It’s hard to know with whom America is negotiating.
We hear conflicting reports by the hour – or minute – about whether a deal with Iran is imminent or not. Or, whether any real negotiations are actually happening.
It reminds me of the business saying, “Never negotiate against yourself!”
This principle might help us understand the fatal flaw in this week’s parsha.
In Parshat Shelach we read about Moshe sending spies to scout out the Land of Israel, then known as Canaan. Unfortunately, they returned with a negative report, leading to the catastrophic punishment of wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. Only, the next generation would enter the Promised Land.
How did the spies – who had witnessed the Exodus from Egypt, Splitting of the Sea, Revelation at Sinai, and daily Manna from heaven – fail to have faith in G-d, Who promised the land to them?
A key failure can be found in their attitude. Instead of focusing on G-d’s promise and their own inner strength, they defined themselves by how they stacked up against others.
They looked at the tall Canaanites and stated:
“We seemed to ourselves as tiny as grasshoppers next to them, and so did we seem to them!”
The commentaries explained that this verse repeats the assessment of the spies’ size because it was their own fault. By looking small in their own eyes, it caused them to look small in the eyes of others.
Don’t negotiate with yourself! Remember that Hashem believes in you!
With this approach, the sea splits and the Land of Canaan becomes the Land of Israel!