Komentarz do Liczb 20:8

ואת בעירם [SO SHALT THOU GIVE THE CONGREGATION] AND THEIR BEASTS [TO DRINK] From this we may see that the Holy One, blessed be He, has regard for the possessions of Israel (Menachot 76b; Midrash Tanchuma, Chukat 9).

The sin of Moses and Aaron in the [matter of the] waters of Meribah⁸³Further, Verses 7-13. I.e., the verses do not state explicitly what constituted the sin of Moses and Aaron, but it was clearly considered a grave one. Ramban proceeds to discuss various explanations at length. is not clearly expressed in Scripture. Rashi explains⁸⁴Verses 11-12. that [their sin consisted of hitting the rock], because He had commanded them, and speak ye unto the rock,⁸⁵Verse 8. and did not say “and ye shall strike it.” For had they spoken [to the rock and it had brought forth water] the Holy One, blessed be He, would have been sanctified before the whole congregation, since the people would have said: “If [even] this rock, which does not hear and does not speak, nonetheless obeys the command of the Holy One, blessed be He, how much more so should we [obey His commands]!” These words are [in the nature of] a homiletic interpretation,⁸⁶Found in Midrash Agadah, here on Verse 8. — In other words, Ramban does not question the homiletic truth of this interpretation, for it is surely conducive to gaining the proper awe for the word of G-d. But it does not clarify the matter of the verses. but they do not clarify [the matter]. For since G-d had commanded Moses: Take the rod,⁸⁵Verse 8. it implied that he should smite [the rock] with it, for had He only wanted that he should speak to it, what was [the point of] this rod in his hand? Similarly, in the [case of the] plagues of Egypt where He said, and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thy hand⁸⁷Exodus 7:15. it was in order to smite with it;⁸⁸Ibid., Verse 17: I will smite with the rod that is in my hand upon the waters which are in the river. and sometimes He said, Stretch forth thy hand [with thy rod],⁸⁹Ibid., 8:1. when the meaning is: “to smite with the rod,” since Scripture writes briefly when the subject-matter is self-understood. Moreover, the miracle [involved in the rock giving forth water] is no greater if [accomplished] by speech than by smiting, for as far as the rock is concerned both are equal. Furthermore [if the sin consisted of smiting the rock], why did He say about this: ye [Moses and Aaron] trespassed against Me?⁹⁰Deuteronomy 32:51. [It cannot be because they failed to speak to the rock], for the [fulfillment of the] command to [Moses to] speak to the rock is indeed [also] mentioned at the occurrence [of the event]! Thus He commanded [Moses and Aaron] to say whilst the rock “listens” that G-d will bring forth water out of this rock, similar to [that which Joshua said about a stone which he put up as a witness to the covenant which he made with the people], for ‘it hath heard’ all the words of the Eternal.⁹¹Joshua 24:27. And they [Moses and Aaron] indeed did so, as Scripture states, And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said unto them etc.⁹²Further, Verse 10. Thus it is obvious that Moses did utter the Divine message whilst the rock “listened.” And so why did Rashi attribute to Moses the lack of speaking in this event! Thus the rock did “hear” when he [Moses] spoke these words to all the people!
Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra has already refuted many claims of the commentators in [their explanations of the nature of] this sin. But the secret⁹³Ibn Ezra alludes to the Cabalistic concept that when a person’s mind cleaves solely to G-d, he can accomplish miracles. Now G-d told Moses to speak to the rock, and had he done so with single-minded devotion to G-d, he would have been able thereby to bring forth water. But when he began rebuking the people for their complaints, he lost that complete concentration of mind which was required for invoking G-d’s miraculous intervention to bring forth water, and he then proceeded to smite the rock. When this failed to produce any water, he smote it a second time, by which time he had regained his original complete concentration of mind on G-d, so that the water then came forth. Ramban rejects this interpretation. to which he alluded is also incorrect. For if Moses lost his concentration of mind because of the strife of the people, and [therefore] did not speak to the rock, so that the water did not come forth [when he smote the rock] the first time, and only when he hit the rock again, a second time, with concentration of cleaving unto [the Creator of] all, did the water come forth [as Ibn Ezra explains] — then they [indeed] sinned the first time, but it was not such [a sin] about which He would say: ye believed not in Me, to sanctify Me,⁹⁴Verse 12. since there was no lack of “faith” here at all!
Now Rabbeinu Rabbi Moshe [ben Maimon] advanced the following reasoning,⁹⁵In his Shemonah Perakim (The Eight Chapters), Chapter 4. These chapters are Maimonides’ introduction to the Tractate Aboth, which contains the roots of ethical and moral teachings of the Rabbis of the Mishnah. and explained “that the sin of Moses our teacher, of blessed memory, consisted of tending towards anger, when he said, Hear now ye rebels,⁹⁶Verse 10. and G-d, blessed be He, treated this as a failing, that a man like him should show anger in front of the congregation of Israel, in a situation in which anger was not warranted. All similar actions of such a man are treated as a profanation of G-d’s Name, because the people take an example from all his [Moses’] movements and words, hoping thereby to achieve successes⁹⁷In our “Shemonah Perakim” it is in the singular: “success.” The word is here indicative of achievement of those qualities of character which make one’s life “a success” in the noblest sense of the word. in this world and the World to Come. How could he [permit himself to] appear angry, since it [anger] is an evil trait, and is derived only from a bad characteristic of the features of the soul! But when He said of this sin: ye trespassed against Me,⁹⁰Deuteronomy 32:51. [the meaning thereof] is as I shall explain. Moses was not speaking to simpletons, nor to those of insignificant status, for the least important of their women was [equal in prophetic vision] to [the prophet] Ezekiel the son of Buzi, as the Sages have mentioned.⁹⁸“A maidservant saw at the [splitting of the Red] Sea what the prophet Ezekiel never saw” (Mechilta, Exodus 15:25). See Vol. II, p. 228. Thus whatever Moses said or did the people would examine, so that when they saw him becoming angry, they said that he — may his memory be blessed — did not lack moral perfection, and therefore ‘unless he knew that G-d was angry with us for demanding water, and that we have aroused His anger, blessed be He, Moses also would not have been angry with us.’ But we do not find that G-d, praised be He, was angry [with the people] when He spoke to Moses on this matter. But [instead] He said: Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and their cattle drink.⁸⁵Verse 8. [This statement does not indicate that G-d was angry with the people for having demanded water, and hence Moses’ anger was unjustified.] Thus we have solved one of the most difficult problems in the Torah, concerning which many things have been said, and which has been asked many times, namely: ‘what was the sin which Moses committed?’ Consider what has been said [by others] about it, and what we ourselves have explained, and let the truth prevail.” These are the words of Rabbi Moshe [ben Maimon] of blessed memory.
