Kalev Prays Alone in Chevron
Kalev goes alone to Chevron to pray he will be saved from the spies’ plot, stands firm against the crowd, and is rewarded with Chevron as his inheritance.
The Gemara in Sotah expounds the pasuk in Parashas Shelach (14:24), “As for my servant Kalev, because he had ‘ruach acheres,’ I shall bring him to the land to which he came and his offspring shall inherit it.” The Gemara understands the words “to which he came” to mean that he went alone to Hebron to pray that Hashem should save him from the plot of the spies. That is why he was ultimately rewarded with Hebron as part of his inheritance. The simple understanding of “ruach acheres” means that he withstood the pressure of conforming to the other spies. He stood against the tide. For having the courage and wherewithal to stand apart from them, he was rewarded.