The word “spy" tends to have a negative connotation. For example, the “Spies in the Wilderness" are viewed in a negative light. However, if you met them on a personal level, they were all wonderful people. They were prominent Torah Scholars. They were leaders of their communities. They were mitzvah tanks of kindness, aiding Jews in every way they could, whether in helping a family to set up a kosher kitchen or offering comfort in times of mourning. They were champions of Yiddishkeit and did whatever they could to bring people closer to the mitzvot. They built shuls and Spy Houses all over, offered free Shabbos meals, and set up tefillin stands wherever Jews were found. Indeed, they were a beloved and jolly clan.
The trouble started when Hashem commanded the Children of Israel to journey on into the Promised Land. At this they balked. It is all recorded in the Torah in Hebrew, and translated into English or whatever language you speak. Returning from a reconnaissance trip to spy out the Land, the Spies said that such an adventure of conquest was dangerous. Better to stay in the wilderness, where they had everything they needed.
The command “Lech Lecha" they explained wasn’t meant as an actual geographical destination to live in the Land of Israel. Rather it was an abstract metaphysical instruction to discover your inner self wherever you lived. Jerusalem wasn’t an actual place - you could make Jerusalem wherever you happened to be, just like a Catholic didn’t have to live in the Vatican, and a Buddhist didn’t have to reside in India to observe the religion. The Torah was extra-terrestrial, they told the Jews. Moses and Joshua were mistaken, they insisted, leaving a Spies-in-the-Wilderness pamphlet in each and every tent. The Torah could be kept in Australia or South Florida, they preached. Brooklyn could be the world center of Judaism. The place didn’t matter at all.
The Spies were such good and righteous people, the Children of Israel listened to them. Weeping in fear of the journey ahead, they rebelled against the command of Hashem. Joshua and Calev ben Nun begged them to repent, assuring them that, with God’s help, they would succeed in their mission to conquer the Chosen Land, but the lies of the Spies poisoned their hearts and scrambled their thinking. In a towering wrath, Hashem destroyed the whole generation for their betrayal of His word and for their refusal to enter the Land.
So, to all of my beloved brethren in America, the next time you are offered the opportunity to join a new Jewish community in South Florida or Arizona, with glatt kosher restaurants and bakeries, magnificent shuls, luxurious mikvahs, affordable villas, and all the comforts of your dreams, think twice. Is this what Hashem wants for His People? Or are you ignoring His Torah?