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Leadership requires love
Torah Study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Chukat/Numbers 19:1 - 22:1
The great tragedy in this week's Torah reading is the awesome punishment the Almighty inflicts upon Moses - not allowing him to lead the people into the promised land. This astonishingly productive and prophetic figure is prevented from accomplishing his life's goal and heart's desire.
The text records that immediately following the death of Miriam, the source of water disappeared. The situation became so intolerable that the people actually claimed that it would have been better if they had died in Egypt, rather than being led to "this wretched place, a place with no grain or figs or vines or pomegranates ... not even water to drink" (Numbers 20:5).
In response to their plea, God commands Moses and Aaron to "take the rod and assemble the community, and before their very eyes, order the rock to yield its water" (Numbers 20:8).
Moses and Aaron gather the assembly of Israelites, and "Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Out came copious water" (Numbers 20:11). However, Moses first cried out, "Listen, you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?" (Numbers 20:10).
In response to Moses' angry words and action, God grows angry in turn: "Because you did not trust me enough to affirm my sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them" (Numbers 20:13).
True, Moses didn't follow God's exact words and speak to the rock. But in his defense, commentators point out that since in the past God had commanded him to strike the rock - "I will be standing there before you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock and water will issue from it, and the people will drink" (Exodus 17:6) - wouldn't it be reasonable for Moses to have applied the previous command to the present circumstances? After all, here too God instructs Moses to take the rod with him. Was it so implausible for Moses to assume that he was being required to bring his rod in order to use it? Furthermore, if God wanted to be sanctified via a rock that flowed with water, does it really matter if Moses spoke to the rock or if he struck it? In either case, the miracle is clear.
The main problem, as explained by Maimonides, is that Moses calls the people rebels, that he loses patience with them, that he really wants to strike them, but instead he strikes the rock. A leader impatient with his charges, angry with his people, can not possibly bring them to the next stage of history in the land of Israel.
Rabbenu Tzadok Hakohen of Lublin, in his 19th century commentary, Pri Tzadik, interprets this tragic event in the life of Moses symbolically. The hard rock symbolizes the Jewish nation, often referred to in the Torah as a "stiff-necked" people. By hitting the rock, Moses was lashing out at the Israelites, expressing his anger and frustration.
Even more problematic, Moses should use his hands in a loving embrace, to welcome the partnership of a God-enthused nation. Instead, Moses raised his hand, held his hands over and above the nation in a sign of high-handed superiority, and then, in anger, struck the rock (symbolically, the Israelite nation) twice with the rod. A leader who lifts his hands above, rather than outstretches his hand towards his nation, a leader who is angry with, and has ceased to love, his nation, cannot continue to lead.
Two central events, which unfolded in the last two Torah portions, provide a clue to understanding how Moses shifted from the heights of compassion to the depths of impatience.
When the scouts returned, and 10 of the 12 convinced the nation to dash Moses' ultimate goal of entry into the promised land, and when Korah staged a rebellion against the Mosaic leadership and not one single Israelite rose to his defense, the blazing inner fire that had energized the spirit of the devoted leader turned to ashes of decay.
But a leader must love those he leads. A leader devoid of such committed devotion must - as a consequence, if not necessarily a punishment - relinquish his command to the next generation.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Efrat, Israel.
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