Words From Rabbi White

Wow! From what I said in shul last week, I think I have a better understanding of a couple of Rashi’s comments in this week’s parasha.

Dictionary definition of “groupthink:” a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome.

I didn’t write this in last week’s “blog,” but in my derasha in Chevra Shaas, I mentioned a nice insight that I heard from Rabbi Norman Lamm z”l, late Pres. of YU, when he was here in Montreal many years ago. He was commenting on the inverted “nun”s that appear at the end of the fifth aliya in last week’s parasha. He suggested that since the word “nun” means “fish” in Aramaic, the inverted “nun” refers to a fish that swims against the current. Thus, a Jew should not be influenced by “groupthink,” by trends that might be popular. We saw that problem in last week’s Torah reading, when the “rabble” influenced all the people to rebel against HaShem and against Moses.

After saying the above in Chevra Shaas, I realized that I now understand so much better 2 comments of Rashi in this week’s parasha: (1) When selecting the “meraglim”, the torah tells us that Moshe called Hoshea, the representative of the tribe of Ephraim, “Joshua.” Why?

Rashi, following the Talmud Tractate Sotah, explains that Moshe was praying that Joshua would not be influenced by “groupthink,” by the words of the other spies. Moshe understood how easy it is to be influenced, and how necessary it is sometimes to go against the current, just like the inverted nun. [Is that why Joshua’s father was called Nun?] [By the way, a biography of the great Rav Kook z”l is called “the man against the current.”]

(2) As the “meraglim,” the spies, were making their way into the Land, and as they came to Hebron, the Torah writes the singular “he came,” rather than the plural “they came.” Rashi explains that Caleb came by himself, to pray at the Cave of the Patriarchs, that he should not be influenced by the other spies.

Going against the current is so important today!! We understand that in many colleges, anti-Israel sentiment, tied to “wokism” and “cancel culture,” is rampant. May our young people have the education and moral strength to buck these trends!!

Shabbat shalom