10
The Gur Arye explains that Y'hoshua's falling into the spies' plot would reflect poorly on Moshe, whose protege he was. This reasoning doesn't apply to Kalev.
The Avodas Yisrael explains (not in answer to this question) that Y'hoshua did not want the honor of leading the people, and wanted Moshe to retain that position. (See Rashi to B'haalos'cha 11:28.) ...
10
The Gemara in Meseches Brachos 7a says the following addressing this seeming "contradiction":
(Source from Sefaria.org)
והא כתיב (שמות לד, ז) פקד עון אבות על בנים וכתיב (דברים כד, טז) ובנים לא יומתו על אבות ורמינן קראי אהדדי ומשנינן לא קשיא הא כשאוחזין מעשה אבותיהם בידיהם הא כשאין אוחזין מעשה אבותיהם בידיהם
But it is written (Exoudus 34:7) "...
10
This is addressed by Sanhedrin 80b. It’s a dispute to begin with whether the particular form of death needs to be specified in the warning:
תניא ושאר חייבי מיתות שבתורה אין ממיתין אותן אלא בעדה ועדים והתראה ועד שיודיעוהו שהוא חייב מיתת ב"ד רבי יהודה אומר עד שיודיעוהו באיזה מיתה הוא נהרג
We taught in a Braisa: For all others that make liable to death ...
9
The impetus for the drasha in the medrash is specifically because the first nation the spies mentioned was amalek, and as the ikar sifsei chachamim explains why not mention the amori and chiti who live in the mountains first, must be they were trying to scare klal yisrael with the bad memory as the medrash continues with the mashal of the child who got hit ...
8
The Ostrovtzer Rav in Me'ir Eynei Chachamim explains that a leader is imbued with the power of the group that he leads, in this case 50 people. He further notes that the Jewish people were blessed that each one of them had the power of a thousand people based upon the pasuk in Haazinu (Devarim 32, 30) (he seems to follow the Ibn Ezra's second peshat). As ...
8
The Gemoro Menachos 43b says
תניא היה רבי מאיר אומר גדול עונשו של לבן יותר מעונשו של תכלת משל למה
הדבר דומה למלך בשר ודם שאמר לשני עבדיו לאחד אמר הבא לי חותם של טיט
ולאחד אמר הבא לי חותם של זהב ופשעו שניהם ולא הביאו איזה מהן עונשו
מרובה הוי אומר זה שאמר לו הבא לי חותם של טיט ולא הביא
It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Meir would say: The punishment
for ...
7
God had told Moses he would wipe out the nation of Israel. Moses entreated. God relented. But still they will not enter Israel in this lifetime.
7
Rashi means to say that the Leviim were not killed over the forty years. It often happens that Rashi will quote the 'wrong' pasuk to simplify his point; what he is really referring to is the count at the beginning of Sefer Bamidbar, where indeed the count is described as a census of soldiers (or יוצא צבא "those who go out with the army"). This is evident ...
7
There is a disagreement between the Rambam and the Raavad regarding the Ir Hanidachas - wayward city, whether it is possible to remove the punishment if the town did indeed repent.
The Rambam (עבודת כוכבים פרק ד׳ - הלכה ו׳)
ו והיאך דין עיר הנדחת. בזמן שתהיה ראויה להעשות עיר הנדחת. בית דין
הגדול שולחין ודורשין וחוקרין עד שידעו בראיה ברורה שהודחה כל העיר או
...
7
This passage also appears in Yalkut Shimoni, and in that version there are indeed only five things. Number 4, "opinions of heretics" in your translation, does not appear. The supporting verse cited in the Talmud for it also does not appear:
פרשת ציצית מפני מה קבעוה בק"ש מפני שיש בה חמשה דברים מצות ציצית ויציאת מצרים ועול מצות והרהור עבירה והרהור אלילים ...
6
I have checked through all the mefarshim I could find and haven't seen any one of them comment that the meraglim saw prophetically that they wouldn't be the leaders in Eretz Yisroel. The closest I found was the peirush of Rav Moshe Zakut on the Zohar which explains the spiritual thought process of the meraglim but it still indicates that they themselves ...
5
Rashi says that God listened to Moses in that He wouldn't wipe out the nation immediately, so the nations wouldn't be able to say that God was unable to take Israel into the Land. However, God would kill them over a period of forty years.
That's why God says "I have forgiven according to your word" - God listened to Moses' argument, but wouldn't completely ...
5
The masoretic treatise Kitāb al-Khilaf (ספר החילופים) by Misha'el ben `Uzziel records the differences (and similarities) between the famous masoretes Ben Asher and Ben Naftali. The book records that the dagesh in בן-נּון is the opinion of Ben Naftali, against that of Ben Asher, whose opinions formed the Biblical textus receptus following Rambam. Thus the ...
