Moshe's Sin

Over the years that I have been writing a weekly thought on the parsha, one topic that has come up over and over is the question of the sin of Moshe - what caused Moshe (and Aharon) to be denied entry into the Promised Land?

Rashi says "hitting the rock." But the truth is it's not that simple. As Rabbi Menachem Leibtag has pointed out, the punishment does not fit the crime. And as I have pointed out, God never says it's because of a specific action that Moshe did. It's because of what he DIDN'T DO. (Elsewhere there is a general accusation of Moshe's rebellion here, but not specifically attached to "the hitting of the rock.")

This posting is simply a gathering of the pieces I've written that appear in the blog. First you'll see the links, which are followed by some of the suggestions of the commentaries as to what Moshe's sin actually was - or rather, an explanation for why he could not enter the Promised Land.

http://arabbiwithoutacause.blogspot.com/2013/01/moshes-destiny-to-never-enter-land.html

http://arabbiwithoutacause.blogspot.com/2012/08/moshes-failure.html

http://arabbiwithoutacause.blogspot.com/2016/07/time-and-plan-make-all-difference.html - Moshe's failure has much to do with being unprepared for the death of Miriam

http://arabbiwithoutacause.blogspot.com/2015/09/how-moshes-punishment-has-very-little.html (I linked this one above)

http://arabbiwithoutacause.blogspot.com/2017/07/a-new-interpretation-of-al-asher-mritem.html

And perhaps, as a footnote, Moshe understood what role he was supposed to play, and that it wasn't about him.  http://arabbiwithoutacause.blogspot.com/2012/02/truly-humble-leader.html

http://arabbiwithoutacause.blogspot.com/2011/06/moshes-teachable-moment-commitment-to.html

https://arabbiwithoutacause.blogspot.com/2019/08/moshes-non-entry-to-promised-land-in.html

A different kind of thought about how Moshe let his emotions get the better of him
http://arabbiwithoutacause.blogspot.com/2016/07/time-and-plan-make-all-difference.html

http://arabbiwithoutacause.blogspot.com/2017/07/netziv-on-moshes-sin.html

http://arabbiwithoutacause.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-formula-how-moshe-teaches-profound.html

https://arabbiwithoutacause.blogspot.com/2020/07/is-there-merit-to-blaming-others-what.html

http://arabbiwithoutacause.blogspot.com/2018/06/who-was-punished-with-moshe-and-aharons.html

HERE's a SHIUR I gave on this subject, using the commentary of Kli Yakar (audio)


What follows are notes I once put together on this subject (forgive the informality), and then the summaries of many views as recorded by Abravanel and Or HaChaim. The main point is, as Luzatto has pointed out (quoted by Nechama Leibowitz), Moshe has one story here which "seems" to be connected to his inadmission to the land (though in the Torah, there is a space which separates the "rock incident" from God's declaration that Moshe and Aharon will not lead the people into the land - suggesting they may not be directly connected), and the Rabbis heaped over ten sins onto Moshe and Aharon. This is why the approach of Abravanel, as summarized very nicely by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan in his Yalkut Meam Loez, is that Moshe and Aharon's tales of punishment are much bigger than what we find in this episode, and that the Torah masked the real reason for their non-entry in this story, to protect them.
No one has a good answer for these two questions: If the non-entry into the land has to do with this story, why did Miriam have to die? And what did Aharon do here that caused him to have to die?

Ibn Ezra

Because Moshe lost his concentration and did not speak to the rock when he hit it the first time it only gave water with the second strike – he did not sanctify God and all the rebellion was accidental.

Ramban

The sin was saying נוציא

לא קדשתם was in thinking it was Moshe and Aharon who had drawn forth water

מעלתם בי no one saw what Moshe and Aharon were trying to demonstrate (that it’s from God)

מריתם פי is because God had told them to speak to the rock לעיניהם. They didn’t.

