Sermon Archives

Chukat

This week’s parsha taps into a primal fear of mine - that I will live a good life - and then make one mistake that will destroy everything. This is what seems to happen to Moshe. He does so much good, saves the Jewish people, changes the course of history  - and then he gets punished for making one mistake? He gets punished for hitting a rock?

And it’s not even the first time that Moshe uses physical force to express anger - 

Can you think of two other times when Moshe uses physical force?

1. He killed the Egyptian
2. He broke the tablets
    

Moshe kills a person, he breaks the tablets - no response from Gd - So why does he get punished for hitting a rock? I always told my kids to take out their anger on an inanimate object like a pillow instead of a person. What’s the problem here?

Let’s try to look at this a little differently. What if this isn’t a punishment? What Gd is revealing something to the people?

Let’s start by looking at those two other examples when Moshe uses physical force.

In both of these situations - Moshe’s action creates a fissure - a permanent break from the past -  there’s no going back.

When he strikes the Egyptian - he has to run away - his days as an Egyptian are officially over.

When he breaks the tablets - there’s no putting them back together. The covenant as it was defined up until then is permanently over. We needed a new covenant - we needed the second set of luchot. 

So much of what Moshe does in his leadership is break from the past…his job literally is to take his people out of Egypt - a permanent break not just from slavery - but from the world of Mitzrayim. Gd could have ended slavery and kept the people in Egypt to rebuild the society, but that is not what the story is about. The story is not called “ending slavery” - it is  called yitziat mitzrayim - leaving Egypt forever. 

And this is part of the lesson of the midbar.  Throughout their time in the wilderness - the people ask again and again to return to the past to return to Egypt - and again and again they must learn that there’s no going back.

Perhaps the most striking example of this is the parting of the sea. Like the story of the striking of the rock, this is a story of life or death because of water. In our parsha, they don’t have enough water. At the sea, they are in mortal danger of drowning in too much water. 

Like in our story, Moshe uses his staff to save people's lives. And once they cross the sea, there is no going back. The waters close in to drown the Egyptian army. The only option is to break from the past and continue the journey. 

So back to our story of striking the rock? Here for the first time, Gd asks Moshe to do things a different way. 

Let’s compare it to the other time the people were without water in the desert. Back in parshat Beshalach, right after they crossed the sea, they cry out to Moshe that there was no water, and express their longing to return to Egypt. 

Moshe turns to God for help - and God commands Moshe..yes folks…to strike the rock. 

Moshe does exactly what God says, water comes out of the rock, and the people leave the rock behind and move on in their journey. 

So now let’s turn to the story in our parsha. The parallels are striking. 

Once again, the people cry out to Gd that there is no water and that they want to go back to Egypt. The text even names the place Merivah, the same name used in the first story. The Torah seems to be begging us to compare and contrast these two stories.

And once again Moshe turns to Gd. This time, however, Gd’s instructions to Moshe are totally different. 

This time Gd says -  “You and your brother Aaron take the rod and assemble the community, and before their very eyes speak to the rock to yield its water.”

The obvious difference of course is that Moshe this time is asked to speak to the rock. 

But there is another key difference between the two stories.

Unlike last time, this time Moshe is asked to take action L’anayhem before their eyes - what seems to be key to the story is that the people must see it happen. They must see what Moshe does. 

And then- look at the moment when Gd issues the decree - Gd says - 

“Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My holiness in L’eney - in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them.”

What seems to matter here is that this was in the eyes of the people - that the people saw it happen with their own eyes. It’s not just that Moshe didn’t trust Gd - it’s that the people saw it happen.

So what do the people see?

They see Gd telling Moshe to do something different - to strike the rock. 

They see that Gd tries to make it as easy as possible for Moshe to follow the new instructions. For one thing Gd commands Aaron to be the one to speak to the rock, perhaps because speaking is Moshe’s source of greatest insecurity. All the way back ot the burning bush, Moshe expresses a reluctance to speak. 

They see that Gd gives Moshe a second chance. Perhaps the first time, no water came out. I’m imaging a dramatic pause here. Gd was giving Moshe a chance to change course and speak to the rock - but Moshe can’t do it - he can only do it the old way - and strikes the rock again. This is not a simple act of disobedience - it’s someone who has done things the same way his whole life -not able to change. 

If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense - Moshe is doing what he did before - after all, it worked before to strike the rock - why try something different now?  Moshe may not have even understood the instructions -when Gd said speak to the rock, Moshe may have heard “Do the thing you did last time.” Strike the rock. Break from the past. 

Perhaps Gd knew all along that Moshe wasn’t the one to take the people into the land. Moshe’s mission was to take them out of Egypt - to break from the past - to strike the Egyptian and leave Egypt, to part the sea, to break the tablets, to strike the rock. He couldn’t possibly also be the person to also bring them into the land. 

God was giving the people a chance to see this for themselves. Because as much as this change may be what’s needed, it had to be incredibly painful for the people to lose Moshe as their leader. 

It’s remarkable that the  people do not protest Gds’ words. It’s kind of shocking actually - Moshe has been with them throughout this journey - and they say nothing in his defense? 

Maybe this is because Gd gave the people and the opportunity to witness with their own eyes - to see firsthand why Moshe was not the right leader for this next chapter. 

Though it could not have been easy, they understand that it is time for them to move on without Moshe. 

Now let’s look at what happens immediately right after.

Bnai yisrael needs to cross through the land of Edom. They don’t just go in and fight. Moshe sends messengers to Edom to speak to them and tell their story - how they left Egypt, where they are going etc… - and then ask them for permission to pass through peacefully. 

Notice that Moshe does not speak to Edom himself - he sends messengers to do it - If Moshe can’t even speak to a rock, how is supposed to speak to Edom and the other people they will encounter?

Bnai Yisrael is now entering into a new chapter of the journey -where they will need to engage with other people - to use their voices - and speak. Bnai Yisrael needs to start to learn how to  be in relationship with present - with the new land - instead of just focusing on how to leave Mitzrayim behind. Moshe - the leader who taught them how to leave Egypt cannot be the one to help them enter this new chapter. 

I learn a personal  lesson from this.  Sometimes we really think we know what needs to happen. We are so clear on what needs to be done. I know when I feel that way I can be tempted to just go ahead and execute. But if we slow down we first give others a chance to see and understand for themselves why something needs to happen- we will have more success when we take action. 

Shabbat shalom.