Or HaChaim on Numbers 20:8/אור החיים על במדבר כ׳:ח׳

1 קח את המטה…ויקדש בם, "take the staff… and He was sanctified through them." This paragraph has attracted many different interpretations, and most commentators have made a point of offering their comments. Before we will offer our view of the plain meaning of these verses we must first try and understand the nature of Moses' error and the reason underlying G'd's decree. I have come across 10 different approaches to our problem pursued by various commentators. I will list their comments very briefly.

21) Rashi explains that Moses's error was that whereas G'd had told him to speak to the rock he hit the rock instead. 2) Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explains that Moses' error caused the rock not to yield water until Moses struck it for a second time, and that Moses had forgotten G'd's precise instructions when he struck the rock the first time due to the vociferous quarrelling by the congregation. 3) G'd's anger was caused by Moses hitting the rock a second time. Had Moses remained content to strike the rock once, G'd would have accepted this as a form of addressing a rock as one does not expect a rock to listen to words. 4) According to this view G'd's anger was caused by the fact that Moses and Aaron did not sing a song of praise after the water materialised. Such a miracle deserved that it should be acknowledged by not less than a song praising G'd and thanking Him. 5) According to this view Moses sinned by talking down to the Israelites and calling them "rebellious." A man of Moses' stature should not have called the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by a name which belittled them. 6) Maimonides in his treatise שמונה פרקים feels that G'd objected to Moses having "lost his cool" when speaking to the Israelites. When the people observed that Moses was angry at them they concluded that G'd was angry at them also. 7) Rabbeynu Chananel and Nachmanides after him claim that what angered G'd was that Moses portrayed himself and Aaron as producing the water by saying נוציא לכם מים, instead of saying יוציא לכם מים, "He will make water come forth for you." The formula used by Moses created the impression amongst the people that Moses and Aaron produced the water by means of their own devices and know-how. This is why G'd said to them: "because you have not believed Me to make them sanctify Me." 8) Rabbi Moshe Hacohen, quoted by Ibn Ezra also feeels that G'd's anger had to do with Moses' wording of the question: המן הסלע הזה נוציא, "do you expect us to produce water from this rock?" Whereas we know that there are miracles which are produced by G'd's word and others by a combination of G'd's word and an action, Moses misled the people into thinking that G'd could not produce water from this particular rock. He proves his point by quoting Psalms 106,33: "because they rebelled against Him and he spoke rashly." 9) Rabbi Joseph Albo in his ספר העקרים criticises Moses and Aaron for not having proceeded immediately to produce water for their people something he claims they were capable of; by allowing them to become frightened they undermined the people's faith in G'd. 10) The Baal Maaseh Hashem explains that there had been an argument between Moses and the Israelites. The Israelites demanded that Moses produce the water from a different place where they had dug a hole and that Moses was unwilling to speak to the rock which the Israelites had dug out. As a result Moses became angry and threw his staff, not in order to hit the rock but merely as an angry gesture. It so happened that the staff hit the rock G'd had intended to produce the water from.

3None of the ten explanations we have listed really answer all the questions that arise from this paragraph. Nachmanides already pointed out that three of the approaches we have listed are unsatisfactory. Rabbi Ibn Ezra demolished three more of the 10 approaches we have listed. I shall show how the remaining explanations also do not really explain the wording of the Torah satisfactorily. As to the approach of Rabbeynu Chananel shared by Nachmanides, that Moses attributed the production of the water to his own ability, this is patently impossible as Moses was well enough known to the people as a true prophet who had never attributed anything to his own ability. Even granted that Moses' power was such that he could have produced the miracle without calling upon G'd first, it is in the nature of a true servant of the master that his accomplishments reflect credit on his master, in this instance on G'd, not the reverse. Moreover, we find in Exodus 12,21 that Moses did not bother to tell the people that when he instructed them to draw out a lamb for the Passover, etc. that he did so in the name of the Lord. Even at that time the people were well aware that Moses would not have given such instructions unless he had been commanded to do so by G'd. Furthermore, in the situation described here, Moses was forced to use the words נוציא לכם, "we shall extract for you," as they were in fact the ones whom G'd had delegated to do so either by word or by striking the rock I do not concur with the approach of Rabbi Joseph Albo for the simple reason that once Moses had observed that G'd had withheld water from the community upon Miriam's death by letting the well disappear, who was he to countermand G'd's obvious will? How did he know that G'd did not want to discipline the people at that time? This made it imperative for Moses to plead with G'd by prostrating himself rather than by invoking his own powers of prophecy. He had to leave it to G'd to do what He saw fit to do at that time. The approach of the Baal Hamaaseh is full of thorns and thistles containing neither salt nor spices so that I will not even bother to address myself to his arguments, begging his pardon.

