When Israel came out of Egypt,
and they dwelt in the wilderness מדבר ,
they committed two great sins.
These sins overshadowed the other sins,
even though HASHEM said that
they tested him ten times.
Numbers 14:22.
“Because all those men
who have seen my glory,
and my miracles,
which I did in Egypt,
and in the wilderness,
and have tempted me now
these ten times,
and have not listened to my voice;”
כי כל האנשים
הרואים את כבודי
ואת אתתי
אשר עשיתי במצרים
ובמדבר
וינסו אתי זה
עשר פעמים
ולא שמעו בקולי :
These two sins were
of such magnitude that
Moses had to pray and to fast
forty days and forty nights,
and make intercession
to HASHEM so that
he would not destroy Israel.
We will examine these two sins
and see how they affect prophecy
and the history of Israel.
They run parallel to the
two destructions of
the temple in Jerusalem.
Sin #1: IDOLATRY:
the Molten Calf עגל מסכה .
Exodus 32.
This sin occured at Mt. Sinai (Horeb)
while Moses was receiving
the commandments of G-d.
This sin was mixed with
lascivious and wicked
sexual behavior.
Exodus 32:6.
“And they rose up early on the morrow,
and offered burnt offerings,
and brought peace offerings;
and the people sat down
to eat and to drink,
and rose up to play.”
וישכימו ממחרת
ויעלו עולת ויגשו שלמים
וישב העם לאכול ושתו
ויקמו לצחק:
HASHEM said that
the result of their idolatry
was that they corrupted themselves.
Exodus 32:7
“And HASHEM said to Moses,
Go, get you down;
for your people, which you
brought out of the land of Egypt,
have corrupted themselves.”
ו ידבר יהוה אל משה
לך רד
כי שחת עמך
אשר העלית מארץ מצרים:
The first Temple בית המקדש
which Solomon שלומו
built in Jerusalem
was destroyed by the Babylonians
for the SAME sin: IDOLATRY.
HASHEM punished Israel with
seventy years captivity in Babylon,
then He allowed them to
return to Jerusalem and to
rebuild the Temple בית המקדש .
Sin #2 Unbelief, Causeless Hatred,
and Despising the Land ארץ ישראל .
Numbers 13-14.
This sin occurred at Kadesh
in the wilderness of Paran.
It has three parts.
Part #1.
Israel chose to believe the
evil report דבת הארץ
that the ten spies
brought against the land.
“And they brought an
evil report of the land
which they had searched
to the children of Israel.”
ויציאו דבת הארץ
אשר תרו אותה
אל בני ישראל:
This caused them to
despise the land.
Numbers 14:31
“But your little ones,
which you said should be a prey,
I will bring them in,
and they shall know the land
which you have despised.“
וטפכם אשר
אמרתם לבז יהיה
והביאתי אתם
וידעו את הארץ
אשר מאסתם בה:
Part #2.
As a result of believing
the evil report ,
the people became
filled with fear and unbelief.
They chose not to believe
the Word of the LORD.
Numbers 14:11.
“And HASHEM said to Moses,
How long will this people
provoke me?
And how long will it be before
they believe me
for all the signs which
I have showed among them?”
ויאמר יהוה אל משה
עד אנה
ינאצני העם הזה
ועד אנה
לא יאמינו בי
בכל האתות אשר
עשיתי בקרבו:
And again it is written
in Psalm 78:32.
“For all this they sinned still,
a nd believed not
for his wondrous works.”
בכל זאת חטאו עוד
ולא האמינו בנפלאותיו:
And a third time
it is written in Psalm 106:24.
“Yes, they despised the pleasant land,
they believed not his word.”
וימאסו בארץ חמדה
לא האמינו לדברו:
And Moses says it
even a fourth time
in Deuteronomy 1:32.
“Yet in this thing
you did not believe
the LORD your G-d.”
ובדבר הזה
אינכם מאמינם
ביהוה אלהיכם:
Part#3.
This unbelief caused them
to voice causeless hatred
for HASHEM.
Numbers 14:3.
“And why has HASHEM
brought us to this land,
to fall by the sword,
that our wives and our children
should be a prey?
Were it not better for us
to return into Egypt?”
ולמה יהוה
מביא אתנו
אל הארץ הזאת
לנפול בחרב
נשינו וטפנו יהיו לבז
הלא טוב לנו
שוב מצרימה:
Then the LORD said
in Numbers 14:27:
“How long shall I bear
with this evil congregation,
which murmur against me?
I have heard the murmurings
of the children of Israel
which they murmur against me.”
עד מתי
לעדה הרעה הזאת
אשר המה מלינים עלי
את תלנות בני ישראל
אשר המה מלינים עלי
שמעתי:
And again HASHEM says
in Numbers 14:35:
“I the LORD have said,
I will surely do it
to all this evil congregation,
that are gathered together
against me:
in the wilderness
they shall be consumed,
and there they shall die.”
אני יהוה דברתי
אם לא זאת אעשה
לכל העדה הרעה הזאת
הנועדים עלי
במדבר הזה יתמו
ושם ימתו:
Not even Moses escaped
from this terrible judgment,
for he says in Deuteronomy 1:37.
“Also HASHEM was angry with me
for your sakes, saying,
You also shall not enter there
(the land ארץ ישראל ).”
גם כי התאנף יהוה
בגללכם לאמר
גם אתה לא תבא שם:
The Second Temple בית המקדש
in Jerusalem
was destroyed by the Romans
for the SAME sin:
CAUSELESS HATRED AND UNBELIEF.
HASHEM punished Israel with
the great Diaspora, the Golahהגולה ,
the scattering among the nations
for almost two thousand years.
Psalm 106:25-27 attests to the
connection between the
punishment for the second sin
and the Diaspora הגולה .
“But they murmured
in their tents,
and listened not
to the voice of HASHEM.
therefore he lifted up
his hand against them,
to overthrow them
in the wilderness:
to overthrow their seed also
among the nations,
and to scatter them in the lands.”
וירגנו באהליהם
לא שמעו בקול יהוה:
וישא ידו להם
להפיל אותם במדבר:
ולהפיל זרעם בגוים
ולזרותם בארצות:
It is also said that it
was on Tishah B’Av
תשעה באב
that Israel mourned in
their tents over the report
of the spies.
It was on this day that
both Temples in Jerusalem
were destroyed,
and our people were exiled,
scattered among the nations,
and thrown down among the peoples.