Shabbos Chazon

The tragedy of Tisha Bav started when Klal Yisroel cried all night and didn’t want to enter Eretz Yisroel, after hearing the meraglim’s report. This was the beginning of many tragedies that befell us on this day. But the Mishna associates it as the first of five disasters that include and are related to the churban habais. And as mentioned last week, parallel the five tragedies of the 17th of Tamuz.
This weeks Parsha when Moshe recounts the story of the meraglim he tells them that when they requested the meraglim the asked for spies that would come back and tell them an answer. In Parshas Shelach- when the story happened the posuk doesn’t say anything about them bringing an answer back to Moshe and Klal Yisroel.
Back in Parshas Shelach Rashi says that the Meraglim all went with bad intentions. The Maharal asks that there is an apparent contradiction, Rashi just a few pessukim before says that at the time when they were appointed they were all tzadikim. When did this turn about from tzadikim to them having bad intentions come about? The Maharahl answers that they might have been tzadikim at the time of departure but they went with their own intentions not that of Moshe. Moshe told them just to spy the land- not with any intention of getting feed back of how to conquer Eretz Yisroel. Moshe knew that there is no need for that knowledge- for Hashem had promised them the land. Moshe’s intention was that Klal Yisroel should see that Eretz Yisroel is not like any other land that even the mere physical in the holy land, is just that- holy. Klal Yisroel was living in a dessert in a pure spiritual environment. The bread they ate was the mann- straight from the heaven, their water was from the well- again straight from heaven and even their living quarters were the clouds of glory. Klal Yisroel wasn’t ready to live in a physical land where they would eat potatoes and wheat that grow from the ground and yet stay and the spiritual level of eating mann. Their mission was to go and see that Eretz Yisroel is precisely that where the water that comes from a well is just like the Well of Miriam and the wheat that makes the bread is just like the mann. They went with their own intentions that Eretz Yisroel is just a land and has to be conquered just like any other land and the fruits are the same as every other land.
There is a story said about the Baal mechaber of the Baer Lachai Roi. He came to Eretz Yisroel and complained to a friend, that he was told that the stones in Eretz Yisroel are diamonds but he looked around and he didn’t see any. The guy told him must be your problem if you can’t see it. He locked himself into a room and sat there and yearned for a closeness to Hashem. He came out and sent a message to his friend that he was right, with proper closeness to Hashem he now sees the diamonds clearly.
The mistake was just like that of the eigal, they took Hashem out of the equation. They didn’t see Eretz Yisroel as The land where ‘The eyes of Hashem’ are focused. And without Hashem even Eretz Yisroel became just like any other land and even the Bais Hamikdosh the holiest place on earth became a trotting ground for animals. And its no wonder how yidden- people that are have a piece of Hashem in them, can be lead like sheep to slaughter- if we ourselves ignore the G-dlieness that lies in our souls.