After further complaints by the Israelites in the wilderness, (Torah teaches) God instructed Moses and Aaron to gather the people together, with staff in hand and speak to the rock. And Moses and Aaron did as they were commanded, but …”he (Moses) struck the rock with his staff, twice” whereas God had only told said to “speak to the rock!”

The staff was the instrumental symbol of leadership, and thus striking the rock, was evidence of the low state of Moses’ leadership. Moreover, when he did speak, it was with anger and frustration: “Listen you rebels (”morim” is the Greek word for rebels!): do you expect us to bring water out of this rock for you?”

Moses committed two sins, according to our teachers, The Rambam and The Ramban, respectively: the sin of (unjustified—writer’s emphasis) anger. As we might say, he ‘lost it,’{we learn elsewhere that a person’s’ character is known through t he following behaviors:: drink, tzedakah, anger—note the Hebrew alliteration}In this regard, he departed from “the Golden Mean” with this exaggerated response to the people. Secondly, Moses and Aaron arrogated to themselves undue honor. They forgot that everything is f rom Heaven, and that they were only partners with God, an instrument for leadership, not the source! How dare the people act in such a contemptuous way In this, words figure greatly for “death and life are in the power of the tongue”(Proverbs). On account of this rash behavior, Torah and tradition declare severe consequences: not being able to continue leading the people into the Promised Land. Despite a lifetime of accomplishment, here at this point he did not consecrate God, with acts and words.

We and our leadership today, must act according to the Golden Mean: less overt force and more wise deliberation to arrive at some agreement. We of course pray for the release of this captive soldier, and for the end of the missile attacks; but we have before, us, in miniature, the larger issue of security, accommodation, and the challenge of co-existence, with sworn advesaries (Rabin’s words are forever relevant: ‘one makes peace with enemies, not with friends’). May our leaders act wisely, and carefully, knowing that death and life are not only in the power of the “strong right hand” but in the tongue!

Recent Articles by Rabbi Shaul Feinberg

• Huqqat: Act according to the Golden Mean - June 29th, 2006
• Rabbi Shaul Feinberg - June 8th, 2006
• Huqqat: Thinking Before Speaking - July 7th, 2005

Categories: Bemidbar / Numbers, Huqqat
Tags: agreement, Bo, ease, human rights, Huqqat, palestinians, peace, settlers