The Real Battle Is for Morale

Rabbi Abraham Bles argues that the struggle facing the Jewish people is spiritual, not merely military or political. Linking the biblical episode of the spies to current debates, he says the central danger is the erosion of confidence in Israel’s mission, settlement, sacrifice, and belief in the justice of its path.

He says the spies, like some present-day critics in the Israeli press and left wing, tried to weaken the nation by sowing doubt and making the public think it is better to live as a “normal” people than to accept a demanding national calling. He cites the Yerushalmi and Rashi to argue that the spies used references to Amalek, which he notes has the gematria of “doubt,” to undermine morale rather than debate the land issue on principle.

Bles contrasts the spies of Moses with the spies of Joshua. In his reading, Joshua’s agents understood that the decisive information was the morale of the Canaanites, not just numbers or weaponry, because morale and motivation determine battle outcomes. He says the Jewish people remain strong despite efforts to weaken them, calling that resilience “a special miracle.”

He then turns to another Yerushalmi passage, about Aaron’s death and the people’s retreat toward Egypt, to draw two lessons. First, spiritual leaders, especially the Levites in earlier times and today’s religious motivators, must lift national spirits through personal encouragement, optimistic teaching, and faith in the righteousness of the cause. Second, the public needs inspiring figures, from Aaron and biblical sages to modern Jewish heroes and fallen soldiers, to strengthen resolve. The article ends by urging people to look for the good in everything and to hold fast to the belief, “Let us go up and inherit it, for we can surely do it.”