The reason why Moshe Rabbeinu was unable
to enter Eretz Yisrael is a well-known story found in this week’s parshah. In
this week’s parshah, Parshas Chukas, Hashem tells Moshe and Aharon to draw
water from a rock in the desert for the Bnei Yisrael to drink. Moshe then hits the
rock and water flows out. Afterwards Hashem tells Moshe that both he and Aharon
cannot enter Eretz Yisrael since, “יַעַן לֹא הֶאֱמַנְתֶּם
בִּי לְהַקְדִּישֵׁנִי לְעֵינֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל” “since you did not have faith in me to sanctify me in the
eyes of the children of Israel” (Bamidbar 20:12). The pasuk does not say
specifically how Moshe and Aharon were guilty of this, so Rashi explains that
Moshe was supposed to speak to the rock instead of hitting it. His speaking to
it would have shown Bnei Yisrael that just as an inanimate object reacts to
Hashem’s commandments, so should we humans.
However, the
explanations do not end there. Nearly every commentator goes into great detail
to determine exactly how these great men sinned and how they were even confused
as to what Hashem’s purpose was in the first place. The explanation I would like
to discuss this week is that of the Ohr HaChaim. He brings a medrash which says
that Moshe and Aharon committed four sins. They were: that Hashem did not tell
them to hit the rock and they did, that they were supposed to allow Bnei
Yisrael to choose whichever rock they wanted for them to bring the water out of
and they didn’t, that they said to Bnei Yisrael, “הֲמִן הַסֶּלַע
הַזֶּה נוֹצִיא לָכֶם מָיִם” “can we draw water for you from this
rock?” (20:10), which sounds as if they were saying that Hashem couldn’t do
it, and finally, that they changed from what Hashem had told them to do. Let’s examine
each of these one by one.
While instructing him
how to draw the water, Hashem tells Moshe to bring along his staff. Asks the
Ohr HaChaim, if Moshe was not supposed to hit the rock, then what was the
purpose of the staff? He answers that by looking at the pasuk you see that the
staff was not there to be used actively. The pasuk says, “קַח אֶת הַמַּטֶּה… וְדִבַּרְתֶּם אֶל הַסֶּלַע”
“Take the staff…and you [Moshe and Aharon] should speak to the rock” (20:8).
The staff was known as a symbol of Hashem’s permission, so when Moshe did
something while holding the staff, it showed that he was doing it under Hashem’s
direction. Here too, the staff was not needed to perform the actual deed but
rather for everyone to see that Moshe was operating under Hashem’s command. In
order to clarify this to Moshe, Hashem told him specifically in the same pasuk
that he should speak to the rock. Not realizing this was Moshe’s first mistake.
This was also his second mistake since he changed from exactly what Hashem had told
him to do.
In that same pasuk,
Hashem tells Moshe, “וְהוֹצֵאתָ לָהֶם מַיִם מִן הַסֶּלַע”
“You shall bring forth for them water from the rock” (ibid). How come
the pasuk needs to mention the rock by name twice in the same pasuk? The pasuk
could have simply said that he will bring forth water and we could have
inferred that he meant from the rock? The Ohr HaChaim explains that what this
second mention does is separate it from the first mention, meaning that really
Moshe could have used any rock that Bnei Yisrael asked him to use, but instead
he used the same rock that had been used as a well the entire time they had
been in the desert (known as the Well of Miriam). This cut off the potential
for a bigger sanctification of Hashem’s name amongst Bnei Yisrael.
Finally, when Moshe and
Aharon are about to hit the rock, they say, “שִׁמְעוּ נָא
הַמֹּרִים הֲמִן הַסֶּלַע הַזֶּה נוֹצִיא לָכֶם מָיִם” “Listen now, rebels,
shall we bring forth water for you from this rock?” (20:10). This sounds as
if they are saying that water could not be brought out from this specific rock
which shows a complete lack of trust in Hashem. All together, these four
reasons sound like fine testimony to Moshe and Aharon’s sin.
Still, how can we end
here? How can we end off by saying that Moshe and Aharon were guilty of
multiple cases of rebellion and lack of trust in Hashem? How could it possibly
be true? The Ohr HaChaim says that we have an obligation to explain exactly how
these two great men could have made these mistakes and how they were not really
rebelling.
He explains that Moshe
knew that there were two possible explanations for needing the staff, either to
hit the rock or, like we explained, to show that he was doing this with Hashem’s
permission. At this point two things came to Moshe’s mind, first off, the fact
that in Mitzrayim he had used the staff to actually perform miracles many
times. Secondly, the way we explained earlier that Hashem mentioned speaking to
rock at the same time as he mentioned the staff, Moshe learned it the exact
opposite. He reasoned that Hashem’s instructions were to speak to the rock, but
that hitting it was also necessary to bring the water out. Also, since the rock
cannot hear, Moshe figured that it wouldn’t make any sense for speaking to be
enough. (Perhaps this is why Rashi explained the way he did. See the first
Paragraph.) This also explains the second mistake since Moshe did not think he
was changing anything from what Hashem had told him.
For Moshe’s third mistake,
the Ohr HaChaim explains that Moshe was not sure if Hashem meant for him to hit
the same rock or any rock he felt like. In order to err on the side of caution,
he decided not to try out a new rock but to instead stick with the one they had
already used during their time in the desert. Also, even if he could have hit a
different rock, Hashem does not make new miracles for no reason and Moshe did
not see any reason why Hashem would make a new miracle in this case and cause a
second rock to become a well. This will answer up for Moshe’s last mistake.
Even though we can understand
now what Moshe
and Aharon were thinking at the time, they still made a mistake. The reason
they were punished is because in some cases, you are not supposed to be cautious,
instead, you have to take a chance that may result in an even larger Kiddush
Hashem. If Moshe and Aharon had done what they were supposed to do, the faith
that Bnei Yisrael had in Hashem would have been so complete that it never would
have been lost. However, since they didn’t, they were punished that they could
not enter Eretz Yisrael. Why this specific punishment? Because if Moshe would
have gone into the Land, he would have built the Beis Hamikdash and a Beis Hamikdash
built by Moshe could not be destroyed. Both Batei Mikdash were destroyed
because of the sins of Bnei Yisrael, but if they would have been
indestructible, Hashem would have had to punish the nation itself. Because Bnei
Yisrael entered the Land with less than perfect faith levels, Moshe was unable
to enter with them.
We see from here clear
evidence that even at a time of great sorrow, like when we heard that our
greatest leaders, Moshe and Aharon, would not come with us into Eretz Yisrael,
Hashem is still looking out for our best interests. Let’s use that fact to help
us improve our own levels of Emunah, and hopefully bring about the day of an
indestructible Third Beis Hamikdash!
Shabbat Shalom!
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