He has added vanity upon vanities!⁹⁹See Ecclesiastes 1:2. — In other words, yet another interpretation has been added to those of the previous commentators which are not satisfactory. For Scripture says ye trespassed against Me,⁹⁰Deuteronomy 32:51. meaning that they transgressed His command, and He [further] stated, ye believed not in Me,⁹⁴Verse 12. meaning that they lacked faith in Him, [and if so] the punishment [of Moses] was not because he showed anger! [Were this to be his sin], Moses would have deserved punishment [not so much here as] when he was wroth with the officers of the host¹⁰⁰Further, 31:14. for no reason. Moreover, Scripture [here] does not mention anything about him being angry, for the expression Hear now, ye rebels⁹⁶Verse 10. is [merely a form of] rebuke, similar to that which he [Moses] said: Ye have been rebellious against the Eternal.¹⁰¹Deuteronomy 9:24. Furthermore, Aaron never in his life became angry, for he always walked in peace and uprightness.¹⁰²Malachi 2:6. — Yet Verse 12 clearly states that Aaron too, was to be punished, although according to Rambam’s explanation he had not sinned! Besides, it is impossible [to suggest, as Rambam does], that G-d was not very angry with them [the people] for their strife with Moses! For throughout all their [previous] trials in the wilderness, their greatest sin was when they said, wherefore hast thou brought us up out of Egypt?¹⁰³Exodus 17:3. and they preferred to be slaves to their enemies doing rigorous work, rather than to be G-d’s [people], like a son who serves his father. Thus Scripture says: because that ye have rejected the Eternal Who is among you, and have troubled Him with weeping, saying: ‘Why, now, came we forth out of Egypt?’¹⁰⁴Above, 11:20. On the first occasion they said even less than this, [namely], Wherefore hast thou brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?¹⁰³Exodus 17:3. and yet there was great [Divine] wrath against them, and [it was considered] a great sin, just as it is said, And the name of the place was called Massah [Trying] and Meribah [Strife], because of the striving of the children of Israel etc.¹⁰⁵Exodus 17:7. And here it says expressly, These are the waters of Meribah [Strife], where the children of Israel strove with the Eternal!¹⁰⁶Further, Verse 13. Thus Scripture here emphasizes that the people’s sin consisted of striving with the Eternal, and this is not so according to Maimonides’ explanation, as Ramban continues. What greater transgression can there be than this! Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!¹⁰⁷Isaiah 45:9. And Moses said, Also the Eternal was angry with me for your sakes, saying: ‘Thou also shalt not go in thither.’¹⁰⁸Deuteronomy 1:37. If so, it was they [the people] who sinned and brought about all this misfortune! But according to the explanation of the Rabbi [Moshe ben Maimon], they did not commit any transgression and sin at all in this whole affair! And as for that which Rabbi Moshe said: “We do not find that G-d, praised be He, was angry [with the people when He spoke to Moses on this matter], but instead He said: Take the rod etc.”⁸⁶Found in Midrash Agadah, here on Verse 8. — In other words, Ramban does not question the homiletic truth of this interpretation, for it is surely conducive to gaining the proper awe for the word of G-d. But it does not clarify the matter of the verses. — know that whenever the people needed something for their sustenance, even though they murmured and transgressed [in asking] for it, He, being full of compassion, forgiveth iniquity … and does not stir up all His wrath,¹⁰⁹Psalms 78:38. nor does He hold [their sin against them], but He gives them their request.¹¹⁰See ibid., 106:15. Similarly in the [case of the] first [request for] water He said in a peaceful manner, Pass on before the people etc.,¹¹¹Exodus 17:5. even though there was trial and strife there,¹⁰⁵Exodus 17:7. such that He warned them [not to try G-d] in future generations [using it as an example].¹¹²Deuteronomy 6:16 — Ye shall not try the Eternal your G-d, as ye tried Him in Massah. (See also “The Commandments,” Vol. II, pp. 63-64). So also in connection with the manna [He said], Behold, I will cause to rain bread from heaven for you,¹¹³Exodus 16:4. Thus G-d showed them love and affection although they sinned in murmuring and complaining. in a phrase indicating love and affection. Only at the end, in the second communication, He said, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel,¹¹⁴Ibid., Verse 12. merely in order to tell them that they had sinned. But [it is only] when they complained for no [good] reason, that He poured upon them the fury of His anger.¹¹⁵Isaiah 42:25. And here there is an additional allusion to great wrath, and [the people] being liable to a plague, as it is said, and the glory of the Eternal appeared unto them.¹¹⁶Verse 6. [The expression unto them] refers to the assembly mentioned [in the first part of the verse], which indicates “the hand of the Eternal” that is present in plagues, as you may note in [incidents of] the spies,¹¹⁷Above, 14:10-12: and the glory of the Eternal appeared … ‘I will smite them with the pestilence.’ the day of Korach’s punishment,¹¹⁸Ibid., 16:19: and the glory of the Eternal appeared … The destruction of Korach and his company followed, as related ibid., (Verses 31-33). and the following day.¹¹⁹Ibid., 17:7: and the glory of the Eternal appeared … This was followed by a plague, as related there in Verses 11-14. And one must [moreover] wonder at the Rabbi [Moshe ben Maimon, who wrote that the people committed no sin in this affair] since the verse explicitly states, They angered Him also at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses because of them!¹²⁰Psalms 106:32. — See my Hebrew commentary, pp. 274-276 for various defenses of Rambam’s interpretation of Moses’ sin at Meribah. In his Sefer Hazikaron (see Vol. I, Preface pp. x-xi) Rabbi Yom Tov ben Abraham (Ritba) concludes his defense of Rambam’s opinion as follows: “And although I know that the tradition of our master, Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban) of blessed memory, in the matter of Moses’ sin is the true tradition which one cannot criticize, yet there are seventy [different] interpretations of the Torah, and they are all the words of the living G-d.” Ramban’s own explanation follows now in the text. And the verse [there] counts this sin amongst the great trials with which they [the people] tested G-d in the wilderness!
