You asked for it; you got it

“Send out men, if you wish, who will inspect Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. You must send each man as a representative of his fathers’ tribe; every prince among them.” [Numbers 13:2]

What if your dad came with a large box and told you this was a beautiful present? Would you believe him?

Most would. After all, the Talmud says, dads normally don’t lie to their kids. They love them. So, most kids would trust their fathers and give their old man a hug.

That didn’t exactly happen when Moses prepared to take the Children of Israel to Canaan, the land of their patriarchs. Instead, in our weekly Torah portion of Shlah, lots of Jews told Moses they wanted to see the land before deciding to enter. They wanted a delegation to tour Canaan and return with answers to such questions as “Is this really a land of milk and honey?” “Are the people in this land strong or weak?” “Is the soil fertile or barren?”

The questions annoyed G-d. He had already told the Israelites that they were headed for a veritable paradise. Now, the same people liberated by G-d from Egypt was skeptical.

“By their lives, I [G-d] swear that I will allow them to err because of the report of the spies, so they not inherit it.” [Rashi on Numbers 13:2]

It is highly unlikely that most or even a significant portion of the Jews doubted the Almighty. Just a short time ago, they witnessed the 10 Plagues in Egypt, the splitting of the Red Sea and the daily portion of manna in the Sinai Desert. But they were being manipulated by the elite, particularly a tribal leadership chosen to spy on Canaan and intending to sabotage the return of the Jews to their homeland.

The reasons were obvious: The Chosen People would have full equality in their new country. Every Jew would have his own land, with the ability to grow crops and sustain his family. The portions would be equal — regardless of rich or poor. The Levites, without a share of property, would have to be supported by the others. The poor would be allowed to glean from the fields. Anybody who sold their ancestral field or home would have a chance to regain the assets.

This contradicted everything the elite stood for. An equal society threatened the rich, limited if not eliminated the real estate market. A ban on price-gouging would threaten the elite’s expectation of massive profits. Anonymous donations would prevent the use of charity for public relations or lobbying schemes. Blind justice would create a level playing field in which the elite would not be given an advantage.

Ten of the 12 tribal leaders were determined to come up with a report that would end any plan to enter Canaan. After 40 days, they told the Israelites that the land was beautiful but impossible to conquer. The inhabitants were giants who feasted on huge fruits. The cities were huge and fortified. Even G-d would be unable to help.

“We cannot go up against this people, for they are stronger than Him!” [Numbers 13:31]

Soon, the Jews were crying like infants. They didn’t want to move toward Canaan and yet life could not be sustained in the desert.

They said to each other, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt!” [Numbers 14:4]

With the blessing of the elite, this seemed like a perfect solution. Egypt had been decimated in the 10 Plagues. With the help of the Mixed Multitude, hundreds of thousands of Egyptian emigrants, the Jews might regain their home in the land of the pharaohs. Perhaps, this would bring back the old order of a privileged leadership and the mass of slaves.

In 1959, the Israeli government under Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion was presented a proposal. Secret talks had taken place in which France considered to offer French Guiana to the new Jewish state. The Israeli side was headed by Defense Ministry director-general Shimon Peres, a leading aide to Ben-Gurion. French Guiana was 84,000 square kilometers, about 10 times the size of Israel, and much of it jungle. The proposal called for Israel to send some 40,000 citizens to French Guiana, located near Brazil. Just 20 years earlier, Britain had suggested settling Jewish refugees to Guiana rather than Palestine.

What Israel intended to do with French Guiana remains nebulous to this day. Disease was rampant, and for 100 years the territory was used as a penal colony, which at one point held Alfred Dreyfus, the Jewish officer unjustly charged with treason. But Peres was awestruck by the mineral wealth of French Guiana and the opportunity to develop a vast territory.

Finally, the Cabinet was convened to view a film on French Guiana and consider the resettlement project. Ben-Gurion, who remained noncommittal, observed the reaction of his colleagues. Pinchas Sapir, then trade and industry minister and regarded as the father of Israel’s economy, was scathing.

“This is a disaster, colonialism, imperialism. It will cause a holocaust in Africa and resistance in South America.” [Sapir quoted in “When Shimon Peres Fantasized of an Israeli Colony in South America.” Amit Naor. The Librarians. Aug. 30, 2022. When Shimon Peres Fantasized of an Israeli Colony in South America]

Ben-Gurion tried to quell the uproar, which included Foreign Minister Golda Meir. He pledged to withhold approval of the project as long as Meir was foreign minister. Meir had said the proposal would be implemented “over her dead body.”

In the end, tens of thousands of Israelis were not resettled in Guiana. The proposal died, and France turned Guiana into a space launch center. The would-be Israeli deportees would
not share the same fate of the French prisoners or colonists, who died within a short time in the jungle.

In our Torah portion, G-d chooses not to veto the spies and their opposition to Israel. Instead, He vows that the leadership and the Jews who supported them would not enter the Land of Canaan. They would not return to Egypt either. Instead, they would slowly die in the desert as their children prepared to march to the Promised Land.

“All the people who perceived My glory and the signs that I performed in Egypt and in the desert– and who nonetheless challenged Me these 10 times and did not heed My voice — will not see the land that I swore to their fathers. All who provoked Me will not see it.” [Numbers 14:22-23]

G-d’s decision serves as a paradigm of Jewish history: He recommends and even woos the Chosen People. But He never forces them to do anything. The tribal leaders, elite and the masses that followed them got just what they wanted.

What a shame.