Netziv on Moshe's Sin

One of the most relevant questions to understanding the fallout to the Mei Merivah story is whether the punishment fits the crime.

In other words, if the way God runs the world, in terms of reward and punishment, is through the principle of Measure for Measure - מדה כנגד מדה (Middah K'negged Middah) in Hebrew - then anytime there seems to be a punishment we need to ask ourselves "How is this Middah K'negged Middah?" And if we don't see it, then we are not understanding what the crime is and/or what the punishment is.

Just to bring one example in terms of how the story is clearly misunderstood:
Crime: Moshe hit the rock
Punishment: You can't enter the Promised Land.

This is why I have thoroughly rejected this interpretation of this story. Because it doesn't follow how God runs the world.

I recently became aware of Netziv's interpretation of this story, and one of the most remarkable aspects of how he explains the "sin" of Moshe is in his actual addressing the Middah K'negged Middah component of this story.

So, here goes.

The instruction to Moshe and Aharon to speak to the rock - ודברתם אל הסלע - was to address the people at the rock, to teach an ethical teaching or a law, so the people can take away a lesson for how to deal with adversity.
The rock was put into the order of the world. Just as clouds can provide rain, just as the Nile overflows, God put into the order of the world that this rock should produce water.

The reason for the rock to stop giving water was to give the people ample time to learn how to struggle with nature. The rock wasn't going to be with them forever. Now that Miriam has passed, we are clearly in the 40th year, which means that natural living in the Land, being dependent on water through natural means, etc. is an idea the people will have to begin to get used to.

And there will certainly come a time when the people will sin and the land will not have rain! What are they to do? This is what the task of Mei Merivah was all about. For Moshe to inspire the people, for his words to have an impact, and for the congregation to pray together, as is described in Mesechet Taanit.

According to Netziv, the staff was a backup plan, if the speaking to the people to get them to pray wouldn't work. After all, the people shouldn't be left without water. But the quantity of water they get is dependent on their sincerity. After all, in hindsight we know that they complained for water shortly after this in 21:5, which stands to indicate that the water Moshe brought forth was enough for a very short time.

In choosing to rebuke the people rather than inspire them, Moshe and Aharon both lost out on a tremendous opportunity to teach them survival skills for the land of Israel, skills that are utilized even today during times of drought.

So the punishment was, in this light, measure for measure. If they can't lead the people in teaching them skills for how to live in the land, they can't lead the people into that very land.

This teaching of the Netziv set the stage for a new revelation about how Moshe is supposed to conduct himself in this story (and doesn't), which I'll share in the next blog post.