“Valley of Clusters” Parashat Shelach 5786
Twelve spies head out to reconnoitre the Land of Israel in preparation for capture. Soon after they break camp, they find themselves in a bizarre place [Bemidbar 13:23-24]: “They came to the Valley (Nachal) of Eshkol and they cut a branch with a cluster (eshkol) of grapes. They carried it on a pole between two [people] and [they also took] some pomegranates and figs. They called that place the ‘Valley of Eshkol’ because of the cluster (eshkol) the Children of Israel cut from there.” The word “eshkol” appears in these two verses in some form of another no less than four times. Clearly, it is a “key word”, critical to understanding the verses.
The most straightforward understanding is that the “Valley of Eshkol” originally had another name, maybe “Shangri-La-De-Da Valley”. When the spies came across an unusually large cluster of grapes growing in the valley[1], they renamed it “Valley of Eshkol” or “Cluster Valley”. The next verse is adding that it was called “Valley of Eshkol” only because of the abnormal grape clusters and not for some other reason.
Our Sages in the Midrash bring examples of places mentioned in the Torah whose names are not chronologically correct. For instance, Abraham chases his opponents [Bereishit 14:14] “All the way to Dan”. “Dan”, in the north of Israel, gets its name from the fact that it was the inheritance of the Tribe of Dan, Abraham’s great-grandson. The problem is that Dan was born about seventy years after Abraham died. How could Abraham chase anyone to “Dan”? Rashi[2] answers that the verse refers to “Dan” on the basis of its future name. In the time of Abraham, it was called something else, maybe “Shangri-La-De-Da Valley”. That said, there is no similar exegesis of the word “Eshkol”. It must be that the name of that valley was always “Valley of Eshkol”, even before the spies discovered the ubergrapes. The Torah alludes to this as well, calling it the “Valley of Eshkol” before mentioning anything about grapes.
Rabbi Jacob Tzvi Mecklenburg[3], writing in “Ha’Ketav veha’Kabala”, proposes a novel interpretation. “Eshkol” is not only a cluster. It is also a proper name, of a semi-famous biblical person, for that matter. When Abraham was chasing his opponents to Dan, he was fighting together with three Canaanite brothers: Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre. The Torah refers to these three men as [Bereishit 14:13] “Abraham’s allies (ba’alei b’rit)”. Rabbi Mecklenburg posits that original name of the place was “Valley of Eshkol (the Person)” or, noting that the word “nachal” is similar to the word “nachala” (inheritance), perhaps the “Inheritance of Eshkol (the Person)”. After the monster-cluster of grapes is discovered, the spies rename the place “Valley of Eshkol (the Cluster)”. The new name was phonetically identical to the original name but it was etymologically completely different.
Who were Eshkol and his brothers and what prompted them to form a military alliance with Abraham? The Torah gives us a hint. After Abraham circumcises himself, G-d appears to him [Bereishit 18:1] at the “Terebinths of Mamre”. Why specifically there? Rashi answers, “It was he who advised him regarding the circumcision and therefore He revealed himself to him in his territory”. Excuse me? Abraham needed advice regarding the circumcision? Did he ask G-d to wait a second with the knife until he could get some input from his buddy, Mamre? My Rabbi and my Teacher, Rabbi Silberman, addresses this point by explaining the verse completely differently: We are assuming that it was he (Mamre) who advised him (Abraham) regarding the circumcision. Actually, it was he (Abraham) who advised him (Mamre) regarding the circumcision. That is to say, Abraham convinced Mamre to circumcise himself. The Torah tells us that [Bereishit 17:23] “All [Abraham’s] household (bnei bayto), his homeborn slaves and those that had been bought from outsiders, were circumcised with him”. There is a concept in Israel called “Ben Bayit”, literally, “Son of the Household”. A ben bayit is someone who is not formally part of a household (not a biological family member or employee), but who is so close and familiar that he is treated like one of the family. Mamre and his brothers were Abraham’s bnei bayit. They lived with him. They traded with hm. They circumcised themselves with him. They fought with him. And because of this relationship, they attained a certain amount of fame. And yet, for some reason, eventually they leave him. After Abraham dies, Aner, Eshkol and Mamre disappear. Where did they go?
An answer can be found in the “Valley of Eshkol”. The Seforno[4] is bothered by the use of the word “they” in the verse “They called that place the ‘Valley of Eshkol’” Precisely who called the place the “Valley of Eshkol”? The Seforno answers that the Canaanites were surprised with these Israelites who considered this cluster of grapes as something so extraordinary that they cut it off the vine and transported it all the way back to their people without bothering to eat it. The Canaanites were well aware that their country produced far bigger clusters of grapes than the one the spies had taken. The name “Valley of Eshkol (the Cluster)” was given by the Canaanites, reflecting their bewilderment.
This comment reveals a tragic psychological bridge connecting the ancient Canaanite brothers to the twelve spies who stood in that very same valley centuries later. Think about the psychological profile of Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre. Yes, they were Abraham’s bnei bayit, but a circumcision is a one-off, dramatic event. Once it is done, it becomes a passive baseline. The real challenge began the morning after the circumcision, when living with Abraham demanded continuous, relentless, proactive effort to fulfill an unfolding system of Divine commandments. Eventually, the daily friction of active growth became too heavy a burden and they walked away to settle in a lowland valley where nature was so passively indulgent that monster-sized grapes practically fell into their mouths without an ounce of labour.
Centuries later, Moshe sends the twelve spies into that exact same inherited spiritual coordinate. And what do they do? They look at the giant fruit, they look at the fortified cities, and they suffer from the exact same existential dread that paralysed Eshkol the person. The spies were living a pristine, sheltered life in the wilderness incubator. It was the ultimate passive steady-state. Manna fell from heaven outside their tents without a single stroke of agricultural work. A miraculous well followed them, and Clouds of Glory regulated their environment. They lived an entirely dependent existence where holiness was handed to them on a silver platter. But the Land of Israel? The spies realized that the moment they crossed the Jordan River, the era of passive miracles was officially over. Israel is the arena of the proactive. You have to plough, sow, harvest, and fight, all while dynamically maintaining a high spiritual consciousness embedded in the soil. The spies did not want to exert the continuous, gruelling effort necessary to perform G-d’s commandments in the physical world. They preferred the comfort of the passive wilderness default over the high-stakes responsibility of a proactive destiny. Just like the ancient Canaanite brothers, they looked at the labour required of them and decided it was simply too much work.
We cannot afford to treat our relationship with G-d as a check-the-box, one-off deed. We require the proactive spirit of Joshua and Caleb, who saw the same valley and declared [Bemidbar 13:26]: “Let us go up at once!” We must roll up our sleeves, break out of our comfort zones, and put in the effort required to manifest G-d’s light in the Promised Land.
Shabbat Shalom,
Ari Sacher, Moreshet, 5786
Please daven for a Refu’a Shelema for Rachel bat Malka, Iris bat Chana, Sheindel Devora bat Rina, Esther Sharon bat Chana Raizel, Meir ben Drora, Golan ben Marcelle and Hodayah Emunah bat Shoshana Rachel.
[1] According to our Sages in the Midrash, this cluster weighed about 10 tons. A “typical” cluster of modern grapes weighs about 300 grams. These grapes must have been colossal.
[2] Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, known by his acronym “Rashi,” was the most eminent of the medieval commentators. He lived in northern France in the 11th century.
[3] Rabbi Mecklenburg lived in Germany in the 19th century,
[4] Rabbi Ovadia ben Jacob Seforno, known as “The Seforno”, lived in Italy at the turn of the 16th century.