The most likely explanation amongst all those that have been said about this matter, and the one best suited to answer a questioner, is that of Rabbeinu Chananel,¹²¹See above, Seder Korach, Note 48. who wrote [in his commentary] that the sin consisted of their saying, are ‘we’ to bring you forth water out of this rock?⁹⁶Verse 10. They should [not have said “are we”, but] “shall the Eternal bring you forth water?” just as they had said when ‘the Eternal shall give’ you in the evening flesh to eat etc.,¹²²Exodus 16:8. and similarly in [the case of all the] miracles they [Moses and Aaron] informed them that the Eternal would do wonders for them. And [since they did not say so here], perhaps the people thought that Moses and Aaron brought forth the water for them out of the rock through their own wisdom [and that it was not a Divine miracle]. This is [what G-d referred to in saying], ye sanctified Me not.¹²³Deuteronomy 32:51. Now in the case of the first episode with the rock, He said, Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb,¹²⁴Exodus 17:6. and the seventy elders saw the pillar of the cloud¹²⁵Ibid., 13:21. hovering over the rock, and thus it was made apparent to all that the miracle was the deed of the Great G-d. But here, since the people saw nothing, they misunderstood the words of Moses and Aaron [as explained above].¹²⁶See the comments of later scholars on Rabbeinu Chananel’s explanation of this topic, quoted in my edition of Rabbeinu Chananel al Hatorah (Mosad Harav Kook, Jerusalem, 5732).
It is possible that He said ‘m’altem bi’ (ye ‘trespassed’ against Me),¹²³Deuteronomy 32:51. because if one derives benefit from a sacred object, it is called me’ilah.¹²⁷Here too, a deed which was in reality a Divine miracle came to be ascribed to Moses’ and Aaron’s own doing, as explained above, because they said, are ‘we’ to bring you forth water out of this rock? In a way, then, Moses and Aaron thereby “derived benefit” from a sanctified matter. Similarly, He said ‘m’rithem pi’ (ye rebelled against My commandment)¹²⁸Further, 27:14. because He had commanded them to speak unto the rock before their eyes,¹²⁹Verse 8. in order that I should become sanctified in their eyes. Or [it may be that m’rithem pi¹²⁸Further, 27:14. means] “you have ‘changed’ My commandment,” related to the expression ‘vatemer’ (and she changed) My ordinances,¹³⁰Ezekiel 5:6. since I did not command you to speak in this manner [are ‘we’ to bring you forth water out of this rock?]. And [according to Rabbeinu Chananel’s explanation, the criticism that] lo he’emantem bi¹³¹Verse 12. (ye believed not in Me) refers [not to Moses and Aaron themselves lacking in belief, but] to the children of Israel [i.e., it does not mean, as it is generally translated, “ye believed not in Me,” but “‘ye did not cause the children of Israel to believe in Me’ because you did not attribute to Me the bringing forth of the water from the rock”]. Or [the word he’emantem] may mean “strengthening,” as if to say: “you did not strengthen yourselves to sanctify Me in their eyes,” related to these expressions: ‘va’amanah’ (and a ‘sure’ ordinance) concerning the singers;¹³²Nehemiah 11:23. Meaning: “a strong” ordinance. the peg that was fastened ‘bimkom ne’eman’ (in a ‘sure’ place).¹³³Isaiah 22:25. Meaning “a strong” place.
The Truth [Cabalistic explanation] is that this subject [i.e., the nature of Moses’ sin in the incident of the waters of Meribah] is one of the great secrets amongst the mysteries of the Torah. For on the first [occasion with the rock] He said to Moses, Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock,¹²⁴Exodus 17:6. meaning to say: “My Great Name will be upon the rock in Horeb,” which is the Glory of the Eternal, the devouring fire on the top of the mount.¹³⁴Exodus 24:17. The verse reads: ‘like’ devouring fire. Therefore he only hit it there once, and a great amount of water came forth. But here He did not tell him so, and so both of them [Moses and Aaron] agreed that they would smite the rock twice — and that was their sin. Therefore He said, lo he’emantem bi,¹³¹Verse 12. “you did not put faith in My Name [when you should have known]¹³⁵Abusaula. See my Hebrew commentary p. 276. that by faith [alone] the miracle will be done.” It states, ‘m’rithem pi’ (ye rebelled against My commandment),¹²⁸Further, 27:14. because they rebelled against His holy spirit,¹³⁶See Isaiah 63:10. which is always called pi Hashem (the commandment of the Eternal).¹³⁷See Ramban above, 10:6. Therefore He said, ‘m’altem’ bi,¹²³Deuteronomy 32:51. and the term me’ilah always denotes “untruth.”¹³⁸In this case the “untruth” consisted of thinking that there would be no water unless they would hit the rock twice (Abusaula). Thus the sin [of Moses and Aaron] is clearly expressed in Scripture. And so did the Psalmist say, [Tremble thou earth …] at the presence of the G-d of Jacob; Who turneth the rock into a pool of water.¹³⁹Psalms 114:7-8. And you can understand this from Moses’ prayer, when he said, O G-d Eternal, Thou hast begun,¹⁴⁰Deuteronomy 3:24. pleading before the Glorious Name¹⁴¹Ibid., 28:58. to forgive him.
And in the opinion of our Rabbis¹⁴²Sifre, Matoth 157. who mention Moses’ anger [as a factor in his sin], it is possible that he hit the rock but [only] a few drops came forth as a result of the diminution in his concentration because of his anger, and they both [Moses and Aaron] were astonished at this, and decided to hit the rock a second time, as I have mentioned, and that was the sin of both of them.
In my opinion, the meaning of the phrase, and speak ye ‘el’ (unto) the rock¹²⁹Verse 8. is like ‘al’ (concerning) the rock. Similarly, Thus saith the Eternal of hosts ‘el’ the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases … they shall be carried unto Babylon.¹⁴³Jeremiah 27:19; 22. The verse clearly does not mean “unto the pillars,” but “concerning the pillars.” Thus He commanded them [Moses and Aaron] to say in the presence of the congregation, when they are all gathered together, that G-d will bring them forth water out of the rock, as He indeed did. Now do not find a difficulty¹⁴⁴The difficulty is as follows: If we explain [as we have done hitherto] that speak ye ‘el’ the rock means “to” the rock, and the rock will listen, then the following word l’eineihem (before their eyes) fits in perfectly. The speaking by Moses and Aaron with the rock listening, is to be done before “the eyes” of the people. But if as we now explain speak ye ‘el’ the rock as meaning ‘al’ the rock [“concerning” the rock] while the people are to listen, how is the word l’eineihem in accord with the thought, since people do not listen with “their eyes?” Hence Ramban proceeds to remove this difficulty by pointing out that the word l’eineihem is Scripturally not always used in a literal sense and here it means “in their presence.” in the verse, and ‘speak’ ye unto the rock ‘before their eyes,’¹²⁹Verse 8. for the meaning thereof is like “in their presence”, so that they should all hear it. Similarly [we find]: And Hananiah ‘spoke before the eyes of’ [which means: “in the presence of”] all the people, saying: ‘Thus saith the Eternal: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon etc.’¹⁴⁵Jeremiah 28:11. There are many cases like this. Or the meaning of the word l’eineihem (before their eyes) here may be that [Moses’] speaking [to the rock] should be when the people are all gathered there, and the rock is before their eyes, as it says when the event [actually took place], And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together ‘before the rock’.⁹⁶Verse 10. For when they had gathered together there and saw the rock face to face, they [Moses and Aaron] said, are we to bring you forth water out of this rock?⁹⁶Verse 10. — as the Sages have mentioned¹⁴⁶Tanchuma, Chukath 6. — so that they should not say that there were springs [hidden at that place]. It is possible that the verse is to be [interpreted] as if it were transposed, meaning: “assemble the congregation unto the rock, and speak ye before their eyes, that it give forth water.”

