Commentaire de citation sur Les Psaumes 132:5

Accordingly, he finds a basis (Psalms 132:5) for his complaint that since neither choices nor free-will are in a person's hands – whether he is righteous or wicked has nothing to do with him, only with the higher eternal agents upon which his acts and deeds depend – how can He reprove and rebuke a man for the iniquity (Psalms 39:12), that he was fated to do?

A kabbalistic approach: The sin is connected to the word פעמים, “twice” (verse 11). This solves all the problems which have been raised previously. The mystical dimension of the whole episode is as follows: The Lord, the Unique One, Who had descended to the mountain, i.e. Mount Sinai at the time He gave the Ten Commandments, was the same attribute that had revealed Himself to Moses in Exodus 17,6 where Mount Chorev is identified with the צור, the site also known (Psalms 132,5) as משכנות לאביר יעקב, “an abode for the Mighty One of Yaakov.” The expression צור in connection with G’d revealing Himself to Moses occurs again in Exodus 32,21 where G’d tells Moses to take up a position “next” to Him describing that place as על הצור, “next to the Rock” (the Lord). When G’d had instructed Moses to hit the rock in Exodus 17,6, He had first described His presence in the words הנני, i.e. הנה אני עומד לפניך שם על הצור, “Here I am standing in front of you by the rock at Chorev and when you strike the rock water will emerge, etc.” The attribute of י-ה-ו-ה appears frequently in the guise of the word אני. Moses had struck the rock only a single time, seeing he had been receiving his instructions from a single attribute of Hashem. Here at Kadesh G’d had not spelled out which attribute of His had issued the instructions as He had not said הנני וגו', “here is My attribute אני, etc.” There had not been a manifestation of the glory (attribute) of G’d such as there had been in Exodus. As a result of doubt as to which attribute had issued the instruction Moses and Aaron both agreed to hit the rock twice, i.e. once in respect of each attribute which could have issued such an instruction, i.e. either the attribute צור or the attribute Hashem. They considered it quite likely that the Shechinah was angry at the people [for having blamed Moses for the shortage of water, Ed.]. The people, who had all been privy to manifestations of the Shechinah on the previous occasions associated with the phenomenon described as צור, were aware that this time there had not been such a manifestation of G’d’s glory. In view of all of these considerations Moses and Aaron felt the need to attract the attribute of Hashem, attribute of Mercy, hence they struck the rock twice (instead of merely once). It is important to realise that neither Moses nor Aaron entertained any wrongful thoughts in any of this. Their sin resulted exclusively from the fact that by their action they missed an opportunity presented to them by G’d to aggrandise His name, i.e. להקדישני לעיני בני ישראל.
When Moses, in referring to this incident in Deut. 3,26 as well as in Deut. 1,37 says once ויתעבר ה' בי למענכם, or גם בי התאנף ה' בגללכם, he meant in both instances that the attribute of Hashem had become angry at him for having missed an opportunity למענכם, or בגללכם, “for your sakes,” to strengthen your faith in the Lord. Although their intentions had been good, striking the rock twice could have led the people to believe that Moses’ powers [and by extension G’d’s power, Ed.] had waned and that this was why he had to strike the rock twice instead of merely once. His sin was inadequate faith in G’d. He should have had faith enough not to hit the rock twice. This is why the Torah writes in verse 12: לא האמנתם בי, “because you did not plant sufficient faith in Me.” G’d referred to His attribute אל-הים, which is usually referred to as שם. This is the G’d known as אלו-ה יעקב ההפכי הצור אגם מים, “the G’d of Yaakov who coverts the rock into a pool of water” (Psalms 114,7-8). The expression מריתם פי also means: “you rebelled against that attribute פי, an alternative name for אלו-הים.
We find support in the Midrash (Eicha Rabbati 1,61) for the statement that the word פי is a name for G’d’s attribute אלו-הים. The prophet (Jeremiah in Eycha 1,18) speaks of “Hashem is righteous for I disobeyed His attribute פי” (i.e. אלו-הים). It is as if the prophet described Israel as disobeying G’d’s essence as well as His attributes, i.e. agents. We can understand this better by means of the parable in Bereshit Rabbah 27,6 (described by the author in the latter half of his commentary on Genesis 6,6). In Deut. 32,51 on the other hand, the Torah describes the sin of Moses and Aaron as מעלתם בי, “you have committed a trespass against Me,” meaning: “you have denied My name.” In either event, it appears to us based on all these different expressions that the sin was primarily an indirect one, i.e. that Moses’ and Aaron’s actions resulted in some undesirable fallout in the minds of the people who observed their actions. Sifri Haazinu comments in the same vein.

Aḥitophel raised [this matter], etc. There is a wonder in this matter, for David did not purchase the threshing floor from Araunah the Jebusite until the incident of the incitement, which occurred three years after the death of Aḥitophel. And according to these words, we must say that even though he had not yet purchased the threshing floor, he knew from his youth, from the day [he was anointed], and he and Shmuel sat in Nayot in Ramah, and they examined the Book of Yehoshua and found the location of the Beit HaMikdash, as it is written: “Until I find a place [for Hashem, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Yaakov]” (Tehillim 132:5). And as we expound in Zevachim, in the section “Which is their place” (Zevachim 54b), and he investigated.