לא האמנתם בי refers to the Israelites, or b/c M&A did not do enough to strengthen faith

They agreed together to hit the rock twice: Did not put faith in God. They rebelled against the spirit of the law, which in turn is sacrilege. The problem here was their anger which ultimately caused them to hit the rock an unnecessary second time.

Bachya

Kabbalah says “פעמיים” was the problem.

In Shmot 17 Moshe hit the rock one time because הנני עומד לפניך על הצור

Here he was told take a stick – clearly for the purpose of hitting the rock – so M&A decided to hit twice: a. for the צור b. for Hashem.

The “b.” was because M&A thought God was angry at the people, and they needed to draw out a “bracha” from up high.

They did not sin in this respect (hitting, even hitting twice)

Problem was that there was no Kiddush Hashem in the eyes of the Jews.

Devarim 3 – God was angry at me because of you – led them to believe God’s strength waned. This was the sin because it lessened the peoples’ faith in God.

Not that they themselves (M&A) sinned, but that they caused the people to violate all the things God accused Moshe of. Ultimately, since they sinned with a צור they were punished

Sforno

Problems: The people were challenging both Moshe as the agent of God, and God Himself, Who sent Moshe. The challenge for Moshe is to prove that he, the messenger, is a good leader, and God (the sender) is all good.

Miracle is to prove this.  

There are three possible kinds of miracles:

1. Hidden. Dewfall, general reprieve from illness etc. Comes from prayers of righteous

2. nature could never accomplish alone, but with tzaddik’s help, through an action, it can be achieved. Turning the staff to a snake. Splitting the sea. Ground opening; sun standing still

3. nature could never do. But it can be achieved when the Tzaddik says it will happen. The ground opening, the sun standing still. In this case, it would be when the stone turns into water, or provides water that is not coming from some other source.

            This third miracle was what God wanted the people to see through דיבור.  This would resolve the problems of leader and Sender (God)…there is nothing to fear for He is there. Once that is achieved, Moshe’s stick could even channel the water for each tribe, following miracle type 2 from above. 

             Because M&A decided together to make the second kind of miracle because they did not believe God would make the third kind for the undeserving Israelite mob (this is why Aharon is included in the consequence). An additional problem with doing this one is that the 2^nd miracle makes the messenger (Moshe) look great, but completely disregards the Sender. And didn’t show the ‘fighters’ the error of their ways.

ולזה נכתב עליהם לא האמנתם בי שהרצון בו לא בטחתם בי שאעשה מה שאמרתי ומעלתם בי (דברים לב, נא) שחיללתם כבודי ולא הראיתם למריבים את סכלותם ומריתם פי בשלא שמרתם מצותי:

Or Hachaim

Moshe understood 2 reasons for the stick: 1. to strike, 2. to demonstrate power

ודברתם changes meaning based on intent of speaker. Could mean to hit or to talk to it, teaching it some Toirah.

God intended for him simply to hold the stick, and He wanted Moshe to teach the rock something, while Mo thought “he means to hit it.” Of course “pshat” is to speak – but Moshe never considered it b/c אמר "הנה לפני שני דרכים, ואם אני עושה דיבור לבד ולא הכאה, אני חושש שמא הפירוש האמיתי הוא להכות, ומה גם שהוא יותר פשטי, ועוד שהוא דבר רחוק שהדומם יתעורר בדיבור בן אדם, כמו שכתבתי בסמוך, לזה אם אני מדבר בלא הכאה שלא כדרך שאמר ה' אין הסלע נותן מימיו, ויתחלל שם שמים חילול גדול לעיני העדה אשר אני עושה הנס לעיניהם, ואתחייב ראשי למלך, לזה יותר אבחר להכות, ואטה לפירוש היותר צודק במשמעות מאמר קח את המטה, ויקוים גם כן מאמר והוצאת להם מים" וכו' כמו שפירשתי

And he spoke with the rock as he hit it anyway. Then he contemplated which rock to hit, but ultimately, Moshe’s main concern was God’s honor – his שוגג happened באונס.