קח את המטה...ודברתם אל הסלע, there are numerous opinions of what precisely Moses’ sin consisted of. Many commentators have difficulty understanding the wordsלא האמנתם, ‘you lacked faith” in verse 12 as well as with the word מעלתם בי, “you trespassed against Me” in Deuteronomy 32,51, as well as the words מריתם את פי “you rebelled against My command” in verse 24 of our chapter here.
If it had indeed been G’d’s intention that they were only to speak to the rock, what purpose was served in commanding Moses to take the staff? If the sin consisted in that Moses struck the rock, something he had not been commanded to do, what was Aaron’s sin?
However, when we scrutinise the matter (the quarrel) more thoroughly we must remember that G’d’s instructions were designed to bring home to the people how wrong they had been in their rebellious attitude. They were meant not only to become aware of this, but to repent it and to apologise for it, seeing that G’d does not desire the death of the sinner but his rehabilitation by his own efforts.
Knowing that this is so, Moses and Aaron’s actions or inaction resulted in G’d’s intention of bringing about the people’s repentance of their conduct was thwarted. G’d punished them for having become the instrument of thwarting His plan.
The quarrel of the people with Moses was that they accused him of a failure of leadership that resulted in their finding themselves in a situation where they even lacked water for survival. Their quarrel with G’d consisted in their accusing Him of taking them out of a good land called Egypt and bringing them to a desert instead. G’d had wanted to make it clear to them by means of the miracle that Moses had not acted on their own but had merely been His messenger, had carried out his mission faithfully, and that the One Who had sent him had not caused the people any harm at all. We must remember that there are three distinct kinds of miracles in Scripture
1) The “hidden” miracle such as that rain occurs when needed, or that people are recovering from a variety of life threatening diseases. These are the types of miracles that the righteous can bring about by means of their prayers. The Torah quotes an example of this kind of miracle in Genesis 20,17 when it tells us that Avraham’s prayer resulted in G’d healing the households in Avimelech’s kingdom where an outbreak of a disease had resulted in none of the expectant women being able to give birth to their babies until after Avraham’s prayer. A similar miracle occurred in Numbers 21,7 when Moses prayed on behalf of the people who had acknowledged that they had sinned.
2) The second type of miracle is an “open” miracle, something that could not be produced by nature without a special assist by G’d, although it could conceivably be become a natural phenomenon over a long period of time. Examples of this kind of miracle are Moses throwing his staff to the earth and G’d turning it into a snake (Exodus 4,5) or G’d commanding Moses to raise his staff (Exodus 14,16) and the waters of the sea parting, or Moses striking the rock in Exodus 17,6 in order to produce water from that rock. Kings II 13,17 is a similar miracle where Elisha by letting the king shoot arrows means to assure victory over the armies opposing Israel.
3) The third type of miracle is something that nature could never produce however long it practiced. It is a miracle to accomplish which only words are employed. G’d, by means of His prophet, produces a result by means of mere words which demonstrates that use of intelligence without any physical action can produce phenomenal results. This kind of miracle within a material universe employs an absolute minimum of the tools that are the basic instruments of running this terrestrial universe. This is the type of miracle employed when the earth opened and swallowed Korach, etc. (16,31) or when at Joshua’s command the orbit of both the sun and the moon were arrested (Joshua 10,12).
In our situation G’d was about to provide the Jewish people with the demonstration of such a miracle in order to bring about their repentance when the people would become alert to the uniqueness of the prophet as well as to that of the One Who had made him His emissary, and Moses and Aaron deprived Him of that opportunity by preempting Him through hitting the rock. When G’d said to Moses that the rock ונתן מימיו, “it will give forth its waters,” He meant that it would dissolve into water so that no one could claim that the source of its waters had been elsewhere and that the course of these waters had merely been diverted to make it look as if the stone had turned into water. Moses’ high-handed action in merely striking the rock had been responsible for the fact that this type of miracle had not occurred, and that the aggrandizement of G’d’s name by the performance of such a miracle had not taken place. He himself had testified to this when he said in Deuteronomy 8,15 that G’d is One Who המוציא לך מים מצור החלמיש, “Who has produced water for you from the rock which is as hard as flint.” The reason that he chose this adjective is clear. If the waters that gushed forth from that rock had merely been diverted from somewhere else, what difference would it have made if the rock were soft or hard as flint?
This type of miracle could never be produced by forces concealed within nature irrespective of thousands and millions of years of evolution. [my choice of word, but author’s meaning. Ed.] G’d had commanded that this type of miracle occur as a result of words spoken by His servants. This is the reason for the emphasis on the words ודברתם אל הסלע, “you are to speak to the rock.” The Children of Israel were to be alerted not just to a miracle, but to the specific nature of this kind of miracle. Observing Moses in action in this fashion, they would get an inkling of the Power of the G’d Who had employed him as His emissary.
They were to reflect on the fact that although G’d/Moses had taken the people out of Egypt they had not suffered any harm from that at all seeing that their G’d had been with them every step of the way. He had converted the desert into a pool of water on their behalf, had performed miracles totally beyond the latent powers of nature ever to perform. As long as G’d was with them, i.e. in the words of Sukkah 53,אם אני כאן הכל כאן, “if I, the Lord, is present, everything you need is present.” Jeremiah 2,31 phrased it thus: המדבר הייתי לישראל, “was I G’d then a desert for Israel?” (did I not provide everything that is otherwise lacking in a desert?)
G’d commanded that as soon as the rock would yield up its water, Moses was to use his staff in order to guide separate streams of that water to the various areas in which each tribe had its tents, so that they would not have to leave their homes, as they did to collect the manna, in order to benefit from this vital resource.
This was the meaning of the words “take the staff…..and extract the water for them from the rock and provide water for the congregation” (verse 8). This is also the meaning of 21,18 במחוקק במשענותם, “when they split it with their staff.” Moses and Aaron had agreed between them to carry out the second part of the miracle by bringing water to the people via the rock as they had done at Refidim when the Torah had described what would happen as “when you strike the rock the water will come forth from the rock an the people will drink.” (צור, not סלע), (Exodus 17,6)
The type of miracle we had described as category three earlier is described here with the words והוצאת להם מים מן הסלע, what Moses and Aaron agreed to do was the lesser level of miracle as they were not sure G’d meant to perform the third category of miracle, i.e. not involving any action such as striking the rock. The reason why they doubted that G’d was going to perform the latter miracle was that they did not considered the Israelites worthy at the time to experience this kind of miracle seeing they had acted in a rebellious manner, Moses himself having addressed them as ממרים, rebels. By performing the second category of miracle, the one which demonstrates only the elevated stature of the messenger, while failing to perform the third category of miracle which would also have demonstrated the exalted nature of the One Who had instructed them as His emissary they committed a serious error. This is the reason the Torah writes לא האמנתם, “you did not have faith enough” (verse 12). The meaning is not that they considered G’d incapable of producing water from the rock by their merely speaking to it, but they did not believe that the circumstances at the time warranted that G’d would put Himself out to such an extent for these people. Deuteronomy 32,51 makes clear that their sin of omission constituted a desecration of G’d’s honour.

