Chukat

Chukat – Daniella Kolodny

Daniella Kolodny received rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. Following ordination she served as a U.S. Navy chaplain at the United States Naval Academy and led services at various ports of call around the world. Rabbi Kolodny met her husband at the annual Limmud conference in the U.K. and has since immigrated to England where she works as an independent Jewish educator. She is excited about working with Limmud Programming team to develop and strategise programming for the 2010 Limmud Conference. 

Of the many challenges that Moses faced in the desert, the obstacle that proved insurmountable was his encounter with his own ego. Throughout Torah we read about Moses as a great leader. Moses faced down the tyrant, Pharaoh. Moses led the Israelites from slavery to freedom. Moses climbed to the top of Sinai, met face to face with God and returned to the b'nai Yisrael (children of Israel) with God's covenant. And it was Moses who began construction of the magnificent Tent of Meeting where God's presence would dwell. But with two angry strikes of a rock, God deprives Moses of the crowning achievement of a lifetime, the privilege of leading the Israelites into the Land of Israel. Why was the man whom Jewish tradition calls Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses Our Teacher) denied entry into the Land of Israel? 

In Parashat Chukat, the children of Israel contend with Moses and Aaron and protest about the conditions of the desert.

"Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation in front of the rock; and he said to them, 'Listen, you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?' And Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Out came copious water, and the community and the beasts drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not have trust in Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of the Children of Israel, therefore you will not lead this community to the Land which I have given them.'" (Num. 20:10-12)

What was Moses' sin? What could have prompted God to issue such a stern and devastating judgement on the chosen leader of the B’nai Yisrael? In Parashat B'Shallach we read of a similar situation but with vastly different results. There too (Ex. 17:6) the Israelites are thirsty and complaining. Moses cries out to God for help, fearing that the Israelites may exact revenge on him for leading them to the desert. God responds by instructing Moses to tap a rock with the promise that water will flow from of it. Moses follows God's command and water flows out of the rock. God is playing with Moses' memory of that incident to reveal a deeper truth in our parashah. In B'Shallach, Moses follows God's command as ordered; but in Parashat Chukat, Moses re-interprets, ever so slightly, God's command. Moses proves through this impulsive gesture that he has grown impatient with the B'nai Yisrael.

According to the medieval commentator, Nachmanides, when Moses and Aaron use the phrase "shall we get water for you out of this rock?" they suggest that they, not God, are the source of the miraculous gushing of water from the rock. The brothers' sin is that have become convinced of their own self-importance. Maimonides suggests a different source for Moses' sin; he was guilty of acting on his anger and impatience with the Israelites. Moses paid a heavy price indeed for his arrogance. 

In difficult situation, Moses no longer acted as a leader, he thought only of himself. With two taps on a rock, Moses demonstrates that he is no longer fit for service. Having heard the people's grumblings throughout the journey through the desert he has grown frustrated. Moses speaks out in anger: "You rebels," he accuses them. In using this epithet, Moses confirms that he no longer listens to the B'nei Yisrael either. Moses has lost his moral authority. Without the ability to trust in God and pay attention to God’s commands Moses proves that he is incapable of paying attention to his people's needs and concerns.

The Talmud teaches that prophecy, wisdom and anger cannot co-exist. "As to every man who becomes angry, if he is a Sage, his wisdom departs from him; if he is a prophet, his prophecy departs from him." (BT Pes.  66b)

Moses was unparalleled in his gift of prophecy and the depth of his wisdom, but for an instant he forgot that trust and concern for the other is one of the ethical bases of Torah. Listening leads to compassion.