And it happened because he developed a doubt – now let’s understand יען לא האמנתם בי להקדישני. “You guys decided to go your path, assuming the rock would not give water unless it was the rock. And only through hitting it. You did not consider My name and how sanctified it would be if water came out, and without any physical striking.

            The fundamental point is if M&A had done a Kiddush hashem, they would have entered the land, built th beit hamikdosh, which would have brought even more of divine wrath upon them when they sinned because He would not be able to destroy the Temple.

Kli Yakar

“The stick” = Aharon’s. Moshe was to show this stick to the people to teach them “just as God had this stick produce water and flowers, so too a rock can produce water.”

“Speak to the rock” = “ונתן מימיו” סלע=160=עץ, so rock should learn from the stick.

When Moshe hit rock - he used his own stick and initiative. The stick that was מלפני ה' was commanded, but every other act was not what God had commanded.

At קי"ס, Moshe הרם מטך ונטה ידך .. הרמה = removal.“Remove stick and use hand – because people credited stick w/ supernatural powers, source of Moshe’s “magic.” “remove” the stick to show no “shtickim” up his sleeve. This is why it says וירא ישראל את היד הגדולה.

      קי"ס long ago, new gen Q = M’s hand or מטה? Assume Yam Suf=Egypt=with מטה. Now as he hits rock, people back 40 years in thinking+אמונה saying stick had magical powers. י"ס has הרמה of stick then hand does miracle. Here, hand is removed, and stick does miracle. יען לא האמנתם בי  means you caused people to believe in the stick.

2 probs: A. They did not speak towards the rock at all (as Aharon was obliged to do) about Aharon’s stick. B. hitting the rock lessened everyone’s faith – יען לא האמנתם means “You did not cause others to believe in Me.”

Abravanel (summarizes different views)

Rashi - hit the rock instead of speaking to it

Chazal - they were disrespectful to the people in the tone in which they addressed them, especially calling them rebels

Rambam - they got angry/ lost their temper

Ramban - caused a lack of faith in God, said "WE" will bring forth water (not God)

Ibn Ezra - the second hitting of the rock (one time was sufficient)

________ - they did not sing "Shirah" after the water came out

Sefer HaIkrim - they did not speak to the rock, and therefore did not properly sanctify God's name

________ - there was no sin in actuality. Moshe suffered as a consequence of the bad behavior of the people

Abravanel's view - Aharon's sin was the Golden Calf, and Moshe's sin was the Spies. This story is just a distraction (he compares the sketchy details of the deaths of Nadav and Avihu to the sketchy details surrounding the reasons for Moshe and Aharon's deaths)

Or HaChaim's summary of other's views (many of these have been recorded already)

1. Rashi – Moshe hit the rock after God told him to speak.

2. Ibn Ezra – Moshe was correct to strike the rock (based on Shmot 17), but because the people were complaining, he lost his concentration and required an unnecessary second strike to regain his composure. Additionally, any action before speaking to the rock, was considered ‘not doing what God commanded.’ 

3. The sin was the second striking because the command to “speak” to the rock really means to “hit” the rock, but only once (as per Shmot 17). 

4. He did not sing or cause song/praise of God after the miracle. 

5. Maimonides - He called the children of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob “rebels”. 

6. Ibid #2 – he lost his temper, causing the people to think God was angry at them, when He was not. 7. Nachmanides/R. Chananel/Or Hachaim – Moshe led the people to believe he and Aharon were to cause the miracle, without giving credit to God . 

8. R”M Hakohen - The question regarding “this rock” is sarcastic, shedding doubt on God’s ability to have water drawn from a rock – or any rock. 

9. R”Y Albo - Instead of using their prophetic rights to cajole the rock, as Joshua demanded of the sun to stand still in Givon, they appealed to God to tell them what to do – thereby causing a diminishing of faith.  

10. Maaseh Hashem – Moshe fought with the people as he wanted to draw water from a different rock than they wanted – and he threw his stick in anger.