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.

קח את המטה, which at that time was reposing next to the Tablets. (compare Numbers 17,25)

ודברתם אל הסלע, “you are to speak to the rock.” According to Nachmanides the word אל in our verse is to be understood as על, when in the presence of, meaning that when Moses and Aaron would speak to the rock, the people should all be present to watch the miracle. The people should all know which rock Moses was speaking to. Moses and Aaron complied with the first part of these instructions.

והשקית את העדה ואת בעירם, “you shall provide water for the congregation and for their beasts.” This verse proves G’d’s concern for the Israelites’ possessions. (Tanchuma Chukat 9).

From here … is solicitous of the [Israelites’] property. You might ask: From where did Rashi derive this? Perhaps Hashem was answering their request when they asked why they and their livestock should die there, and Hashem answered, “Give drink to the community and their livestock.” The answer is that the term השקית (lit. "you will give water") refers to animals, as it is written in Parshas Chaye Sarah (Bereishis 24:14) “וגם גמליך אשקה” ["And I will also water your camels"]. Thus the Torah should have said “וישתו העדה” ["Let the community drink"] as it writes shortly (v. 11) “ותשת העדה” ["And the community drank"] because the term שתייה ["drinking"] refers to people, as it is also written “שתה אדוני” ["Let my master drink"] (Bereishis 24:18). However, since Scripture modifies its wording and writes והשקית ["And give drink"] it is certainly because “[Hashem] is solicitous of the Israelites’ property.” (Mahari) Also one may answer that Rashi is answering the question: Why is it necessary for the Torah to state “And their livestock”? For in Parshas Beshalach (Shemos 17:3) when Hashem answered Moshe’s request for water, He answered only that the people would drink, and the answer was despite Yisroel having said “To kill me and my children and my livestock [through thirst].” If so, why does it state, “And their livestock”? Rather it was because “[Hashem] is solicitous…” (Kitzur Mizrochi) Hashem said בעירם ["their livestock"] with a mem. Thus we learn that He is solicitous of them because they are the Israelites’ livestock, and not merely because they are animals. For if not so, it should have said “Give drink to the community and the animals”! This answer is also apparent from Divrei Dovid.

V. 8. קח את המטה וגו׳. Seit dem Sieg über Amalek (Schmot 17, 9). finden wir den Stab nicht wieder in Mosche Händen. Er war, wie wir aus V. 9 ersehen, "vor Gott", d. h. im Heiligtum neben dem ארון העדות niedergelegt. Der Gottesstab in Mosche Händen bezeichnete ihn als den von Gott Gesandten. Eine Bewegung mit dem Gottesstab, ein Neigen, ein Schlagen mit demselben vor Eintritt eines angekündigten Ereignisses, bezeichnet dieses Ereignis als Erzeugnis einer augenblicklichen unmittelbar eingreifenden Wirkung Gottes. Sie hatten Mosche und Aharon Verrat an ihrer Gottessendung vorgeworfen. Nicht nach Gottes Willen seien sie an diesem wasserlosen Ort, Mosche und Aharons Böswilligkeit habe sie zu ihrem Unglück dorthin geführt. Gott kann sie nicht wollen verdursten lassen. "Nimm den Stab" sprach Gott zu Mosche, zeige ihnen, dass du noch mein Gesandter bist, keinen Augenblick aufgehört hast, in meinem Dienste zu sein, והקחל את העדה und kraft dieser deiner durch den Stab in deiner Hand sich bekundenden Gottessendung versammle diese "Gemeinde der Zukunft", ודברתם אל הסלע לעיניהם, aber gebrauche den Stab nicht, לעיניהם, in Gegenwart des ganzen Volkes sollt ihr den Felsen bloß mit Worten auffordern, dass er מימיו: das in ihm bereits vorhandene Wasser herausgebe. Ein Schlag mit dem Stabe, wie Schmot 17, 6. würde das Eintreten des Wassers als Folge einer neuen, erst durch ihren Aufruhr provozierten Einwirkung Gottes begreifen lassen, das soll es eben nicht sein. Sie sollen einsehen, dass nicht Mosche und Aharon, sondern Gott an diesen Ort sie geführt, und dass, wenn Gott an diesen Ort sie geführt und seine Wolke ihnen daher diesen Ort zum Lageraufenthalt angewiesen, es nicht erst ihrer stürmischen Anregung und etwa dadurch veranlassten göttlichen Einschreitens bedurfte, vielmehr das nötige Wasser bereits an der von Gott ihnen angewiesenen Örtlichkeit von Gott gegeben war, und ein Wort von Mosche und Aharon an den Fels genügte, dass er die ihm bereits von Gott für sie bereitgestellten Wasser hergebe, ונתן מימיו; somit והוצאת וגו׳ והשקית וגו׳, ohne neues Gotteswunder, sollst du mit deinem bloßen Worte ihrem unleugbar vorhandenen Bedürfnisse Genüge verschaffen.

