Yehoshua, Kaleb and the great dilema.

In this weeks parsha we read the story of the 12 spies. The nation of Israel is camped out at the Israeli border, then called the land of Caanan. G-d tells Moshe, send spies into the land, send the leaders of every tribe. So Moshe comes to the people and tells them to go in and see what's going on in our new  home. Check out how the inhabitants live, how are their defenses, what is the agriculture like, etc.  And...off they go.
The spies spy, the people wait, and two of the spies, the heroes of our story, sneak off. Why? Well, after noticing a disturbing trend amongst their partners in espionage, they decide to go look for some advice. What they noticed was a lot of complaining. The Torah says that in Hebron their were giants. Children of Goliath's early ancestor. The spies weren't to fond of this discovery, and Yehoshua and Kaleb noticed. So where'd they go? They went to the burial site of our forefather's and mothers, Marat Hamachpelah. There they prayed for advise on how to keep the spies from turning the people against Moshe, once they hear about the giants.
Flash forward. The mission complete the spies return to an anxious crowd, and begin spinning their tale: "That land is full of giants! Everywhere we went, funerals and more funerals! The land swallows up it's inhabitants! We were like grasshoppers in their eyes!"
Enter Yehoshua and Kaleb: They were in a bind. What do you say when your out numbered, when everyone is saying the exact opposite and nobody wants to hear anything else? Even if they had the right words to save the day, who would let them talk? By now the words of the spies had created a near riot amongst the people, and their anger, once again, is aimed at Moshe.
"Why did he bring us here!? We we're how e better off in Egypt! Remember what he did to Korach!? How long will we follow him?"
Then all of Yehoshua and Kaleb's prayers paid off. They had an idea. If you can't beat em'....Join em'.
"That's not all this Moshe did! First he made us leave Egypt! (The crowd quits down, could it be Moshe's prize student has turned on him too?) Then he makes us run for our lives from the greatest army in the world! Until we where stuck between them and the sea!...... Then he split the sea! And drowned that army! Brought us victory over Amalek! Brought the Mann down from heaven! Brought the Torah down from Mt Sinai! And now he's led us to our promised land! Don't fear the inhabitants of this land, they are our Bread! We will swallow THEM! It doesn't matter how big they are, it's not our fight. G-d brought us here, G-d will conquer the land. Don't turn on him now after all the miracles he's shown us!"
Awe inspiring! They did it, they stood up against the whole nation and they where heard. (Let's ignore for the time being that the crowd then tried to stone them, and G-d had to step in.)
In reward for showing true leadership, Yehoshua is given the task of leading the nation into Israel after Moshe passes away. For a true leader, it's not enough to have the right message, he or she also needs to have the wisdom to be heard. Those two things are seldom found together these days. The most important messages are often the ones no one wants to hear. While the best speaker's are rearly saying the whole truth.
Once Rabbi Nachman of Breslov was speaking of the greatness of our father Abraham. How he stood up to the whole world, and declared the unity of one G-d. Even when threatened with death. After Rabbi Nachman was done, one of the listeners sighed and asked in despair, "Where do we have someone like that in our generation?" The Rabbi replied, "YOU could be that person"
We all have the potential to be leaders. The Jewish people were destined to be a light unto the nations. Every one of us. It's dependent on us to be proud of what we have to offer, our personal truths, and the divine truths that G-d has given us. To find the right message and find ways to spread that message using our individual strengths. Even if the whole world doesn't get it ....just yet.