5
The Be'er Basadeh (commenting on this Rashi) explains that the land of Israel is called the tibor/navel of the world because it is considered the center of the world, just as the navel is the center of the body. He also quotes a drasha of Chazal that includes the idea that the primary power of a worm is [by using] it's mouth, so the worms were selected to ...
5
Rashi and Rav Hirsch explain that Hashem had already commanded that he was subject to the death penalty, but they did not yet know the precise manner of the punishment.
Shlach Lecha 15:34
They put him under guard, since it was not specified what was to be
done to him.
Rashi
since it was not specified what was to be done to him: With which method he
...
5
Here's a quote from the Talmud, Ketuvot 112A:
רבי חלבו ור' עוירא ור' יוסי בר חנינא איקלעו לההוא אתרא אייתו קמייהו אפרסקא דהוה כאילפס כפר הינו ואילפס כפר הינו כמה הוי ה' סאין אכלו שליש והפקירו שליש ונתנו לפני בהמתן שליש
§ The Gemara relates that Rabbi Ḥelbo, Rabbi Avira, and Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina happened to come on one occasion to a certain place. The ...
5
Since when would the rabbis permit worship of idols in any manner?
Obviously they shouldn't but since they were human they were capable of making a mistake about whether something falls into the category of Avodah Zora or not.
The Mishna in Horayos 1:3 says if Beis Din makes a mistake as big as saying there is no Averia of Avodah Zora then they would not ...
4
Rabbi Yochanan Zweig, my Rosh Yeshiva, explains this based on Targum Yonasan to Bamidbar 13:16: "When Moshe saw his humility, he changed his name." Why is humility a negative in this context? Moshe himself was the most humble person alive (Bamidbar 12:3), yet he sees this as a negative?
It must be, then, that Moshe was concerned that his humility would ...
4
Sefer Hadoros & Zemach David says Yehoshua was born in 2406 and the story of the Meraglim was in 2449, making him 43 years old.
4
Although we often invoke Midivar Shekker Tirchack as the Torah's command not to lie, it is not really a biblical prohibition. That pasuk is actually discussing beis din and witness. When the Gemara discusses keeping your word in business it invokes another verse, הין צדק איפה צדק.
This still does not apply to a lie in conversation. For that we have the ...
4
In Pirkei Derabbi Eliezer 23 it says that Og was the only survivor of the flood other than Noach and his family (and animals) as he hanged on to a ladder:
וימח את כל היקום אשר על פני האדמה חוץ מנח וכל אשר אתו בתבה שנאמר וישאר אך נח ואשר אתו בתבה וחוץ מעוג מלך הבשן שישב לו עץ אחד מן הסולמות של התיבה ונשבע לנח ולבניו שיהיה להם עבד עולם מה עשה נח נקב חור אח' ...
4
So I looked through a number of mefarshim (commentaries) and there doesn't appear to be any reference to any prophecy. As you say, many mention this Zohar, but I think it would be fair to say that the Be'er Yosef's words are more his own personal presentation of the facts.
Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman zt"l questions in his Sichos Avodas Levi 59 how ...
4
Or perhaps, this is the simple reading of the Zohar.
I believe that this is the closest to the mark. We can quibble over whether it actually is the simplest and most straight-forward explanation of the Zohar, but it does appear to be his understanding of the text. This assumption, that the Zohar is to be so read is shared by others. For example, Rav Yaakov ...
3
RaSh"I on Numbers 26:64 (thanks to Chabad.org)
3
Excellent question! Avot D'Rav Natan ch. 9 Mishna 2 explains why. In summary, he states that that B'nai Yisra'el were tested 10 times (The Mishnah lists all 10) but they weren't punished for any of them except for the incident with the spies, because this was Lashon Hara.
At the end of the Mishnah, he states, that this is a kal vachomer we should learn, ...
3
The Malbim in Sefer HaKarmel says that חפר is a more focused mission, an in-depth investigation into one location, as opposed to לתור, which is a scouting mission which sees the whole land but is not as in-depth.
Malbim does not explain this in connection with the success and failure of the missions, but perhaps the failure of the first mission was that ...
3
The Kli Yakar on יום לשנה says that the punishment actually took place one day a year on Tish'a B'Av. Thus they were punished for "forty days" but the forty days were spread over 40 years. The punishment was that all those who should have been in the army and insisted on not listening to the spies (ages 20 to 60) were allowed to live out their "service life" ...
3
The prime example given by the Talmud of an overriding reason to allow misleading statements is in the interest of maintaining peace (whether marital or otherwise). This would seem to be all the more so a compelling reason when the peace in question is between G-d and the entire Jewish people.
See Yevamot 65b:
וא"ר אילעא משום רבי אלעזר בר' שמעון: מותר ...
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