קח את המטה והקהל את העדה, “take the staff and assemble the congregation!” According to Rabbi b’chor shor, the instruction to Moses to take the staff was meant in order for him to strike the rock with it which was meant to produce the water. [The instructions addressed to both Moses and Aaron in the same verse, were addressed to both Moses and Aaron who were to speak to the people first Ed.] This was similar to the instructions in Exodus 17,6, except that there the rock was called צור, tzur. At that time G–d was going to provide both bread (heavenly), meat, (quails) and water, each one of which was listed in detail shortly thereafter. The provision of water on both occasions is to be understood as the same miracle, and that is also why the first location was called מסה ומריבה, “trying and strife,” and on this occasion reference is only made to מי מריבה, “waters of strife” (verse 13) When Moses, in retrospect, refers to these events in Deuteronomy 33,8 he uses both expressions in the same verse. They are referred to also in Numbers 20,24:למי מריבה ”at the waters of strife.” Those waters were in the desert of Sin, near Mount Sinai, (during the first year of the Exodus) As far as the instructions here for Moses and Aaron to address the rock by word of mouth, ודברתם אל הסלע, is concerned, they were meant to speak to the people near the rock in order to watch the miracle about to be performed. On the first occasion, Moses took the elders with him, but the people stayed far behind and they did not even witness the striking of the rock. Those elders had long died so that the present generation had not even been told what they had witnessed. (Exodus 17,5) The water at that time formed into a small river and that was where the Israelites filled their buckets from. Moses and Aaron, instead of announcing the miracle about to take place, addressed the people by calling them rebellious, and asking if they really expected that they were worthy of G–d performing such a miracle for them. They should have known that it was not in Moses’ or Aaron’s power to get water out of a stone, so what was the point of accusing them of the shortage of water. Therefore, they should have prayed to G–d in a deferential manner, asking Him to help them in their predicament. If Moses and Aaron had explained all this to them without displaying anger with a thirsty people, the result would have been a great sanctification of the Lord’s name. According to the plain meaning of the text, Moses’ and Aaron’s sin consisted of using the word נוציא לכם מים, “We are going to produce water for you,” instead of saying that “G–d is going to produce water for you.”

Take the staff. This refers to the well-known staff of Moshe. Since he was told to take the staff, this shows he no longer carried it consistently. The reason was because the nature of the staff was to perform open miracles, and for that reason the word “signs” refers to the staff, as this was its constant role. I have already explained that in the fortieth year the Bnei Yisroel’s miraculous way of life had nearly ceased.

קח את המטה, “take the staff!” G-d referred to Aaron’s staff. This is clear from what the Torah writes: Moses took the staff that had been in the presence of the Lord, i.e. in the Tabernacle, the staff that had produced almonds in Numbers 17,23. Compare also Numbers 17,25, where Moses had been told to return his staff to the Tabernacle as an ongoing reminder to the obstinate community of Israel that a member of his family had been chosen to be High Priest. It was appropriate for this staff to be used again when dealing with a people that were in a rebellious mood. In this episode Moses committed his first error when he took the wrong staff, seeing that he thought he was supposed to strike the rock. The only reason that G-d had told Moses to take this staff, was that it had been used in conjunction with the rebelliousness of the Jewish people, as opposed to the obstinacy of Pharaoh.

And speak to the rock in their presence. This instruction was for contemplation, to arouse the nation to the knowledge and understanding of the preciousness and importance of Hashem’s words and commandments. Words of Torah are compared to water, as it says (Yishayahu 55:1): “Ho! All who thirst, go to water.” A person’s heart is compared to stone, because it is difficult to inscribe the words of Torah and mitzvos on one’s heart. Therefore, Hashem performed a huge miracle in the Wilderness by bringing forth water from a rock. He could have caused it to rain or opened up springs in the earth. Why did He have to make such wonders? Hashem did this to teach knowledge to Bnei Yisroel. Although the urges of a man’s heart are ignoble, and it is against his nature to study Torah and fulfill mitzvos, nevertheless, with Heavenly help it is possible. Just as a hard rock brought forth water against its nature through Hashem’s power, so too, a person’s heart can be an overflowing spring in Hashem’s commandments. However, at first it will be difficult for a person to devote himself to Torah and mitzvos and he will need much exhortation. When the people quarreled at the waters of Koidesh, Moshe considered them to be lacking, with a heart of stone. Therefore, he told them: “Listen, you rebels!” And in accordance with his thoughts he erred by hitting the rock as he did at Refidim. In truth, though, they were a Generation of Knowledge, and it would have been enough to speak to the rock.

ודברתם אל הסלע, G’d did not command Moses to take the staff in order to strike the rock as he had commanded him in Exodus 17,6. He only commanded Moses to display the staff to remind them that they had again been very obstinate. They had acquired this attribute in Numbers 17,25 when the Torah speaks of למשמרת לאות לבני מרי, “to be kept as a lesson to rebels.” However, the water was to be produced merely by speaking to the rock.

