Throughout history, mankind has attempted to explore uncharted parts of our planet. Today there are actually satellites snapping a picture of every inch of Earth’s landmass each day, but in 1969 Anthropologist Edmund “Ted” Carpentar embarked on a somewhat unique mission, journeying to remote mountain areas to visit indigenous Papuan tribes who had “no acquaintance” yet with writing, radios, or cameras.
He brought with him a fancy piece of technology- the Polaroid camera- and though some of his peers questioned the ethics of exposing these tribes to technology, his fascinating findings led to a copycat effect, as other Westerners soon began searching for these tribes and making films of their behavior.
I would like to share with you today what happened on the occasions that Carpentar arrived second. He took out his equipment to film these innocent Papuans, but they already knew the routine. The instant they saw the cameras they would rush about for props, one chopping with a stone ax, another finger-painting on bark, and one making fire with bamboo. They were showing off for the camera.
Our Parsha this week’s shares the unfortunate story of Miraglim. These men of great stature, heads of the Jewish people were sent on a mission to scout or spy the Land of Israel. They are asked to return with the Land’s fruit and to report on the strength and fortification of the indigenous nations. We commemorate the tragedy of what happened next each year on Tisha B’av; these prominent men sinned terribly and an entire generation was punished for the terrible sin…of doing exactly what they were told!
They were sent to scout the land: to ascertain the strength of its inhabitants, to assess the security, and to bring back its fruits.
They return: The people are giants. The cities are heavily protected. The land is good and here have some pomegranate, grapes, and figs.
Everything they said was true! They did their job!
Where is the terrible sin that warrants the death of an entire generation!?
In his classical commentary printed in the back of every standard gemara, the Maharsha (16th-17th Centuty Rav Shmuel Eidels) to Sotah 35a explains point by point their mistake. I will share one section of his comments:
ולפי שנשתבחה א”י בשבעה מינים שנאמר ארץ חטה ושעורה גפן ותאנה ורימון ארץ זית שמן ודבש ועיקר חיי נפש שבהן הם חטה ושעורה ושמן … והשתא כשבאו סיפר הכתוב שבאו בתחלה לומר דבר אמת כדי להוציא דיבה על הארץ שאין בה רק אלו ארבעה מינים שהן הג’ מינים שהביאו עמהם מן הגפן ומן התאנים ומן הרמונים ואמרו וגם זבת חלב ודבש היא ודקדקו לסיים בדבר שקר ודיבה וזה פריה שהראום אבל עיקר חיי הנפש שהם שאר הג’ מינים חטה ושעורה ושמן אין בה
(Sorry I do not have the time at the moment to translate, but I will explain his point)
The Land of Israel is praised for the seven species that grow there: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates.
Which of those items are most important to sustenance? Certainly the wheat and barley! The olives, argue the Maharasha, are also a necessity as they are needed for oil.
But grapes, pomegranates, figs, and dates? These fruits may be sweet, but they are just dessert. A nation cannot survive on dessert. The implication of bringing back these candy like fruit was that this was it. The other species were not present. The Jewish people looked at the fruit and believed the distortion of the Miraglim, developing a negative image of the Land.
When Ted Carpentar saw these Papuans putting on a show for the camera, he was filming their lie. Life is not all about the chopping and painting, but even after one encounter with the camera, these tribes understood how to look cool onscreen. They wanted us to see the highlights of Papuan life, not understand it accurately.
In 2019, many of us see our friends and families in images and videos more than we see them in person. Through Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp. We have a lot of experience in how to look good onscreen.
The picture shared in my family Whatsapp group always depict smiling children. The cameras are put away for the tears and tantrums.
Though I grew up in Chicago, I was a little too young to enjoy the Michael Jordan era, so I occasionally watch his highlights on YouTube to appreciate his greatness. In my mind, he never missed a shot, but in reality, he missed more than half of them.
If the Miraglim brought cameras with them, they would have carefully cropped the images and trimmed the videos. This is exactly what they did by bringing back grapes and pomegranates and leaving behind the staples of wheat and barley.
I am not suggesting that we share images of crying children or videotape moments of frustration.
But let’s be honest with each other: each of us has moments when we are thankful the cameras are off, and if it seems that all of our friends and family are smiling all day every day, then we are falling for the report of the Miraglim. Comparing our real lives to the fake lives we follow is unhealthy, and very often leads to depression. If we can appreciate how a primitive camera or even fruit on a stick can misrepresent reality, we can internalize the fact that social media does not capture reality or nuances of life, and we can avoid the danger of falling for the report of the Miraglim.
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