
The Torah recounts how the spies returned with a discouraging report about the Land of Israel, and the people responded with cries of despair, longing to return to Egypt. A cartoon clip shared in one of Mekor's WhatsApp groups this week by one of our distinguished members humorously illustrated this moment. It portrayed the people reminiscing about the “great food” in Egypt, while one character exclaims in disbelief, “You miss the food?! We were enslaved!”
According to the Gemara
"אמר הקב"ה: אתם בכיתם בכיה של חינם, אני אקבע לכם בכיה לדורות"
“God said, ‘You cried a cry for nothing, I will establish for you a cry for generations.’”
It was then that God decreed the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash, both Temples in Jerusalem, to take place on that same date, the day the spies gave their report, which became Tisha B’Av, our national day of mourning. [Taanit 29a]
The important word here is chinam / חינם, which in modern Hebrew means “free,” but more accurately implies “without investment.” So bechiya shel chinam doesn’t mean they cried over nothing, it means they cried over something they were not invested in. The people were mourning the loss of a life in Egypt, where they felt they didn’t have to work or take responsibility. But a life without responsibility is a life without meaning.
This is also the root of sinat chinam, baseless hatred. It’s not just irrational hatred; it’s detached hatred, hatred that comes without any effort to build a relationship. You didn’t even try.
That’s why I think it may be off the mark to say that ahavat chinam means “free” or “unconditional love,” and inaccurate to say that it is the opposite of sinat chinam. The word chinam itself suggests something else: a disconnection and lack of effort. Love, by contrast, requires investment, and therefore cannot truly be expressed by the word chinam.
That’s also why I believe the parsha ends, seemingly out of nowhere, with the mitzvah of tzitzit, which we read at least twice daily. The word that connects the story of the spies to tzitzit is the root “tur”, to scout or look. At the end of the parsha, we’re told:
"וְלֹא תָתוּרוּ אַחֲרֵי לְבַבְכֶם וְאַחֲרֵי עֵינֵיכֶם"
“Do not stray after your heart and your eyes”
using the same root as latur et ha’aretz, the command to scout the land.
It’s fascinating that the Hebrew word tur is the same as the English word tour. The Torah is teaching us not to be tourists in life. Don’t just observe from a distance. Be invested. The spies toured the land. They looked at it superficially, without any emotional or spiritual connection. That was their failure.
Even today, many people view Israel as a kind of Disneyland, fascinating, inspiring, and beautiful, but they keep it at a psychological distance. They remain tourists instead of making it personal. But Israel is not a destination; it is our inheritance. It is our essence. We must stay invested, through our learning, our support, our prayers, and our presence, especially in these times of hardship.
That’s why it’s fitting that Parshat Shelach is read this Shabbat, because its message is one that Emily and Jacob exemplify. From the very beginning, they have been actively engaged in our shul community. They never treated Mekor as just another stop; they made it a home. And in a transient, urban setting like ours, that’s rare. We are deeply grateful for their presence and thrilled to celebrate with them.
Shabbat Shalom.
Eliezer Hirsch