Shelach 5772

And Moshe called Hoshea bin Nun, Yehoshua. (Bamidbar 13:16)

He prayed for him: Hashem (the added letter, “Yud”, hints to the Divine Name) should save you from the conspiracy of the spies. (Rashi)

This comment of Rashi is puzzling. Did Moshe realize in advance that the Meraglim would conspire to commit their sin? Why didn’t Moshe pray for them that they should resist temptation? Could Moshe have assumed that the Meraglim were beyond hope? But what about the righteous Kalev; why didn’t Moshe pray for him as well?

However, Kalev did pray for himself. On the verse (13:22), “And they rose up through the south and he came to Chevron,” Rashi notes the inconsistency in number (they/he) and explains that although all the Meraglim traveled through the south, only Kalev went to Chevron in order to pray at the graves of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov that he not be seduced to join the conspiracy of the Meraglim. (It is interesting to note that in Maseches Sotah (34b), the Gemara states that Kalev himself noticed that Moshe prayed for Yehoshua and not for him.)

Another interesting point: In Rashi’s explanations, there is a subtle difference between Moshe’s prayer for Yehoshua and Kalev’s prayer for himself. Moshe prayed that Yehoshua be saved from the Meraglim; Kalev prayed that he not be seduced by them. How do we account for this? (Again, it is worth noting that in the Gemarah Sotah this distinction is not made; it appears to be an original insight of Rashi.)

As the story unfolds, we see that there is a very interesting aspect to the nature of Kalev. When the Meraglim present their report that Eretz Yisrael is unconquerable, only Kalev stands in opposition. Rashi (13:30) implies that Kalev was only able to do so because until the very last moment the other Meraglim assumed that he would confirm their report. Later, Rashi is more explicit in his commentary. On the verse (14:24) which states that “Kalav had a different spirit,” Rashi comments that his initial words were different than his thoughts; to the Meraglim he said that he was with them but in his heart his intention was to undermine them.

The Noam Elimelech writes that Yehoshua was very different. He was transparent. Everyone knew where he stood, because he was the type of Tzaddik who felt he could not even mingle, let alone appear to join, the wicked. Kalev, on the other hand, could get along with everybody. Everyone therefore assumed that he was on their side. This made it possible for Kalev to protest the report of the Meraglim; Yehoshua would not have been able to speak at all. The Meraglim would have shouted him down.

It would therefore appear that Yehoshua and Kalev were in different types of danger. There was no danger that that the Meraglim would try to seduce Yehoshua; he was clearly antagonistic to everything they stood for. The danger was that the Meraglim might try to injure him or even kill him to advance their scheme unopposed. Thus Moshe prayed that he be saved from them. Kalev, on the other hand, was not in any physical danger – the Meraglim assumed that he was one of them! The risk was that, because of his relationship with them, he could be seduced to see things their way. Thus when Kalev prayed for himself his request was that he not be seduced.

Perhaps this can also account for the fact that Moshe prayed for Yehoshua but Kalev had to pray for himself. Whether one can pray for Divine assistance in making proper life choices is a difficult question. As a rule, we know that Hashem does not interfere with the free will of human beings and consequently, it may be inappropriate to ask Him to do so. (See Rambam Hilchos Teshuvah Chapter 6 for an extensive discussion of this subject.) Maharsha (Berachos 10a) makes a distinction between a person who prays for himself and a person who prays for others. When a person prays for himself, that is an exercise of his capacity to make free decisions, and therefore the prayer is legitimate; when a person prays for others, that is tantamount to asking Hashem to “brainwash” another person and therefore unacceptable.

Consequently, Moshe could pray for Yehoshua. He was in physical danger and to pray that he be spared is certainly proper. Kalev was at risk of making a bad decision. For that, he had to pray for himself. No other person could pray for him.

It is interesting to note that ultimately it was Yehushua, and not Kalev, who became the successor of Moshe. Undoubtedly, there were many considerations in this selection which, of course, was made by Hashem himself. But in light of the above discussion, we may suggest an additional one: It is an important quality in a Jewish leader to be clear as to where he stands. Equivocation, or even the public perception of equivocation, compromises the ability of the leader to truly lead. Because everyone could know where Yehosua – as opposed to Kalev – stood, he was the one who received the Divine endorsement.