4In my search for a satisfactory explanation I have only found peace of mind after perusing the words of the ancient scholars as expressed in the Yalkut Shimoni item 764, for instance. The author of that Midrash writes as follows: יען לא האמנתם בי. The Torah refers to four separate sins with this verse. 1) "you did not believe;" 2) "you did not sanctify;" 3) "you trespassed;" 4) "you rebelled;" "you did not believe for I did not tell you to strike the rock but to speak to it." "You did not sanctify Me to demonstrate that I could produce water from any rock of the Israelites' choosing." "You trespassed when you asked: 'should we produce water from this rock?'" "You rebelled for I told you to speak to the rock, i.e. 'teach the rock a chapter concerning Torah and it will produce water; however, you have violated My instructions.'" [My edition of the Yalkut makes the important additional point somewhat earlier that whereas one hits a young child when one wants its obedience, one appeals to his intelligence once he has grown up. Similarly, whereas at the time when the Israelites were in Refidim (Exodus 17,1) 40 years earlier, Moses was instructed to hit the rock, now the rock had matured and it would respond to a more sophisticated approach, i.e. it could be spoken to, i.e. Moses could teach it a chapter of Torah. Ed.] So far the words of the Yalkut.

5Bearing in mind what the Yalkut said we can understand the meaning of the words: "take the staff and speak to the rock, etc." "and you will produce water for them from the rock." However, first we must clarify some words in the text: 1) Why did G'd command Moses to take his staff if all G'd wanted was for Moses to speak to the rock? 2) Why did G'd repeat the words "and you will produce water for them" after G'd had already said that the rock would yield its water immediately prior to these words? 3) Why did the Torah have to write twice "from the rock" (in verse 8)?

6According to the words of the Midrash the words in these earlier verses become clear retroactively. When G'd said to Moses that he should take the staff this was intended to demonstrate that he was empowered to do what he was about to do by the king (G'd Himself). G'd did not mean for him to use the staff to strike the rock, it was merely to serve as the visible sign that he had authority to perform the miracle he was about to perform. It did not occur to G'd to think that Moses would err and use the staff to hit the rock with, seeing He had instructed him specifically to speak to the rock. Moses ignored the instruction to speak and hit the rock instead. This was the first sin Moses committed according to the words of the Yalkut. The second sin was that he failed to teach the rock a lesson by speaking to it. The third sin was that when G'd said "you will produce water for them from the rock," G'd had meant that any rock the Israelites would request to be the source of their water would do; Moses, by singling out a specific rock, i.e. המן הסלע הזה implied that only a particular rock would respond to G'd's command. The reason the Torah wrote twice מן הסלע was to indicate that it did not matter to G'd from which rock the water would eventually come forth. Had the Torah been particular about which rock, it would have written something like ממנו, "from it," i.e. from the rock which had been mentioned already. When Moses addressed the Israelites by saying: "listen you rebellious people" this proves that he considered them as rebellious by insisting that the water be produced from a rock of their choosing, whereas by his very question Moses implied that the rock chosen by the people was not capable of responding to G'd's command to produce water. This then was the fourth sin the Yalkut had in mind. As a result, Moses erred on two more counts, 1) that G'd had said to him to produce water from a rock of the Israelites' choosing, something which he failed to do, 2) he limited the miracle to a particular rock, thereby reducing the image the people would have of G'd's power. These are the sins listed as number two and number three in the Yalkut.

7It is our duty to explain how a man of G'd such as Moses could have committed four such gross errors.

