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Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein

Hannah Stein is dedicating her writing this week for a refuah shelaymah for her brother, Shmuel Halevi ben Rochel. He was hit by a car at 12:10 A.M (Tuesday night/Wednesday) in Lakewood. He has sustained multiple broken bones and although he can talk, he cannot move any of his limbs at this time. Please keep him on your tefillot.

            When Moshe appoints the spies to reconnoiter the land Hashem has promised to Bnei Yisroel, the Torah names the spies that represent each tribe. Then Moshe changes the name of Hosheah of the tribe of Ephraim to Yehoshua, adding a "yud" at the beginning of his name. Rashi comments on Moshe's actions by explaining that the name change, which would now begin with the two letters of God's name, was a prayer that Yehoshua not succumb to the persuasion of his fellow spies.

Names are very important. Indeed they are somewhat prophetic. Every letter is important. Why, then, asks the Tallelei Chaim, can Moshe change the name of Hosheah unilaterally, and where did the "yud" that he added come from?

A medrash explains the origin of the "yud".   At the end of Parshas Lech Lecha, when Avraham’s name is changed, so is his wife’s name from Sarai to Sarah. The yud, whose numerical equivalent is 10, was then split in two. A "heh", equal to five, replaced the Yud in Sarai's original name, and the other "heh"/five was added to Avram's name, making it Avraham.

This works wonderfully for everything except the yud who felt slighted at being removed from such a righteous person's name. However, the yud found a new home in the name Yehoshua. However, notes Rav Boruch Epstein, the yud in Yehoshua also adds the vocalization of a schwa. Where did these two dots come from? If we observe closely, we will note that of all people only Yehoshua is called bin instead of ben; he is known as Yehoshua bin Nun. The extra two dots were pulled from the vocalization of the segol ("eh") under the bet to become the chirik ("i"). While one could argue that the heh now felt slighted by no longer being first in the tzadik's name, the heh did not complain, teaching us that one's innate value and mission does not change in spite of our relative position to others. One is always where Hashem wants him to be.

But letters have mystical symbolic properties as well, continues the Shvilei Pinchas. The physical world was created through the letter heh while the spiritual world was created through the letter yud. Hashem wants Bnei Yisroel to integrate these two worlds and thereby elevate the physical world to the spiritual world. In fact, Hashem created the physical body of Man before his spiritual soul. The integration of the two was necessary for Bnei Yisroel to enter the Land and live there productively. However, the spies erred in this area. They were great men who were on such a high spiritual plane that they could not conceive of moving from their spiritual cocoon in the desert, being fed heavenly food, given miraculous water, and surrounded by God's presence in the clouds of Glory to a physical existence where they would have to produce their own food and water, and take time away from purely spiritual pursuits. Therefore, they wanted to remain in the desert.

Rabbi Weinberger in Shemen Hatov picks up on this idea. Citing the Sefas Emes, Rabbi Weinberger notes that Hashem gave us three mitzvoth to compensate for the three main supernatural elements of life in the desert. To substitute for the manna, the spiritual bread of the desert, we have the mitzvah of hafroshat challah, to elevate our earthly bread and recognize it as a gift from Hashem. To substitute for the miraculous water of Miriam's well, we had two mitzvoth in the Beit Hamikdosh, the wine libations and the ritual and festive drawing of the water. Finally, to compensate for being surrounded by the Clouds of Glory, we were given the mitzvah of tzitzit to remind us constantly of Hashem's presence.

The spies wanted to isolate the spiritual from the physical. Moshe's message was that the two needed to be integrated. This same message is conveyed at a wedding when the physical act of marriage that connects Iysh/Man with Ishah is consecrated with the seven blessings. Although the yud and the heh of God's name are being connected through the marriage, the ritual is being raised to a spiritual level through the blessings.

