Parashat Chukat Numbers 19:1−22:1

Dear Friends,

In this week’s Torah portion, “Chukat,” in a single chapter, both Miriam and Aaron die. In this one telling, Moses is stripped of first his sister and then his brother. We are told of no emotion on the part of Moses, but we can imagine the enormity of the loss of two siblings that were by his side for so much of his life and the adventure it encompassed. 

The Torah tells us that when Miriam died, there was no water. This leads the Tradition to tell us that while Miriam was alive, there was always a pool of water that followed the Children of Israel wherever they went, and when she passed away the pool disappeared. The Torah seems to make this a cause and effect event. Yet the people do not stop to mourn Miriam, or allow Moses a moment to grieve the loss of his sister. Instead, they gather together, not to console Moses and Aaron, but to complain to them: “And why have you brought up the congregation of the God into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die here? And why have you made us come out of Egypt, to bring us into this evil place? This is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink.”

So consumed with themselves are the Israelites that they can only think of the moment, seemingly having lost all hope, all vision of a better tomorrow, let alone that they are not longer slaves. It is only when some physical manifestation of the Presence of God appears that Moses and Aaron seem to be saved from the mob. Moses is instructed to gather the people in front of a rock, and speak to it (i.e. say some sort of blessing) and then water would come forth. Enough water for all of the people, and all of their livestock. This would have been a miracle, yet again proving God’s power, and God’s ability to sustain the Jews in the wilderness.  

However, Moses being a human being, has had it. He loses his temper, berates the people, and uses his staff to hit the rock twice. The rock breaks and water gushes out, but what would have been miraculous becomes mundane. Moses in his anger misses an opportunity to lift the spirits of the people and elevate God. Instead, he allows the life sustaining flow of water to be an ordinary event with no spiritual component. The fact that he was bereaved and had very little, if any, emotional reserves, seems to have been no excuse. The punishment is extreme. Moses, at the end of his “tenure,” after leading the people for all those years, will not be allowed to enter the promised land.

The lesson is stark. When leaders, no matter how elevated they may be, act out of anger instead of compassion and careful consideration, ultimately will not do well. Even Moses the faithful servant cannot rely on previous service to save him. It is a valuable lesson for all of us in our daily lives. Righteous anger, when it moves us to act appropriately, can be a good thing. However anger that consumes us in its flames, absorbs our patience and causes us to disrespect those around us is simply destructive. Moses was slow of speech, that came to be a blessing and not a curse. It made him pause before he spoke. This time, though, he seems to have overcome it with awful consequences.

May we all strive to be the leader that Moses was at his best. Patient, caring, understanding and willing to look in awe at the wonders of creation. 

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Marv
rabbischwab@bethelsp.org