Am KeLavi - Rectifying the Sin of the Spies

Through the lens of history, some images become more than photographs — they become turning points. The paratroopers gazing up at the Kotel in 1967. Rav Goren blowing the shofar. These were not just moments — they became part of our national soul.

And now, as we live through a defining chapter in our own history, we find ourselves asking: what image will capture this moment?

Perhaps it may not come from the battlefield. It may just come from the airport. This week, a photograph was published of a woman who, upon landing in Israel, knelt to kiss the ground. Her act, so quiet and personal, says more than a thousand words. To much of the world, returning to a war zone makes no sense. But we — the Jewish people — understand. This is not recklessness. It is teshuva. It is a return of the heart.

As rockets fall and sirens sound, thousands of Israelis abroad are doing everything they can to come home. And what we are witnessing is not just a logistical operation — it is a spiritual movement, a national teshuva unfolding before our very eyes.

The Sin of the Spies: A Threefold Failure

This week’s parsha, Shelach, recounts one of the most devastating episodes in the Torah: the sin of the spies. Sent to scout the land, they returned not with lies, but with fear. They acknowledged the land’s beauty — but saw only its threats. “We cannot ascend,” they said. “The people are stronger than us.”

The sin was layered — and each layer cut deep:

• Against the Land: They slandered Eretz Yisrael, calling it “a land that devours its inhabitants.”
• Against the People: Their report demoralized the nation, spreading fear and despair.
• Against God: Most profoundly, they doubted Hashem’s promise, acting as though He could not fulfill it.

The result was national paralysis. Hashem decreed that the generation who rejected the land would not enter it.

Teshuva Done Wrong

The next day, a group known as the ma’apilim tried to undo the damage. “We will go up!” they declared, ready to fight. But it was too late. They acted without Hashem’s guidance and were defeated. The lesson is clear: teshuva must come with humility, not just urgency.

Our Generation’s Response

Today, we are blessed to witness something altogether different — a slow, sincere tikkun of that ancient sin. And remarkably, it addresses all three of its dimensions:

1. Love for the Land

While the spies recoiled, today Jews across the globe are embracing Eretz Yisrael. Even amidst rockets and fear, rescue flights are full. People are desperate to return. The photo of a woman kissing the ground of Israel was not staged — it was instinctive. The Rambam writes that the Sages would kiss the dust of the land, fulfilling the verse, “For Your servants cherished her stones and loved her dust.” What was once rejected is now held close.

2. Unity of the People

The spies’ words broke the spirit of the nation. But today, we see remarkable unity. After Simchat Torah and again during Operation Rising Lion, Israelis across all divides stood as one. Political rivals speak with mutual support. One opposition leader said it best: “Today, in this war, there is no right and left — only right and wrong.”

3. Rekindling of Faith

The deepest sin was spiritual. The spies questioned God’s protection. And in the aftermath of October 7, many asked: Where was God? Yet what followed was not spiritual collapse, but renewal. Faith and prayer have reentered the public sphere — from soldiers, from leaders, from returned hostages. Just hours before Israel’s pre-emptive strike on Iran, the Prime Minister was photographed at the Kotel, wrapped in a tallit, placing a handwritten verse inside the stones:

הֶן־עָם כְּלָבִיא יָקוּם וְכַאֲרִי יִתְנַשָּׂא — “Behold, a people that rises like a lioness and lifts itself like a lion.”

The Power of This Moment

The Rambam writes that the highest form of teshuva (teshuva gemura) occurs when a person is faced with the same challenge and chooses to act differently. As a nation, we find ourselves in a great moment of teshuva gemura. The fear is still here. The threats are real. And yet, we choose to return. We choose to stay. We choose to believe.

Parshat Shelach is more than a story of failure — it is a challenge to future generations. Will we learn from the past? Will we respond with faith instead of fear?

This Shabbat, our tefillot continue — even in limited numbers. And while we may not all be gathered together in shul, we remain deeply united in spirit and in purpose.

May we merit to continue this process of teshuva, and to write a new chapter — of love for our land, of unity among our people, and of renewed faith in Hashem.

Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Joel Kenigsberg

Shavuot Night at Beit Knesset Hanassi: A Celebration for the Whole Family

This year, in addition to the usual all-night fare, we were treated to a delightful innovation which, we hope, we will be able to repeat in the future. Rabbi Kenigsberg writes:

This Shavuot night, the halls of Beit Knesset Hanassi were filled with the sounds of Torah, laughter, and community spirit, as several young families gathered for a festive dinner and learning program geared especially for children and parents.

Hosted together with Rabbi and Rebbetzin Kenigsberg and their family, the meal brought together the families who regularly attend our weekly children’s service, creating a sense of connection and belonging as we welcomed the chag together. The atmosphere was lively and warm, with delicious food, engaging conversation, and divrei Torah delivered by two of our young stars, who shared thoughtful insights on Matan Torah.

Following the meal, families moved into a specially prepared “Tikkun Leil" — a night of learning designed for children and their parents. Each family received a guided source sheet with age-appropriate materials for learning together, sparking meaningful discussions and questions. The learning session concluded with a story and an interactive quiz led by Rabbi Kenigsberg, creating an exciting and memorable lead-in to the main Shavuot learning program later that evening.

We’re so proud of the children who participated with such enthusiasm and curiosity, and deeply grateful to all the parents who made the effort to join. Moments like these remind us that Torah is truly morasha kehilat Yaakov — an inheritance passed down through the generations.

