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"Moses called Hoshea bin Nun Yehoshua" This teaches that he prayed that Joshua be saved from the spies' plans. (Rashi, Numbers 13:16)

Do any of the classic commentators hold Moses at fault for not praying for the welfare of the rest of the spies?

msh210
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Benny Powers
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    What are you quoting? – mevaqesh Jun 13 '17 at 18:59
  • Hi Benny. Do you feel this title helps give people a sense of what will be in the question? Do you feel this tag is the best way to sort this question and that no other tag is appropriate? If you don't, please [edit] your post to improve it. – Double AA Jun 13 '17 at 19:00
  • I think that your premise is incorrect. If you read most of the commentaries, and, you may need to look at beginning of Devraim which has a lot more detail as to what occurred, it seems that Moshe was doubtful of its success. He sent Yehsohua as a means to try to strengthen the mission and maybe convince the others, an das such, prayed for him not to be strayed by the others. Perhaps, he didn't think that his prayers would have been effective for the rest. What's more curious is why he didn't pray for Caleb, unless he knew Calev's inner strength. – DanF Jun 13 '17 at 21:25

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The Kli Yakar asks why Moses he didn't also pray for Caleb - the other good spy.

He gives 2 answers - the 2nd answer explains why he didn't pray for all the other spies; thus preempting your question why Moses wasn't blamed for not praying for them.

The Kli Yakar explains that Moses only prayed for Yehoshua since he was his star student, and if he would go bad it would reflect badly on Moses.

Furthermore, since Yehoshua came from the tribe of Joseph, he was worried that he inherited the trait of tattling from his ancestor Joseph.

The Kli Yakar then asks - in line with your question - why he didn't pray for the spy from Menashe. (The tribe of Joseph was split into the tribes of Efraim and Menashe with a spy for each.)

He answers that since the tribe of Efraim (Yehoshua's tribe) was given precedence and importance by Yaakov, then if the spy of the important tribe (Yehoshua from Efraim) would behave, then the spy from the lesser important (Menashe) tribe would follow along.

וי"א לפי שיהושע היה תלמידו, הקפיד עליו שלא יקדיח תבשילו ויתלו ברבו, וי"א לפי שהיה משבט יוסף שהביא דבת אחיו ע"כ היה ירא שלא ילך בדרך זקנו, כי מטעם זה לא הזכיר בו למטה יוסף ובגדי בן סוסי הזכיר למטה יוסף, ומה שלא התפלל על גדי אולי חשב שאם זה שבא משבט אפרים הגדול ממנשה לא ישנה את תפקידו מסתמא גם הקטן ממני לא ידבר כנגדו, וכבר נודע מברכות של יעקב כי שם שם לו חק להקדים את אפרים לכל דבר שבקדושה, או לפי שנקרא אביו מנשה על שם כי נשני אלהים את כל בית אבי, וחשב משה שמסתמא כל זרעו שכחו כל מעשה אביהם. (כלי יקר) ‏

Danny Schoemann
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  • Very nice but (on the dubious assumption that there's a legit question here) it wouldn't answer up for the rest of the tribe. – Benny Powers Jun 15 '17 at 11:04
  • Related: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/29179/why-pray-for-yhoshua-and-not-kalev – msh210 Jun 17 '17 at 18:42