The commentaries on Bamidbar 9:1 shed some light on this. In Perek 9, the Torah describes the second bringing of the Korban Pesach, the first being the one in Egypt itself. Rashi asks our question, and answers based on the Medrash, “it implies something disparaging to Israel – that during all the forty years they were in the wilderness they offered only this single Passover sacrifice.” As elaborated by the Ramban, Bnei Yisrael basically exempted themselves from the Korban Pesach through the sin of the spies, which caused them to stay in the desert for an extra 40 years. During this time, the boys did not get a brit milah, which is a necessary prerequisite for the bringing of the Korban Pesach. Since the chronological beginning of the Sefer implies something disparaging, that part is discussed in the middle of the Sefer, “hidden away,” so to speak. 

However, R. Ovadia Seforno uses the evidence to point to something laudatory. The Seforno says that the lack of chronological order is not to “tuck away” the disparaging parts. The Torah simply finished what it was talking about before (setting up the Mishkan, and then setting up the camp of Bnei Yisrael around it). The Torah then describes four events where Bnei Yisrael did well, and were it not for the Meraglim they would have immediately gone into Eretz Yisrael: 1) inaugurating the Mishkan, 2) the inauguration of the Leviim, 3) their excitement over the Korban Pesach (the people who missed it asked for a second chance to bring it), and 4) their willingness to follow Hashem in the desert. The Torah grouped these four events one after another not because they all happened one after another, but because they are all a description of the good things that Bnei Yisrael did.

We can learn a number of things from this. The first is that with the same exact evidence, someone can view it negatively, and from a different perspective it can be viewed positively. But another thing we can see is just how close we were to coming into the Land of Israel, not because of the Mitzvot themselves (the Bnei Yisrael were commanded to do them, and did them), but because of their excitement to do them. The Seforno specifically highlighted that as a reason for them to go right into the Land of Israel (were it not for the Meraglim). And the inverse is what prevented them from going in - “אַחֵינוּ הֵמַסּוּ אֶת לְבָבֵנוּ” - “Our brothers have made our heart melt” (Devarim 1:28). It was the lack of excitement for Eretz Yisrael that prevented them from going in, and it was their excitement for Mitzvot that led them to go in the first place. 

Shabbat Shalom and Yom Yerushalayim Sameach,

Rabbi Moshe Abrams

Thank you to everyone who joined us at our 23rd Annual Gala this week to celebrate Kohelet Yeshiva's incredible success and to pay tribute to our esteemed honorees!

Our Kohelet Yeshiva High School Night of Learning was a huge success! The Beit Midrash was full of families and community members learning together, and it was wonderful seeing our students leading the group learning and giving shiurim. Mazal Tov to all of our students who wrote insightful and thought-provoking articles in the "Divrei Cheifetz" Torah Journal that was released and distributed at our Night of Learning! Kol HaKavod!

Our KYLS students celebrated Yom Yerushalayim with a range of activities and programs, including special video presentations, cracking the code on the Kotel note, building a model of the Gesher HaMeitarim (also called the Bridge of Strings or Jerusalem Light Rail Bridge), and and an activity relating to Chizkiyahu's Water Tunnel.