In this week’s Parsha – Moshe Rabeinu lost his entry visa to the holy land, to which he aspired throughout his life, especially having led his people for the difficult forty years in the desert. We read on Shabbat:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָה֮ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֣ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן֒ יַ֚עַן לֹא־הֶאֱמַנְתֶּ֣ם בִּ֔י לְהַ֨קְדִּישֵׁ֔נִי לְעֵינֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל לָכֵ֗ן לֹ֤א תָבִ֙יאוּ֙ אֶת־הַקָּהָ֣ל הַזֶּ֔ה אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־נָתַ֥תִּי לָהֶֽם׃
But G’d said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them.”
The verse does not specify what their mistake was, but famously Rashi explains that “Hitting the rock was the issue for which they had to abandon their dream of going to Eretz Yisrael.
Rashi goes on to say :
להקדישני. שֶׁאִלּוּ דִּבַּרְתֶּם אֶל הַסֶּלַע וְהוֹצִיא, הָיִיתִי מְקֻדָּשׁ לְעֵינֵי הָעֵדָה, וְאוֹמְרִים מַה סֶּלַע זֶה שֶׁאֵינוֹ מְדַבֵּר וְאֵינוֹ שׁוֹמֵעַ וְאֵינוֹ צָרִיךְ לְפַרְנָסָה מְקַיֵּם דִּבּוּרוֹ שֶׁל מָקוֹם, קַל וָחֹמֶר אָנוּ:
להקדישני „TO SANCTIFY ME — For had you spoken to the rock and it had brought forth water I would have been sanctified before the whole congregation, for they would have said: What is the case with this rock which cannot speak and cannot hear and needs no maintenance? It fulfils the bidding of the Omnipresent God! How much more should we do so?
The explanation leaves us still perplexed with the following question: “is a miracle of a simple rock being hit by a stick, and then supplying water for a million people, smaller than if the rock would have been reacting to a “verbal request”?
What makes it to such a big difference resulting in Moshe Rabeinu losing his right to go into the Land of Israel?
Perhaps, it does :
The Jewish people has lived through the most rough times, firstly during their slavery in Egypt, and subsequently the forty years in the desert. Those conditions naturally cause anyone involved to become tough and hardened. It is a necessary natural response to the surroundings. Approaching what was going to be a dramatic change in the lives of the people. Settling down in a “normal habitat”, G’d instructed Moshe to talk to the rock, and by doing so, teaching the nation that time is fast coming, in which we will be changing our status from a “nomadic” to a “normal” nation. This involves an adjustment from “hitting” to “talking” – as a general method of behaviour. By hitting the rock, a deep educational point was missed, and sometimes I feel that we still, to this day, prefer the rough method.
Let us talk to each other…
Warm regards and Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Chaim Michael Biberfeld