8I believe that the cause of Moses' errors lies in the very fact that he applied both his wisdom and his reverence for G'd before carrying out G'd's instructions. When G'd told him to take his staff, Moses interpreted this instruction as having a dual meaning; 1) to hit the rock; 2) to demonstrate that he acted at the express command of G'd. He would perform a miracle by means of the staff which had the Ineffable Name of G'd engraved on it. The truth is that there was good reason to interpret the command to take the staff as an order to use the staff to strike the rock with rather than to use it only symbolically. It is true that in Exodus 4,17 G'd instructed Moses to take the staff to perform miracles without mentioning that it be used to strike anything. In this instance, however, the Torah mentioned that the staff would be the instrument by means of which Moses would produce the water. Why else would G'd have appeared to refer to the staff again after having already said: "speak to the rock" when He said "you will produce water from the rock?" Moses thought that what G'd meant was that it was not only the speaking to the rock which would produce the water but also an action he was to perform with the staff. He interpreted the words והוצאת להם מים מן הסלע, "you will extract water for them from the rock" to mean that he would perform an act with the staff. In fact, he thought that these words revealed what G'd had had in mind when He told him to take the staff with him. Although Moses may well have been aware that G'd had also intended for him to produce the water from any rock that the Israelites chose, as I have explained earlier, it did not occur to him that G'd would have told him to take the staff unless He intended for him to use it in the manner he was accustomed to. I am aware that this interpretation is not forcing; I will come back to it later to demonstrate that it is the easiest way to explain Moses' error. The words ודברתם אל הסלע meant that in addition to the staff performing an act you are also to speak to the rock and tell it specifically to release its water. It never occurred to Moses that the words "speak to the rock" referred to teaching the rock (as well as the Israelites) a lesson to demonstrate that the rock had matured enough to respond to verbal instructions alone..

9A dispassionate reader examining the words simply on their own merits will realise that the meaning of the word ודברתם is modified according to the meaning of the words קח את המטה. Our reason tells us that inert objects such as rocks are not likely to comprehend verbal instructions given to it by Moses except under one of two special circumstances. For instance, it could respond to being struck by a staff on which the Ineffable Name of G'd is engraved which would awaken the highest potential of sensitivity G'd has equipped such inert objects with. I have already explained that such things are possible in connection with plants which also do not display this kind of sensitivity unless they have been especially awakened by G'd or His agent. Moses thought that being struck with a staff on which the Ineffable Name was engraved would "awaken" the dormant potential in that rock so that it could subsequently respond to his verbal instructions. An alternate method of awakening the latent sensitivity of such inert objects would be to "teach it a chapter (of Torah)" in the words of the Yalkut, provided that chapter would be taught by a holy man of the calibre of Moses. Seeing that Torah represents the epitome of life, being taught it by the foremost teacher Moses would bring out all the latent forces of life G'd had imbued the apparently inert objects with. It follows that if we understand the words: "take the staff" to mean that the staff should be used to hit the rock with, there would be no need to speak to it at all as it would already have responded to the impact of the staff which had G'd's name egraved on it. If, on the other hand, we do not interpret the words "take the staff" to mean that it should be used to strike the rock with, the words "and speak to the rock" must be interpreted to mean that Moses was to teach the rock a lesson in Torah which would awaken all its latent potential and enable it to respond to Moses' verbal instructions to release the water it contained. Moses' error consisted in thinking that he was to speak to the rock ordinarily and that in order to elicit a response he first had to hit the rock. G'd, however, had meant that he should instruct the rock in a lesson of Torah thus making it unnecessary to hit the rock first.

10At any rate, Moses was aware that the instructions could be interpreted in two different ways. He considered the likelihood that G'd wanted him to teach the rock a lesson in Torah as far-fetched and therefore he reasoned that if he only taught the rock a lesson and it turned out that he had misinterpreted G'd's instructions, the result would be failure and a desecration of the name of G'd. This is why he decided to hit the rock first and speak to it at the same time. He reasoned that if he did this he would not need to worry about the rock failing to yield up its water, and the name of G'd would not be desecrated.

11Moses also inclined to interpret the words והוצאת להם מים as referring to the result of striking the rock even though at the back of his mind he did consider that G'd might have referred to a rock of the Israelites' choosing. Nonetheless he reasoned that in the event G'd had not meant for any rock of the Israelites' choosing to produce its water, the wrong rock would not even yield up its water if he were to strike it. In that event too, G'd's image would be tarnished and the people would question His ability and His power to provide them with water. When we think about all these considerations Moses had to weigh before deciding how best to proceed, we realise that Moses at all times was concerned with portraying G'd in the best possible light.

12When the people challenged Moses to produce water from a specific rock and Moses responded by saying שמעו נא המורים המן הסלע הזה נוציא לכם מים the word מורים has a dual meaning. On the one hand it refers to rebellious people, המראה, disobedience, people who subject G'd to unnecessary tests; on the other hand, it also means הוראה, instruction. Moses referred to the fact that the people gave him instructions as to which rock to produce the water from as a test to see if G'd could do it. It is not surprising that Moses was angry at the people on account of that.

