BackA Case of Projection
By: Rabbi Barak Bar-Chaim
The spies that Moses sent to scout the Land of Israel return with their report. The Torah describes the nation’s reaction as follows: “But you did not want to go up, and you rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, your God. You murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hates us, He took us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand[s] of the Amorites to exterminate us.’ Where shall we go up? Our brothers have discouraged us, saying, ‘A people greater and taller than we; cities great and fortified up to the heavens, and we have even seen the sons of Anakim there.’” (Deuteronomy 26-28)
The Jewish people felt that God hated them. The midrash Sifre asks: “Is it possible that God hates Israel? But has it not already been stated ‘I have loved you says Hashem’ (Malachi 1) Rather (in truth) they hated God, the common parable is: What is in your heart about another, is what (you project) in his/her heart toward you.” In psychological terms this is known as projection, one projects or attributes one’s feeling to others. According to the Sifrei, the Jewish people were projecting their hatred towards God as God’s feeling of hatred toward them.
God took the Jewish People out of the Land of Egypt, provided them with manna and water in the desert, and had given them the Torah on Mt Sinai. Why on earth did they hate God? Rashi explains that the Jewish people made the following calculation: If God loved us, He would have taken us to a land like Egypt which has plenty of water provided by the Nile River. He is placing us in the Land of Israel, a land constantly dependent on rainwater, because He hates us. The people’s desire for an easy, challenge-free life is what was ultimately their downfall and led to their mistaken notion. The truth is the opposite, God loves us and, therefore, gives us challenges as opportunities to grow and come closer to Him.
As we approach Tisha B’av, the time we mourn the tremendous tragedies that have befallen our people, let us remember that the Hebrew name of this month is Av, meaning father. Our loving Father in Heaven has not forsaken us! May we merit to see the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, soon in our days, Amen!