It is not only the letters that reflect the different worlds, but our different Matriarchs also represent the spiritual and physical worlds. The Tallelei Chaim notes that Knesset Yisroel needed to include both worlds, the spiritual, concealed world beyond our understanding represented by our Matriarch Leah, and the revealed world of our Matriarch Rachel, a world we can relate to. The Tallelei Chaim continues and writes that Avraham and Sarah should have been the Patriarch and Matriarch of all twelve tribes, but Hashem relieved them of the tzaar gidul banim/trouble (grief, suffering) of raising children. According to the Chalban, Tallelei Chaim, Avraham and Sarah were on too high a spiritual level to effectively raise the twelve children to become the twelve tribes in a world not yet ready for such spirituality. Instead, the power of the yud was divided between our later Matriarchs Rachel and Leah. Leah would incorporate the concealed world into the nature of Bnei Yisroel while Rachel would bring the power of the revealed world to the nation. The two were not yet fully integrated, and the yud still felt slighted.

This was the great wisdom of Moshe Rabbenu. The Tallelei Chaim writes that of the twelve spies, two remained untainted, Caleb ben Yefuneh of the Tribe of Yehudah, descendent of Leah, and Yehoshuah bin Nun of the tribe of Ephraim, descendent of Rachel. Each inherited the great aspect of his Matriarch, but Moshe now combined the two aspects in Hosheah by adding the yud to the heh, thereby integrating the physical with the spiritual so that Yehoshuah would have the tools to be an effective leader. So, while the spies wanted to remain in that ethereal world, a possibility that was destroyed with the sin of the golden calf, Moshe prepared the scenario for entry into a physical existence in Eretz Yisroel. In fact, Yehoshuah's first act upon entering Eretz Yisroel was seeing to it that all males would be circumcised, since no brit milah was performed during the travels in the desert.

It is this integration and elevation of the physical and spiritual that should form the basis of every action we perform, reminds us Rabbi Bunim in Ethics from Sinai.

Sarah Imenu lived her life completely on that spiritual plane, Even, after her name change, she went back into the tent of Torah rather than help serve the "guests" with Avraham This spirituality was manifest in her tent from which the light from the candles lived from one Shabbat to the next, the cloud of Hashem's presence never departed from her tent, and the dough for baking her challah was always blessed. Sarah lived in a mini Mishkan, writes Rav Moshe Breslover in Lemachar Aatir. Hers was still the yud dimension which she imparted to Leah and Leah's descendents including Moshe. Hosheah before his name change is described as involved in the physical aspects of the Beit Medrash, of arranging for adequate seating and other such matters, a legacy of his ancestress Rachel. Now, by adding the yud to his name, Moshe bestowed upon him the revealed, completely spiritual aspect of Leah so that there would be an awakening of the forces from above to join the awakening forces from below within Yehoshuah to enable him to be an effective leader of Bnei Yisroel.

Rabbi Kofman z”l in Mishchat Shemen brings a different perspective to our discussion. He notes that grammatically a yud as a suffix connotes either "I" (verb) or "my" (noun). Our Matriarch's name Sarai implied that she had full control and ruled over herself. Once she had achieved this complete self-control, she was ready to be everyone's princess and rule over others, to reach the higher level. Then Hashem changed her name to Sarah with the all- encompassing heh. Moshe's lesson to Yehoshuah was to first gain complete control over himself before he could try to control the nation. The spies, writes Rabbi Kofman z”l, never got control of their egos and were unable to extricate themselves from their personal agendas. As Rabbi Shmulevitz z”l points out in Sichot Mussar, the fear of losing their prominence as leaders of Bnei Yisroel when they would enter the land, their desire for honor, blinded them into speaking negatively about the land so that Bnei Yisroel would remain in the desert and they would retain their prominent positions.

Rabbi Shmulevitzz”l cites a Medrash about Yeravam to illustrate the negative effect the craving for honor can have. Yeravam was a brilliant Torah scholar who became a major sinner and caused Bnei Yisroel to sin. Nevertheless, Hashem offered him the opportunity to do teshuvah. Hashem told Yeravam that if he did teshuvah, He (Hashem), you (Yeravam) and Ben Yishai (King David) would walk in Gan Eden together. King Yeravam then asked, "Who will go first, I or Ben Yishai?" Hashem answered that Ben Yishai would go first (before Yeravam). At that point, Yeravam rejected the offer and doomed his soul.

