~ Thoughts on The Parsha ~
Parshas Chukas
One Strike and You're Out!
By: Daniel Listhaus
וַיִּקַּח משֶׁה אֶת הַמַּטֶּה
מִלִּפְנֵי ה' כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּהוּ: וַיַּקְהִלוּ
משֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן אֶת הַקָּהָל אֶל פְּנֵי הַסָּלַע וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם שִׁמְעוּ נָא
הַמֹּרִים הֲמִן הַסֶּלַע הַזֶּה נוֹצִיא לָכֶם מָיִם: וַיָּרֶם משֶׁה אֶת יָדוֹ וַיַּךְ אֶת הַסֶּלַע בְּמַטֵּהוּ
פַּעֲמָיִם וַיֵּצְאוּ מַיִם רַבִּים וַתֵּשְׁתְּ הָעֵדָה וּבְעִירָם: וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל משֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן יַעַן לֹא הֶאֱמַנְתֶּם בִּי
לְהַקְדִּישֵׁנִי לְעֵינֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לָכֵן לֹא תָבִיאוּ אֶת הַקָּהָל
הַזֶּה אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לָהֶם
“Moshe took the staff
from before Hashem, as He had commanded him. Moshe and Aharon gathered the
congregation before the rock and he said to them, “Listen now, rebels, shall we
bring forth water for you from this rock? Then Moshe raised his arm and struck
the rock with his staff twice; abundant water came forth and the assembly and
their animals drank. Hashem said to Moshe and Aharon, 'Because you did not
believe in Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of the Children of Israel, therefore,
you will not bring this congregation to the Land that I have given them.'”
-Chukas 20:9-12
Rashi[1]
informs us that the ever-flowing well of water which the Jews had in the desert
for forty years was there only through the merit of Miriam. Therefore, when
Miriam died, the waters ceased . At that point, the Jews immediately swarmed
Moshe and Aharon complaining that they were going to die of thirst in the
desert and it would have been better had they remained in Mitzrayim.
Moshe and Aharon davened (prayed) to Hashem on their behalf and Hashem
told Moshe to take his stick and gather everyone in front of a rock and then
speak to it to bring water forth.[2]
However, as the passuk (verse) describes, Moshe struck the rock
instead of speaking to it and for this slight deviation in Hashem's
commandment, he was punished by not being able to be a part of the culmination
of all his efforts as the leader, bringing the B'nei Yisroel into Eretz
Yisroel.
It
is so hard for us to understand how it could be that despite everything Moshe rabbeinu
did leading B'nei Yisroel through the midbar (desert), that
Hashem not allow him to enter Eretz Yisroel because of a seemingly small
misunderstanding. The Ohr Hachaim[3]
compiles a list of ten explanations to try to understand what Moshe did wrong.
He first brings the opinion of Rashi[4]
that Moshe's mistake was that he hit the rock as opposed to speaking to it. He
then brings the opinion of the Ibn Ezra who maintains ins that
the sin was not in the hitting of the rock as opposed to speaking to it, but
rather that Moshe's mistake was not having the proper kavanah (focused
thoughts) when he hit the rock which required him to have to hit it a second
time. Another possibility is that leaving aside his kavanah, Moshe
should have only hit it once and definitely not twice. Another possible
explanation is that perhaps the sin of Moshe was that he did not sing a shirah
(song of praise) on the event of water flowing from the rock. And the list
goes on. Each explanation in the Ohr HaChaim's compilation is
essentially a slightly different form of
Moshe rabbeinu barely sinning. So what did he do that was really so bad?
The
Kli Yakar[5]
points out that no matter which approach one takes, the fundamental mistake
Moshe rabbeinu was punished for was not as much about what he did, but
rather what he could have done. Had Moshe rabbeinu spoken to the rock
and the rock would have just listened and brought forth water – a tremendous kiddush
Hashem would have been made. At that moment a kal v'chomeir would
have been lodged into the minds of everyone present that if this rock, which is
just a rock, listens and obeys the commands of Hashem so diligently, so much
more so must we who have brains and the ability to think, be wary to carry out
the commandments of Hashem meticulously. Moshe's hitting the rock instead of
speaking to the rock allowed only for a watered-down[6]
version of this logic to be learned from and therefore he was severely
punished.
If
we stop to think about this, it is absolutely mind-boggling. It is true that
Moshe hit the rock instead of speaking to it, and perhaps it is even true that
that watered-down the potential lesson that could have been learned. However,
there is no doubt that a tremendous miracle occurred in the presence of the
whole nation. They saw an incredible feat occur before their very eyes.
Certainly it boosted their belief in Hashem and motivated them to listen better
to Hashem and Moshe. So why indeed was Moshe punished so severely?
We see from this episode the severity of not achieving
our fullest when it comes to making a kiddush
Hashem. It is true that even with Moshe hitting the rock, tremendous
lessons could be learned, but Moshe could have done more to publicize kavod
shamayim, and he neglected to do so.
It is no
secret that the summer is a very challenging time in terms of keeping our
standards. For some, it is a free-for-all time when all the restrictions of the
year fall away and we have the opportunity to do things we would never be
caught dead doing in our own communities or yeshivos. For others, it may not be
a free-for-all, but yet may still be a time where although standards are kept,
they are not necessarily kept as high. We must remember, though, that the term kiddush
Hashem means more than just not acting like an animal in public. Moshe's
punishment for not creating as much a kiddush Hashem as he could have,
occurred at a time when a tremendous kiddush shamayim was made.
Kiddush Hashem is relevant in our behaving properly and being careful with
the way we speak, dress, and act in front of the world, in front of the
community where we spend the summer, in front of the new friends we make who do
not even necessarily know where we are personally holding to be able to judge
us, and even in private. As banim l'makom, we must be careful with the
ways we conduct ourselves all year-round.
May Hashem help us and all of k'lal yisroel
not only stay away from chas v'shalom causing a chilul Hashem,
but to even help us maintain the proper standards of kiddush shamayim.
With such a zechus, may we experience of summer of ultimate kiddush
Hashem with the arrival of mashiach and the third Beis Hamikdash,
instead of mourning in galus for the destruction of the first and
second Batei Mikdashos.
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