THAT IT GIVE FORTH ITS WATER. The meaning thereof is that a large amount of water should immediately spring forth, just as it is said, and water came forth abundantly,¹⁴⁷Further, Verse 11. for the term “giving” denotes abundance, as in [the verses]: and the Land shall ‘give’ her produce, and the trees of the field shall ‘give’ their fruit;¹⁴⁸Leviticus 26:4. For as the seed of peace, the vine shall ‘give’ her fruit, and the Land shall ‘give’ her increase, and the heavens shall ‘give’ their dew.¹⁴⁹Zechariah 8:12. In all these [verses] He was promising them abundance. And so, it is written, [Behold, He smote the rock, that waters gushed out], and streams overflowed.¹⁵⁰Psalms 78:20. Now the meaning of ‘its’ water [that it give forth ‘its’ water] is not like [the Land] shall give ‘her’ produce, and [the trees] shall give ‘their’ fruit, since it is not in the nature of a rock to have water in it. But its meaning is [that it will give forth] the water which will come out of it, for when G-d turns the flint into a fountain of waters,¹⁵¹Ibid., 114:8. so that they are [contained] in it and come forth out of it, the waters may [indeed] be called ‘its’ water. Similarly, and He will bless ‘thy’ bread, and ‘thy’ water;¹⁵²Exodus 23:25. ‘his’ bread shall be given, ‘his’ waters shall be sure.¹⁵³Isaiah 33:16. He stated it in this way [that it give forth ‘its’ water] in order to inform us that the waters will come forth from the very rock itself, not from the ground beneath it, as occurs naturally in the case of many fountains; but [these waters] will come forth from the middle of the rock. And so it is written, Who turneth the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters.¹⁵¹Ibid., 114:8. He repeated a second time [in this verse], and thou shalt bring forth to them water, meaning that “while you [Moses] are still there, you should bring them forth water from the rock, so that they should all see it gushing forth.” SO THOU SHALT GIVE THE CONGREGATION AND THEIR CATTLE DRINK. [This means] that “you should command them to drink from it in your presence.” All this was for the purpose of publicizing the miracle. In the actual event, [however], it is not mentioned that “he gave the congregation and their cattle to drink;” instead, it says, and the congregation drank, and their cattle,¹⁴⁷Further, Verse 11. because owing to their great thirst, as soon as they saw water gushing out in abundance, they fell upon the river and drank.
Now according to the opinion of our Rabbis about Miriam’s Well,¹⁵⁴This was a moving well in Miriam’s merit which accompanied the Israelites throughout their forty year’s journeys in the desert. “When Miriam died [as mentioned here in Verse 1] the well was taken away.” (Taanith 9a). Hence the crisis of the lack of water. See also Vol. II, pp. 240-241, and Note 436 ibid. this rock [in Kadesh] is the same flint which was in Horeb;¹²⁴Exodus 17:6. therefore they explain [that the expression] ‘its’ water [in that it give forth ‘its’ water] refers to the water which it used to give, for now as a result of Miriam’s death the fountain ceased [and was only restored in the merit of Moses and Aaron].¹⁵⁵Taanith 9a. When Aaron died it continued in the merit of Moses. For when our Rabbis speak of Miriam’s Well, they mean that there was always a miraculous well,¹⁵⁶Ramban here appears to be referring to the tradition mentioned in the Mishnah in Aboth 5:9 that ten things were created in the twilight of the eve of the first Sabbath, amongst them “the mouth of the well.” It was this well which appeared wherever G-d wanted it to, as explained further on. a fountain of living waters,¹⁵⁷Jeremiah 2:13. flowing wherever it was His Will. Thus He caused it to come up for Ishmael in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.¹⁵⁸Genesis 21:14; 19. In Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, Chapter 30 the tradition is recorded that this was the same well mentioned in connection with Miriam. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 277. It was this rock which became cleft in Horeb,¹²⁴Exodus 17:6. and throughout their travels [water] flowed from the rock wherever they encamped. But when the righteous one [Miriam] died, the fountain stopped, and now it continued through [the merit of] Moses to be a fountain opened¹⁵⁹Zechariah 13:1. for him from that very same rock [which had been in Horeb], this being the meaning of the phrase, and speak ye unto ‘haselah’ (‘the’ rock) — the known rock. According to the plain meaning of Scripture, [however], there was a rock near the camp, and He commanded “and speak ye unto the rock which is before you” [hence the phrase ‘the’ rock]. One can also explain it as “and speak ye unto the rock which is before their eyes,” meaning to say “the first rock that they will see.”

לעיניהם, “before their eyes.” The meaning is the same as לפניהם, in their presence, in front of them. Another meaning of the word לעיניהם could be that it refers to the act of Moses speaking to the rock being performed before the very eyes of the people. This would correspond to what is reported in verse 10 where we read: “Moses and Aaron gathered the people before the rock, and he said to them: etc.” The reason for all this publicity was, as our sages have said, in order that the people would not be able to say later that there had been subterranean wells beneath those rocks. It is also possible that the emphasis is on the words ונתן מימיו, that the rock will immediately respond and produce a lot of water, not as if the rock only reluctantly followed Moses’ instructions. Compare Psalms 78,20 where the psalmist describes how these waters drenched everything in their immediate vicinity. According to our sages this rock was the same rock that the people had already encountered at Mount Chorev. It was Miriam’s well that had moved with the people during all their journeys. [I presume the source for this is both the definitive article ה in front of the word סלע and the word מימיו, “its waters,” i.e. it had already provided water on previous occasions. Ed.] The well had ceased functioning when Miriam died, and was now reactivated. The word נתינה i.e. ונתן it will “give,” always implies that the giver does so in a generous fashion. Nachmanides writes that according to the plain meaning of the text there was a rock situated close to the site where the people had made their camp so that when G’d told Moses to speak to the people, etc., the word לעיניהם means “the one that is before your very eyes.” It is also possible to understand the expression אל הסלע, “to the rock,” to mean that Moses should speak to the first and nearest rock he would encounter in his search. The meaning of the word מימיו would be a reference to the first jet of water the people would witness as coming out of that rock. The deeper reason why the Torah chose this word is that the people would see that this water did not originate on the surface of that rock but from deep with in it, it was integral to the rock. This is different from wells emerging from beneath rocks, the customary scenario.

1) 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.

