The far-reaching significance of an extra ‘yud’

Our parasha, Sh’lach, contains a pasuk with a puzzling phrase: “These are the names of the men Moshe sent to scout the Land, and Moshe called (vayikra Moshe) Hoshea the son of Nun, Yehoshua.”

At first glance, the concluding part of this verse seems to indicate that something new has taken place, namely, that Moshe has renamed Hoshea, “Yehoshua.” Yet, this name is hardly new, as it appears eight times before in both Sefer Shemot and Sefer Bamidbar. Moreover, the name Hoshea is not supplanted by the appellation Yehoshua, since it appears once again in Sefer Devarim 32:44. What, then, is the Torah teaching us when it states “and Moshe called Hoshea the son of Nun, Yehoshua?”

The classic answer is found both in Talmud Bavli, Sotah 34b and Rashi’s Commentary on the Torah. According to these sources, Moshe was afraid the meraglim (spies) would have a negative influence on Hoshea and sought to protect him by renaming him Yehoshua.

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik examines the meaning of the letter yud and explains that it represents privacy and separation. When Sarah was called “Sarai” (with a yud), she was “the matriarch of her family alone.” Building upon this concept, the Rav notes that Hoshea needed to be keenly aware that he was completely different from the negatively predisposed scouts, so that he could remain steadfast in his commitment to the Promised Land.”

With this understanding, we can more fully appreciate Rashi’s further explication of the name Yehoshua. Crucially, his gloss adds the word, “prayed:”

He [Moshe] prayed concerning him [Yehoshua] that Hashem should protect him from the counsel of the Scouts.

Rabbi Eliyahu Mizrahi expands on this explication in his supercommentary on Rashi’s Commentary on the Torah:

The explanation of the term “Vayikra” in our pasuk is that of prayer, as we find in the verse, “and Avraham called there in the name of Hashem.” Therefore, the explanation of the name “Yehoshua,” is: “Hashem should save you” … as if it actually said, “And he [Moshe] prayed regarding Hoshea that Hashem should save you, that Hashem, may He be blessed, should save you from the advice of the spies.”

Moreover, it is essential to explain “vayikra Moshe” in this fashion, rather than in the normative sense [of “he called”], since there is no [other] reason for literally changing Hoshea’s name at this juncture.

Rav Mizrahi’s profound analysis teaches us the nearly unlimited power of tefilah. Moshe’s prayer consisted of one extra letter added to Hoshea’s name, yet we know it changed Jewish history forever, as Yehoshua would be chosen by Hashem to lead the Jewish people to Eretz Yisrael.

If the letter yud has this great power, imagine what we can do when we encounter Hashem in heartfelt prayer.