Revelation and Legislation

Last Wednesday Rabbi Kenigsberg replaced regular speaker Rabbi Anthony Manning in the Wednesday morning program that Hanassi hosts with OU Israel. His subject? “Revelation and Legislation”—a fascinating review of the dramatic transition the Torah makes when it switches from telling the story of our people to itemising many specific rules within the code of Jewish law. 

In the time allotted to him, our rabbi set himself a steep challenge, examining the adjacent parshiyot of Yitro and Mishpatim in terms of their juxtaposition. Along the way he discussed the view of Rabbi Tzevi Yehudah Kook that we can learn from construing each parashah in the Torah together with its "pair" (in this case Yitro and Mishpatim). He also contrasted the views of Ramban and Rashi regarding the chronology of the Torah's content. Ultimately this powerful shiur forced us to consider a profound question: what, apart from literally laying down the law, does the parashah of Mishpatim teach us? 

You can watch and listen to Rabbi Kenigsberg's shiur on the OU Israel YouTube channel here.

More on halachic challenges in the State of Israel

In his previous lecture (noted with a link to YouTube here) Rabbi Kenigsberg asked whether halachah was equipped to cope with the challenges posed by a modern Jewish state? His answer was an emphatic “yes!”, because the very existence of the State of Israel provides a live factual context that enables us to express the halachah more clearly. He then related this conclusion to the position taken by Rav Moshe-Tzvi Neria in his debates with Yeshaya Leibowitz that it is fundamental to our Jewish belief that the Torah has a divine source of Torah, being applicable in all places and at all times.

In this lecture Rabbi Kenigsberg expanded on the need to the State to provide greater factual detail in order to apply halachah with greater precision, in particular with regard to hilchot Shabbat, where it is so important to distinguish routine factual scenarios from emergencies. He also raised the question as to what sources are most appropriate for resolving she’elot on issues of national security. While Israel was an autonomous state in the era of Tanach, Rabbi Asher Weiss has observed that one cannot pull halachot straight out of the Tanach because its contents are not presented to us in a structured manner in which we are made aware of relevant surrounding circumstances. We also do not know whether applications of halachah in Tanach reflect normal circumstances of states of emergency.

Rabbi Kenigsberg then referred to Rav Kook’s writings on the halachot of war in his Mishpat Kohen. In that work of war he discusses issues of pikuach nefesh (saving life) within the context of the war that is not mandated by Torah law—Milchemet reshut – and whether it can be allowed when it endangers lives. We see that wars of that nature were fought for the State’s economic benefit. However, laws relating to the collective (i.e. the State) are not found within Shulchan Aruch, this being a code that deals with the yachid, the individual, not the State. Seridim (remnants) of State halachah do still exist within Tanach: it is for us to trawl through Tanach for these seridim and seek to reconstitute them.

By way of a practical phenomenon that did not exist in bygone times and which is a matter of State responsibility, Rabbi Kenigsberg focused at length on the problems of cyber-defence on Shabbat. Cyber-attacks might be of obvious threat to life, such as those designed to contaminate the water supply, or they might pose risks for one of more individuals, as in the case of data capture that would enable foreign governments to identify Israeli soldiers on active service and arrest them for war crimes if they visited those countries.  The rabbi discussed the applicability to these scenarios of the long-established halachot relating to extinguishing a fire on Shabbat as well as the principles that govern self-protection on the part of cities on Israel’s borders.

From what Rabbi Kenigsberg told his audience, it appears that there are two general principles that can be invoked when weighing up whether to allow a breach of Shabbat prohibitions. The first is that, even if a threat or danger is initially very small, one must look ahead and calculate how much greater might the damage be to the public and the State if it is not immediately abated. The second is that, if action is not taken to defend oneself even against an apparently small loss, an enemy will learn to attack the State on Shabbat on the basis that there will be no response or retaliation by those who are Shabbat-observant.

This note cannot really do justice to Rabbi Kenigsberg’s presentation, which was replete with references and citations and came with printed source materials—but you can listen to it in full on YouTube here.

Halachic dilemmas in the State of Israel

Speaking last week on the Beit Midrash Rechavia program which Hanassi hosts in conjunction with OU Israel, Rabbi Kenigsberg delivered the first of two lectures on the topic of "Halachic dilemmas in the State of Israel". This lecture pointed to the emergence of a range of questions about the application of halacha that arose from the creation of a modern Jewish state. Some of these questions had never been considered before; others had been furnished with answers -- but only within the context of Jews living within a non-Jewish society. A third source of questions arose from the need to apply halacha to hitherto unknown technologies. 

The range of issues is vast. Israel, being a state, is required to maintain law, order, security and safety within its jurisdiction. The existence of the concept of pikuach nefesh, for example, is well established: we can violate even the laws of Shabbat in order to save a life. But how far does this go, in terms of maintaining an army, a police force, medical services and other essential services across the board? And is there a notion of State pikuach nefesh? 

If these topics intrigue you, why not enjoy this lecture in full (54 minutes) on YouTube by clicking here.

Rabbi Kenigsberg will be giving his second lecture in the series on Wednesday 11 December in Beit Knesset Hanassi. Come and hear him live!

Watch our Yom HaAtzma'ut celebrations!

 Thanks to our recently-joining member Heshy Engelsberg we have a most enjoyable link to his recording of the Beit Knesset Hanassi Yom HaAtzma'ut celebrations, as well as a most thought-provoking link to Rabbi Joel Kenigsberg's Yom HaAtzma'ut breakfast presentation. Enjoy!