Parsha Shelach: The soundness of silence

They reported to him and said, “We arrived at the Land to which you sent us, and it indeed flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. But- the people that dwells in the Land is powerful, the cities are fortified and very great and we saw there offspring of the giant….” (Bamidbar 13:27-28)

What had the spies done so awfully wrong that delayed our ancestors’ aliyah by 40 years? A great deal of ink has been used trying to explain their tragic flaw and unconscious motives, but it may really boil down to one word.

Years ago, I had the honor and privilege to hear the following story from Rabbi Shimshon Pincus zt”l. He told us about a fine young man who had earned a marvelous shidduch with a prominent family. This young man was an only child born to his parents after 24 years of marriage. Rabbi Pincus had asked the father if he had any sense of why they merited having a child that year. Had there been any unusual incident?

After 23 years of childlessness, approaching the edge of despair the husband did what amounts to an act of desperation. He had heard that on the other side of Jerusalem there was a small hasidic synagogue that held out a special promise. Anyone who would attain for himself on Yom Kippur the honor of Maftir Yonah would most certainly have his request answered. With that hope he uprooted himself from his usual place in the yeshiva where he had a seat of honor, and traveled to unfamiliar territory where he would be a stranger on a backbench. He arrived early enough on the eve of Yom Kippur and arranged for a hefty price the coveted Maftir Yonah.

After Kol Nidre and all the evening prayers while exiting the synagogue he noticed another young man like himself also not dressed like a Hasid seeming slightly out of place. He approached and asked him why he was praying here in this particular shteibl for Yom Kippur. The young fellow told his tearful tale that he and his wife had been married for almost three years and they had not yet been blessed with children. He had heard that whoever would attain Maftir Yonah in this synagogue would be granted their heart’s desire and he hoped to put in a modest bid for Maftir Yonah the next day.