In Parshat Shelach we read about the episode of the spies. Upon hearing the evil report from most of the spies, the Torah tells us the reaction of the nation:
Vatisa kol Ha’eidah Vayitnu et Kolam, vatyivku ha’am balayla hahu” (14:1)
“The entire assembly raised up and issued their voice, the people wept that night”
The bolded words above seem strange. What does it mean that the people literally “gave their voice”, and not just “raised their voice”?
Perhaps the Torah is alluding to one of the major mistakes perpetrated by the Jewish People in regards to the Meraglim affair. Instead of maintaining their own judgment, they “gave their voice” to the spies with the evil report. They chose not to think independently, but rather to blindly follow what the gang was saying.
We must be careful to never blindly give our voices to others. Groupthink ignores each person’s unique perspective and eliminates nuances among people’s opinions. We protect keep our voices so that our voices reflect who we truly are and what we actually believe. Our voice is too precious and too powerful to simply hand over to someone else. We can lend our voices to others and on behalf of others, and we can amplify our voice by joining together with others on a common cause. However the story of the meraglim teaches us to be very wary about giving our voices over wholesale to someone else.
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