the medicine of kedushas ha'aretz -- R' Nosson Ra'anan on the meraglim

There were indications from the get-go that the spies mission would not be successful, and Moshe, Yehoshua, and Kaleiv suspected as much:

1) Hashem's response of, "Shlach lecha if you think it is a good thing to do but I am not going to tell you to do it," was an obvious clue that this was a bad idea, otherwise why would Hashem not commanded Moshe to take action.

 

2) Moshe changed Yehoshua's name and davened that he be spared from being negatively influenced by the other spies.

 

3) Kaleiv took a detour to daven at the kever of the Avos for help, indicating he suspected something was awry with this mission.

 

Why then did Moshe go through with it? 

 

One can easily make the mistake in reading the parsha that things were hunky-dory, and the spies  mission to Eretz Yisrael is what stirred the pot and created havoc.  The truth is 180 degrees the opposite.  The mission to Eretz Yisrael was not the problem; it was the potential solution.  We already saw in last week's parsha that Bn"Y were grumbling.  There was the episode of the misoninim, the episode of kivros ha'taavah, Miriam's mistaken criticism of Moshe.  The wheels were coming off the bus.  The problem facing Moshe was what to do about it.  The people needed something to boost their spiritual energy enough to get them across the finish line.  Just being in the midbar, albeit surrounded by ananei ha'kavod, the be'er, the mon, was not enough.  This is why Moshe decided to sent shluchim into Eretz Yisrael.  Rav Nosson Ra'anan, R' Kook's son in law, explained that Moshe's hope was that a taste of kedushas ha'aretz would have the needed impact.  You see 17, 18 year old kids who go off to Eretz Yisrael and they come back after a year and they are completely transformed.  Ain hachi nami, it's being away from home, it's a time ripe for maturation, it's being immersed in yeshiva, that makes an impact, but above and beyond all that, it's the effect of kedushas ha'aretz.  If kedushas ha'aretz has such an effect on a 18 year old growing up in our society, kal v'chomer hu that it would rub off and have an effect on the dor dei'ah.  Whatever the flaws of the spies, whatever the flaws within the nation, Moshe saw the experience of tasting Eretz Yisrael as the one thing that could save them.  If only the people had been receptive to the medicine...