Chukas
Rabbi Jablinowitz
This week’s parsha includes the Mei Merivah, the incident in which Moshe Rabbeinu hit the rock instead of speaking to it and drawing forth water. As a result of this sin, Moshe was not allowed to enter Eretz Yisrael. The Torah tells us the reason why this was considered a serious averiah in Chapter 20, Pasuk 12. Ya’an Lo He’emantem Bi Lehakdisheinee L’Einei Bnei Yisrael, Since you didn’t believe in Me to sanctify Me before Bnei Yisrael. Why would it have been greater for Moshe to speak to the rock rather than hit it; either way, producing water from a rock is a miraculous event. What was the seriousness of Moshe’s averiah?
The Meshech Chachmah teaches that an expression of the superior level of Kedushah that Bnei Yisrael reached at the giving of the Torah was their ability to see that which was spoken. The Torah says (Shmos, Chapter 20, Pasuk 15) V’Chol Ha’am Ro’im Es HaKolos etc., V’Es Kol HaShofar, The whole nation saw the sounds of the thunder and the sounds of the shofar. This ability to have the word of Hashem be so clear as to have a physical expression is the highest level of Emunah. This was the level Bnei Yisrael reached at Ma’amd Har Sinai.
This was the goal at the Mei Merivah. Hashem wanted Bnei Yisrael to again have the experience of faith they had at the giving of the Torah. If Moshe would have spoken to the rock and had water consequently flow from it, this would have been a repetition of the Ro’im Es HaKolos. Bnei Yisrael would have understood that the voice of Moshe was the voice of Hashem, Shechinah Medaberes M’Toch Grono, and would have seen the physical expression of it through the water coming from the rock. This is why the Torah says (Pasuk 8) V’Dibartem El HaSela L’Eineihem, speaking to the rock will raise their level of vision to be able to see that which is spoken. And when the Torah indicates that by hitting the rock it was a lack of Emunah, Ya’an Lo He’emantem Bi, it meansby hitting the rock and not speaking to the rock, Moshe prevented this great lesson in Emunah from being given over again to Bnei Yisrael.
Rav Tzadok gives a totally different explanation which nonetheless can be understood in a similar vein to that of the Meshech Chachmah. Firstly, he agrees that Ya’an Lo He’emantem Bi doesn’t mean, Chas V’Shalom, that there was a lack of Emunah by Moshe Rabbeinu, but rather that Moshe Rabbeinu didn’t succeed in teaching a lesson in Emunah to Bnei Yisrael. However, he explains that the water represents Torah She’bealpeh. As the pasuk says in Yeshayahu (Chapter 55, Pasuk 1 ), Hoy Kol Tzameh Lechu L’Mayim, All those who are thirsty should drink from the waters. Moshe’s goal was to give over Torah She’bealpeh to Bnei Yisrael. As the first Mishnah in Avos teaches Moshe Kibel Torah M’Sinai U’Mesarah L’Yehoshua, Moshe received the Torah at Sinai and gave it over to Yehoshua. This is a reference to Torah She’bealpeh. Moshe was meant to give it over to Bnei Yisrael directly in the same manner he gave it over to Yehoshua, but he didn’t. But according to Rav Tzadok, it wasn’t because he failed or sinned, but rather they weren’t worthy. And Yehoshua, who did receive Torah She’bealpeh from Moshe, was able to enter Eretz Yisrael and continue the tradition in Eretz Yisrael, which is the land of Torah She’bealpeh.
There is a commonality between the words of the Meshech Chachmah and Rav Tzadok. The Meshech Chachmah stresses the importance of giving the spoken word the cloak of physical expression. And this physical expression provides a unique opportunity for Emunah. This is also what Torah She’bealpeh is about. Torah She’bealpeh is the oral tradition, the chain of Mesorah begun with Moshe Rabbeinu at Har Sinai. It is the words of Torah spoken and passed on from generation to generation. Our role is to continue this chain by viewing the spoken word as concrete and visual. As much as we believe that the object we see in front of us is real, similarly the spoken words of Torah She’bealpeh are concrete and real. It is this ability of seeing the spoken word as Emes that makes us such a unique nation. This is a gift we received at Har Sinai, and failed to be reproduced at Mei Merivah. And this gift was ultimately given over to us by Yehoshua to pass on from generation to generation.
Print this article