When Moshe appoints the spies to reconnoiter the land of Israel, the Torah names the spies that represent each tribe. Then Moshe changes the name of Hosheah to Yehoshua. Rashi comments that adding the two letters of God's name was a prayer that Yehoshua not succumb to the persuasion of his fellow spies.
Names are important and somewhat prophetic. Every letter is essential. How then, asks the
Tallelei Chaim
, was Moshe able to change the name of Hosheah unilaterally, and where did the "
yud
" that he added come from? The Midrash explains that when Avraham's name was changed so was Sara
i's
to Sara
h
. The
yud,
whose numerical equivalent is 10, was then split in two. A "
heh
", equal to five, replaced the
Yud
in Sarai's original name, and the other "
heh
" was added to Avram's name. The
yud
who felt slighted at being removed from such a righteous person's name found a new home in the name Yehoshua.
Letters have mystical symbolic properties as well, continues the
Shvilei Pinchas
. The physical world was created through the letter
heh
while the spiritual world was created through the letter
yud
. Hashem wants
Bnei Yisroel
to integrate these two worlds and thereby elevate the physical world to the spiritual world. In fact, Hashem created the physical body of Man before his spiritual soul. The integration of the two was necessary for
Bnei Yisroel
to enter the Land and live there productively. However, the spies erred in this area. They were great men who were on such a high spiritual plane that they could not conceive moving from their spiritual cocoon in the desert to a physical existence in
Eretz Yisrael
. Therefore, they wanted to remain in the desert.
The spies wanted to isolate the spiritual from the physical. Moshe's message was that the two needed to be integrated. The
Tallelei Chaim
notes that
Knesset Yisroel
needed to include both worlds, the spiritual, concealed world represented by our Matriarch Leah, and the revealed world of our Matriarch Rachel, a world we can relate to. Avraham and Sarah should have been the Patriarch and Matriarch of all twelve tribes, but they were on too high a spiritual level to effectively raise the twelve children to become the twelve tribes in a world not yet ready for such spirituality. Instead, the power of the
yud
was divided between Leah who would incorporate the concealed world into the nature of
Bnei Yisroel
and Rachel who would bring the power of the revealed world to the nation.
Of the twelve spies, two remained untainted, Caleb ben Yefuneh of the Tribe of Yehudah, descendent of Leah, and Yehoshuah bin Nun of the tribe of Ephraim, descendent of Rachel. Each inherited the great aspect of his Matriarch, but Moshe now combined the two aspects in Hosheah by adding the
yud
to the
heh
, thereby integrating the physical with the spiritual so that Yehoshuah would have the tools to be an effective leader. So, while the spies wanted to remain in that ethereal world, a possibility that was destroyed with the sin of the golden calf, Moshe prepared the scenario for entry into a physical existence in
Eretz Yisroel
. In fact, Yehoshuah's first act upon entering Eretz Yisroel was seeing to it that all males would be circumcised, since no
brit milah
was performed during the travels in the desert.
Sarah lived in a mini
mishkan
, writes the
Lemachar Aatir
. Hers was still the
yud
dimension which she imparted to Leah and her descendants including Moshe. Hosheah before his name change is described as involved in the physical aspects of the
beit medrash
, of arranging for adequate seating and other such matters, a legacy of his ancestress Rachel. Now, by adding the
yud
to his name, Moshe bestowed upon him the revealed, completely spiritual aspect of Leah so that there would be an awakening of the forces from above to join the forces from below to enable him to be an effective leader.
The
Mishchat Shemen
notes that grammatically a
yud
as a suffix connotes either "I" (verb) or "my" (noun). Our Matriarch's name Sara
i
implied that she had full control over herself. Only then could she could reach a higher level and rule over others. After that, Hashem changed her name to Sara
h
with the all- encompassing
heh
. Moshe's lesson to Yehoshuah was to first gain complete control over himself before he could try to control the nation. The spies, writes Rabbi Kofman z"l, never got control of their egos and were unable to extricate themselves from their personal agendas. As the
Sichot Mussar
, states, the fear of losing their leadership when they would enter the land, their desire for honor, blinded them into speaking negatively about the land.
People who constantly seek honor condemn themselves, writes the
Leovdecha B'Emes
. Today, the trap of trying to keep up with the Joneses, of maintaining appearances, can readily compromise one's integrity and cause one's downfall (and the downfall of others). That's the
yud
Moshe blessed Yehoshuah with, the blessing of self- awareness to withstand the pressure of society.
A good leader must be strong in his own identity, and willing and able to withstand public pressure. A leader of Bnei Yisroel must also love the land of Eretz Yisroel and understand that his personal gifts of leadership and the land are gifts Hashem has given us to enhance our relationship with Him through our service to Him. All this and so much more Moshe imparted to Yehoshuah by adding the yud from Sarah Imenu to his name.