13Do not have any misgivings as to Moses having misunderstood G'd's true intentions. It is not necessary for a prophet always to arrive at the correct conclusion when he studies a subject. In fact this is the reason we are told in Baba Batra 12 that a חכם a wise man, enjoys advantages over a prophet. In our situation, Moses did consider the alternative meanings of G'd's instructions but he decided to "play it safe" from the point of view of ensuring that G'd's image should not emerge tarnished through something he did wrong.

14Having explained the motives which prompted Moses to act as he did, we have to understand G'd's reaction. Why did G'd appear to deny the validity of Moses' considerations when He scored him precisely for what would have been Moses' defence when He said: "because you have not had faith in Me to sanctify Me you will not bring these people, etc.?" G'd accused Moses and Aaron of having decided what they had decided because they were afraid that a certain rock would not yield up its water unless it was precisely the rock which had been known previously to do so, and that even then that rock would respond only if it would be struck. G'd did not allow that Moses' real consideration had been to sanctify G'd's name through producing water from any of the rocks the Israelites had chosen for that purpose and without the need to strike that rock. Had they conformed to the people's choice of rock, G'd's name would truly have been sanctified when the people saw that G'd could make any rock produce water without the rock having to be struck by a staff on which the Ineffable Name of G'd was engraved. If it could have been demonstrated that inert objects such as rocks could have their latent potential released by having Moses teach them a chapter of the Torah this would have revealed to the people an additional dimension of G'd's power. Moses and Aaron should have suppressed their fear in order to enable G'd's image to be sanctified in the manner just described.

15On a deeper level, we have to appreciate that if Moses and Aaron had carried out G'd's instructions as He had meant them to be carried out, the resultant strengthening of the Israelites' faith in Him would have been so enduring that it would have stood the people in good stead for all subsequent generations. In such an event both Moses and Aaron would have entered the Holy Land, built the Holy Temple so that there would have been a fear that in the event the Israelites were to become guilty of a sin that G'd would pour out His wrath over them. We find that the Midrash Tehillim on Psalm 79 explains why Assaph did not write an elegy when he foresaw the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple but wrote a song of thanksgiving. He thanked G'd for having vented most of His anger at the stones of the buildings rather than at the Jewish people. Moses and Aaron missed an opportunity to elevate the Jewish people to a level of faith they had not possessed previously and this is why they were punished so severely.

16The word לכן (verse 12) means "on account of this." The word also has the connotation of an oath. G'd foresaw how the Israelites would conduct themselves in the land of Israel many years hence. Even Moses himself had predicted this already in Deut. 31,29. Had He allowed Moses and Aaron to build the Temple, He would have had to vent His anger at the people when the time came that they sinned, seeing they had allowed ideal conditions to go to waste. As it is, the people never lived in the Holy Land under ideal conditions so that G'd could use this as a mitigating circumstance when evaluating their sins.

17The Torah was specific in denying Moses and Aaron only leadership of הקהל הזה, that they would not lead "this community" to the Holy Land. The implication is that when the Messiah comes Moses and Aaron will lead the entire Jewish nation to ארץ ישראל. The Yalkut item 764 bases this on Hoseah 2,17 וענתה שמה כימי נעוריה, "there she will respond as in the days of her youth," as well as on Deut. 33,21. From the various comments in the Midrashim it appears that but for Moses' and Aaron's error in not speaking to the rock, the generation of Jews at that time could have overcome any spirit of impurity residual in them and could have therefore qualified to become the generation to whom the Messiah would have been been sent.

18והשקית את העדה, "and you (Moses) will give the congregation to drink." The reason the suffix "you" is appended here and the Torah does not simply say that the people will drink (in the third person), is either to tell you that Moses was to ensure that they would not drink too much with resulting damage to their health, or to ensure that they would drink as much as they liked regardless of any potential damage to their health. Considering the fact that the water was "miracle water," drinking too much of it would not carry with it the same hazards as drinking ordinary water would. [I am not aware of the harmful effects of drinking too much water, and assume that the author refers to drinking water which had not been boiled first, i.e. sterilised. Ed.]

19העדה ובעירם, "the congregation and their beasts." We have a rule (Berachot 40) that one gives one's animals to drink (and to eat) before drinking oneself. In this instance the Torah reverses the usual order to teach that the rule mentioned applies only when the life of the human being is not in danger. Whenever there is a danger that a human being may come to harm by first looking after the needs of his livestock, such a rule is suspended. I refer the reader to my comments in connection with Rebeccah giving Eliezer to drink before she gave his camels to drink in Genesis 24,19.