Parashat Hukkat
Two Strikes and They’re Out?
Though we may
challenge the severity of Moses’ and Aaron’s punishment for striking the rock,
rather than speaking to it, we affirm sacredness by trying to comprehend it.
By Rabbi Eric Polokoff
The following article
is reprinted with permission from The Union of
American Hebrew Congregations. For
a free e-mail subscription to the UAHC’s weekly Torah commentary, please click here.
Parashah Overview
- The
laws of the red heifer to purify a person who has had contact with a
corpse are given. (Numbers 19:1–22)
- The
people arrive at the wilderness of Zin. Miriam dies and is buried there.
(Numbers 20:1)
- The
people complain that they have no water. Moses strikes the rock to get
water for them. God tells Moses and Aaron they will not enter the Land of
Israel. (Numbers 20:2–13)
- The
king of Edom refuses to let the Children of Israel pass through his land.
After Aaron’s priestly garments are given to his son Eleazer, Aaron dies.
(Numbers 20:14–29)
- After
they are punished for complaining about the lack of bread and water, the
Israelites repent and are victorious in battle against the Amorites and the
people of Bashan, whose lands they capture. (Numbers 21:4–22:1)
Focal Point
Miriam died there and was buried there. The community was
without water, and they joined against Moses and Aaron…
Moses and Aaron came away from the congregation to the
entrance of the Tent of Meeting and fell on their faces. The Presence of Adonai appeared to them, and Adonai spoke to Moses, saying, “You and
your brother Aaron take the rod and assemble the community, and before their
very eyes order the rock to yield its water. Thus you shall produce water for
them from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their beasts.”
Moses took the rod from before Adonai, as God had commanded him. Moses and Aaron assembled the
congregation in front of the rock; and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels,
shall we get water for you out of this rock?” And Moses raised his hand and
struck the rock twice with his rod. Out came copious water, and the community
and their beasts drank.
But Adonai 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.” Those are the Waters of
Meribah--meaning that the Israelites quarreled with Adonai--through which God affirmed His sanctity. (Numbers 20:1–13)
Your Guide
Does the punishment meted out to Moses and Aaron fit the
"crime?" If Moses and Aaron had sinned so egregiously, why did God
nonetheless provide the people with ample water?
This incident takes place against a backdrop of continued
devolution, specifically after the death of Miriam. What significance might be
accorded to the absence of an official mourning period for Miriam? What do you
think of the following teaching by Rabbi Moshe Alsheich (quoted in The Stone Edition Chumash, p. 843):
"Because they [the Israelites] did not shed tears over the loss of Miriam,
the source of their water dried up?"
Moses and Aaron's sin "constitutes the climax of a
series of rebellions: first by the people, then by the Levites and chieftains,
and finally by the leaders, Moses and Aaron" (The JPS Torah Commentary: Numbers, p. 163). What lesson in
political and personal dynamics is being offered here?
By the Way…
For had you spoken to the rock [rather than struck it] and
it would have brought forth water, I would have been sanctified before the eyes
of the assembly. (Rashi on Numbers 20:12)
His whole sin lay in erring on the side of anger and
deviating from the mean of patience when he used the expression "you
rebels." (Maimonides, Sh'monah
P'rakim 4:5)
At Meribah of Kadesh, the rock of "strife and
holiness," the ancient leadership was shattered. It broke because a new
age demanded new vision, new faith, and undiminished capacity to sanctify the
God of Israel to the people of Israel. If the Torah implies sin on the part of
Moses and Aaron, it can only be the sin of failure: For leaders are always held
responsible for the performance of those they lead. Both Moses and Aaron
apparently considered the divine judgment to be just and knew it to be
irreversible. Aaron never raised his voice concerning it, and Moses did it once
and then ever so briefly (Deuteronomy 3:23-25). (W. Gunther Plaut, The Torah: A Modern Commentary, p.
1,156)
The Holy One, blessed be God, said to Moses, "The first
offence that you committed was a private matter between you and Me. Now,
however, that it was done in the presence of the public, it is impossible to
overlook it, as it says [Numbers 20:12], 'because you did not trust Me enough
to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people.'" (Midrash Rabbah 19:10)
The sin consisted of their saying, "Are we to bring you
water out of this rock?" They should not have said "we" but
rather "Shall the Eternal bring you water out of this rock?"
(Rabbeinu Hananel on Numbers 20:10, cited by Nachmanides)
Pagan magic may or may not involve a manual act, but it
always involves the use of words…. It is a central element of Moses' prophetic
role that he sever Israel from idolatrous seductions. To this end, God helps
Moses by showing Israel authenticating "signs" of His power:
miracles. But to ensure that Israel understands that it originates in divine
will and not as a coincidence of nature, God repeatedly instructs Moses to
describe the miracle in advance and to designate the precise moment of its occurrence
through a specific manual act. (Jacob Milgrom, The JPS Torah Commentary: Numbers, pp. 452-453)
Your Guide
In Exodus 17:6, Moses, following God's order, had
successfully provided water for the community by striking a rock. In this
week's parashah, Moses is told to
order the rock, not strike it twice. What is the moral lesson here?
Is it fair or appropriate to find Moses deficient in anger
management? What was God's intent in this incident? Why didn't Moses and Aaron
have an opportunity to rehabilitate themselves? How many strikes were Moses and
Aaron actually allowed?
How should a leader's public and private behavior be judged?
What criteria should be employed?
Look at the following biblical verses: Numbers 20:12, 20:24,
27:14; Deuteronomy 1:37, 3:25-26, 4:21, 32:50-52; and Psalms 106:32-33.
According to the biblical writers, what did Moses and Aaron do to deserve their
severe punishment?
D'var Torah
Strike one. Aaron's two sons Nadab and Abihu die in the
Sanctuary while performing a mysterious and unwelcome ritual, and Aaron is
informed, "Through those near to Me I show Myself holy, / And assert My
authority before all the people" (Leviticus 10:3). But that is not the end
of the story. Indicating their discomfort regarding the ambiguous rationale for
that tragedy, the writers of the Torah repeatedly return to it (Leviticus 16:1;
Numbers 3:4, 26:61).
Strike two. Then in the absence of a clear justification for
the sentences imposed on Moses and Aaron, the Torah's narrative proffers the
same conclusion stated in Leviticus 10:3: "Judaism teaches that the
greater the man [or woman], the stricter the standard by which he [or she] is
judged" (S. R. Hirsch in The
Pentateuch and Haftorahs, edited by J. H. Hertz, p. 656; also see Everett
Fox, The Five Books of Moses, p.
754).
Yet perhaps the fact that Moses and Aaron received sentences
is the lesson itself, namely, that we are not always allowed three strikes.
Sometimes, the punishment is final. Amidst life's uncertainties, we cannot
satisfactorily understand, let alone justify, the ultimate morality in every
occurrence. Still, by our endeavor to continually recount and reconsider the
past, we affirm sacred processes and quests: We are kept in the game.
Rabbi Eric Polokoff is
the rabbi of B’nai Israel, Southbury/Woodbury, CT.
The Union of American Hebrew Congregations is the
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