To have faith in God

Twice a day we read in the third paragraph of the Shema the words "V'lo Taturu aharei l'vavhem v'aharei einechem asher atem zonim ahareihem," that one should not follow after his heart or eyes for lustful desires. In the same parsha, we read of the 12 spies who were sent to give an account of the land of Israel. In sending these princes of klal yisrael to seek out the land, the word "latur" (to survey) is used, the same root as the "v'lo taturu" in reference to tzizis. While a Jew is commanded to look at his tzizis and be reminded not to stray after his lustful desires, 10 of the 12 spies lusted after their desires and gave into their yetzer harah ('evil inclination') by giving a negative report of the Holy Land. They followed their eyes, so to speak, by saying that there were giants in the land that could not be conquered- hence ignoring the fact that Hashem would play any role in the deliverance of Am Yisrael from the hands of the savage bnai C'naan.

In relation to this it is exactly the inyan (idea) of tzizis that is meant to prevent this tendency to follow our immediate inclinations without a more advanced accounting of the matter. In a similar vein, all of us make immediate judgements of situations and rationales for things without really taking the whole picture into account. Just as the meraglim (reconnaissance) came up with a report that the inhabitants of the land were too mighty (without taking into account the fact that G-d had promised to have them inherit the land), all of us approach difficult situations in life by saying that such and such is impossible, or that such and such is unattainable. This is one understanding of what it means to transgress "v'lo taturu aharei l'vavhem." We usually understand not straying after one's heart or eyes to be referring to following after one's lustful desires, but here we come to see that it can also mean to avoid falling into a certain kind of mindset, like that which the meraglim fell into- where they succumbed to their initial understanding of the situation without trying to understand a way to overcome their perceived impossibility.

To paraphrase Ronald Reagen, this world is too great to compromise our dreams. Do not fall victim to the mentality of the 10 meraglim who saw the Holy Land and thought it was unattainable- but rather be of courage like Yehoshua and Calev. Believe and trust in G-d, figure out how your goals can be attained.

The tzizis do not just remind us to avoid following our lustful eyes in the physical sense- but to avoid a mindset that G-d cannot get help us in our goals, and that we cannot achieve what we want. For thousands of years our people have survived because we have always prayed and hoped for better times, and have not limited ourselves to the mindset of the meraglim.

Do not come to drastic and immediate conclusions like the meraglim- that there is no way of overcoming perceived difficluties. Rather, know that there is a way to overcome these difficulties, as long as one does not adopt the mindset that it is imposible.. With bitachon in G-d and unity among our fellow Jews we can overcome any obstacle and defeat anyone that seeks to prevent us from re-inheriting our Holy Land!

B'emunah u b'gevurah Yisrael t'naseah!!! With faith and strength the Jewish People will emerge victorious!
B'shalom,
Ari Corman
Member of K'Cholmim at Rutgers University