Rabbi Shmulevits makes an interesting observation. In the initial offer, Hashem indicated that Yeravam would precede Ben Yishai. Did Yeravam actually need clarification? The answer, says Rabbi Shmulevits,z”l is that Yeravam was so consumed with his ego that he wanted to hear it again. That hubris was his downfall.

When Moshe asks Hashem to appoint a leader for Bnei Yisroel before his own death, he asks Hashem to find someone who will understand each person and lead the nation effectively. Hashem answers that He has found Yehoshuah whose spirit is within himself, who has gained mastery over himself and therefore can now properly lead the nation.

People who constantly seek honor condemn themselves, writes Rabbi Dov Yoffe in Leovdecha B'Emes. Today, the trap of trying to keep up with the Joneses, of maintaining appearances, can readily compromise one's integrity and cause one's downfall (and the downfall of others). That's the yud Moshe blessed Yehoshuah with, the blessing of self- awareness to withstand the pressure of society.

This is not just a lesson for Yehoshuah, but a lesson for each of us, to practice self -control. Chovat HoAdam beOlamo instructs us to let each small victory reinforce our sense of self, and to build on our successes. Each mitzvah is engineered to help us, to train us to think before we act. The story is told, of someone who wanted to learn to become a wagon master. His future teacher asked him what he would do if he found his wagon stuck in the mud on a stormy night. After several unsuccessful answers, the old wagon master told him that if he had seen an impending storm, he would not have gone out and put himself in that position to begin with. So, must we always think before acting impetuously.

Rav Yehudah Sorotzkin adds to this idea by noting that the yud that forms the end of Ivri implies the ability to stand apart from others and stand up against pressure. Sarah, writes Rabbi Zaks z”l  had this ability to separate the right from the wrong, to stand firm and say that the son of this maidservant, Ishmael son of Hagar will not inherit with my son Yitzchak. That yud that was the part of Sarah's original name is now added to Hoshea's name to give him the same love of the land that Sarah had. This love of the land from our Matriarch Sarah was also inherent in the women of that generation who did not fall for the spies' maligning the land, a love that is most evident in the daughters of Tzelaphchad who demanded their father's portion of Eretz Yisroel as their rightful inheritance. Rabbi Alpert z”l adds a modern twist to this argument. Just as Yehoshuah was told to take upon himself the instructions of Sarah and not let the other nations inherit the land with Yisroel, so must we also be determined that the descendants of Ishmael have no right to the Land.

If we are to take our cues as role models from our first Matriarch and Patriarch, Sarah and Avraham, then we should go to the first instance of the male/female roles recorded in the Torah, writes Rabbi Nissel in Rigshei Lev. This goes all the way back to the beginning of creation, even preceding Adam and Chava, all the way back to the creation of heaven and earth. Heaven represents the male force, the giver that sends down the rain. But without a receiver, the earth, the rain is wasted. It is the earth that absorbs the rain, creates the appropriate, hidden environment and nurtures the seeds that have been planted in it.

These roles are reflected in the characteristics of Avraham and Sarah. While Avraham is the giver, the premier baal chesed, paradigm of benevolence, it is Sarah who must channel that chesed appropriately or it can be distorted. It is the Av/Father, translated as inspired desire who is ready to rain down unbridled energy, while it is the Em/Mother who reins in that energy with the question of "if" (translation of Im/Em) to use that energy appropriately. Adamah/earth is the feminine form of Adam, and it is this role that defines woman's nature and essence. It also defines her special connection to the land of Eretz Yisroel.

A good leader must be strong in his own identity, and willing and able to withstand public pressure. A leader of Bnei Yisroel must also love the land of Eretz Yisroel and understand that his personal gifts of leadership and the land are gifts Hashem has given us to enhance our relationship with Him through our service to Him. All this and so much more Moshe imparted to Yehoshuah by adding the yud from the original name of Sarah Imenu to the original name of Hosheah who would lead us into Eretz Yisroel. All this becomes part of our legacy as well as we are descendants of Sarah and Avraham.