“The Land is very, very good”. Chassidut explains that in order to feel how “The Land is very, very good”, we must fulfill what is written in the Ethics of our Fathers, “Be very, very low of spirit”. This refers to the trait of lowliness.
The ten spies saw the exterior of the Land. They saw fortified cities, the sons of giants, everything was different and strange: “A land that devours its inhabitants”. But Joshua ben Nun and Calev ben Yefuneh had the trait of lowliness that afforded them the ability to sense the inner dimension, to see the goodness of the Land.
In the Zohar, it is written that the spies were afraid of losing their positions. They were afraid that in the Land of Israel, they would no longer be the heads of their tribes. On an inner level, every tzaddik who comes to the Land of Israel loses his previous spiritual attainments in some measure. This is the inner explanation of the verse, “A land that devours its inhabitants”. Thus, it is not simple at all to make Aliyah (ascend) to Israel. Sometimes, it even feels as though it is a descent. But Joshua and Calev, who had the trait of lowliness, did not make all these calculations: If this is the will of G-d, we have no problem losing all our previous spiritual attainments and just being simple people in the Land of Israel. What looks like a descent is actually the greatest ascent of all.
This frees them of all personal interests and they are thus able to see that “The Land is very, very good.”