Diese Art der Wasserspende aus dem Fels hätte das Volk des tiefen Unrechts vollkommen überführt, das es in seinen Anklagen an Mosche und Aharon geübt, als hätten sie gegen Gottes Willen sie an diesen wasserlosen Ort geführt, während das erst infolge des Schlagens mit dem Stabe hervorströmende Wasser noch immer der Annahme Raum lassen konnte, als wäre in der Tat ursprünglich ihre Führung in die Wüste Zin eine Eigenmächtigkeit Mosche und Aharons gewesen und hätte nur nachher ihr berechtigter Aufstand und ihre Not Gott zu dem erbarmenden Wunder veranlasst. Sie hätte das Volk gelehrt, wie unter Gottes Führung man aller Sorge sich zu entschlagen habe und auch ohne Mosche Wanderstab der rechten Hülfe zur rechten Zeit jederzeit gewiss sein könne. Sie hätte eben damit, wie ich einst die Erläuterung aus des seligen Bernays נ׳׳ע Munde hörte, an der Grenze des verheißenen Landes und der damit zu betretenden neuen Zukunft, in welcher an die Stelle der offenbaren Gotteswunder der Führung durch die Wüste die unsichtbare und doch nicht minder nahe Gottes Leitung durch נסים נסתרים treten sollte, wohl eben zu diesen überleiten und zeigen sollen, dass, was der Moschestab in der Wüste gewesen, das solle fortan das Moschewort für alle Zukunft bleiben. Und wenn — nach der tiefen Auffassung der Weisen — die Wanderschaft in die Wüste mit dem Marawunder betreten wurde, das mit der Erfahrung rüsten sollte, dass דבר מן התורה, dass ein Wort des göttlichen Gesetzes genüge, um das bitterste Wasser zu versüßen (siehe Schmot 15, 25), so würde nach dieser Auffassung die Wanderschaft durch die Wüste haben schließen und die neue Zukunft angetreten werden sollen mit der Erfahrung, dass das Moschewort genüge, um aus dem Fels den frischen Trunk des Lebens zu spenden. —

ודברתם אל הסלע, “and speak to the rock (pl.).” The prefix ה before the word: הסלע teaches that the rock involved was the one that used to provide water for the people as long as Miriam had been alive. The people would draw their water from that rock. It used to move with the people whenever they moved. This was the rock that Moses now struck and that refused to yield its water on account of Miriam having died. It resumed yielding water due to the merit of Moses and Aaron, as our sages have explained in the Talmud tractate Taanit, folio 9. This is why G-d told both Moses and Aaron to speak to the rock. Some commentators understand what happened during this episode as follows: the words: ודברתם אל הסלע refer to what occurred in Exodus 17,7; this is totally erroneous, if only since there the Torah never used the expression סלע when speaking about the rock, but only the term צור. Moreover, it is clear that that episode occurred near Mount Sinai, as the Torah testifies that the waters emanated from the rock known as Chorev. (Exodus 17,6)

והוצאת להם מים, by means of your speaking to the rock.

והוצאת להם מים מן הסלע, “you are to bring forth water for them from the rock.” The meaning is that these waters will materialise while you are still standing at the rock. Everybody will witness this impressive spectacle.

None 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.

The “sin” of hitting was as follows: Chazal teach (Shemot Rabbah 21:9) that at the Splitting of the Sea the Torah says (Shemot 14:16) “And now lift up your staff and outstretch your hand”, this “lifting” is a language of removal, that is to say “Lift up and throw away your staff, outstretch your hand, without the staff.” For the people were murmuring that the staff was the cause for all the miracles through some means of sorcery within the staff, for the people had not seen miracles without this staff. Therefore HaShem instructed Moshe to throw away the staff and remove that doubt from their minds. So when it says (14:31) “Israel saw the Mighty Hand” meaning they saw the miracles that was done by hand, and not through the staff, and therefore “they believed in HaShem and Moshe His servant.” It would seem that until now they were children who did not trust them - they did not believe in HaShem and the prophecy of Moshe His servant because they had reason to assume the staff created miracles.

ונתן מימיו, “it will yield its natural waters,” i.e. just a few drops, as a result of being spoken to.

והשקית את העדה, “you will provide drink for the congregation.” You will order them to drink from this water in your presence. All these details were spelled out in order to provide maximum publicity for this great miracle. Interestingly, when it came to the execution the Torah does not speak about Moses giving the people to drink but about the people drinking of their own accord, without prompting. (Compare verse 11) They were so thirsty that they did not wait to be asked.

In 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.

והוצאת להם מים, “you will extract for them water;” i.e. a great quantity of water, by striking the rock. According to that view, the reason why G-d had told Moses to take along the staff, although on the face of it sounded as if quantities of water would be released from the rock by merely speaking to it, was that it had never been intended that more than a few drops of the rock’s own moisture would be released by speaking to it. Moses had misunderstood G-d, as he was upset at the time so that he had never spoken to the rock at all, apart from not having known which of the numerous rocks all around he was to address. The critical rock was surrounded by many others which all looked alike.

Bearing 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)?

According 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.

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

I 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..

ונתן מימיו, “it will yield its waters.” The Torah should have simply written ונתן מים, “it will yield water.” What is the meaning of the suffix “its?” Had the Torah not written the suffix we might have concluded that there was water beneath the rock which had been freed through Moses’ addressing it, moving it by giving it an order to move. This would not have been a special miracle. The Torah therefore reports that Moses was instructed to release water from the rock itself merely by giving such a command in the name of Hashem. Another way of looking at this suffix is that the potential of this rock producing water goes back to the six days of creation. Now G’d had seen fit to activate this potential. Our sages in Avot 5,6 already mentioned that the well of Miriam was one of the things created at dusk on the sixth day to be activated when the occasion would arise. Seeing that the word מימיו, “its waters,” allows people to think that perhaps the waters of this rock were natural, the Torah had to emphasize “you will produce waters for them out of the rock.” The Torah also chose the expression הוצאה because it is usually associated with supernatural events. When G’d told Avraham that He had taken him out of the fire of the Chaldeans (Genesis 15,7) saying אשר הוצאתיך מאור כשדים, He referred to the miracle of saving him from the furnace of Nimrod. When G’d referred to having taken Israel out of Egypt, He also used the expression הוצאתיך (Exodus 20,2). He referred to the miracles associated with the Exodus. Isaiah 48,21 is similar in nature where the prophet referred to צור to stress the miraculous nature of what occurred. The words והוצאת להם מים indicate that whole rivers of water flowed from the rock seeing that otherwise it would have been impossible for several million Israelites to drink water from that rock as well as to water their beasts. Psalms 78,16 makes this point clear when referring to the event in a second verse: “He brought forth streams from a rock and made them flow down like a river.”

A 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.

At 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.

Moses 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.

When 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.

Do 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.

Having 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.

On 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.

The 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.

The 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.

והשקית 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.]

העדה 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.