Sin Or Salutation

All of the meforshim struggle to explain what the sin of מריבה מי  is.  After all the dust clears it’s still difficult to understand why it’s considered such a grave sin that denies Moshe entry into Eretz Yisroel.  In terms of the episode itself, we find a similar episode earlier in Beshalach (17:6,) yet there a couple of distinctions between them.  In our parsha, Moshe is told to speak to the rock as opposed to earlier he is told to hit the rock as well as earlier he hits a צור but in our parsha a סלע, why are there these differences and what is the difference between a צור  and סלע?

    

One of the classic Telshe chakirot is סימן או סיבה, when there are two events, we can ask is one the cause of the other or just the barometer to determine its presence.  In this case as well, we can ask is the sin of the מריבה מי the cause that Moshe doesn’t enter Eretz Yisroel or was is an indicator that Moshe couldn’t lead the people into Eretz Yisroel. 

According to the Sfas Emes and Rav Tzaddok the sin of Moshe Rabbenu isn’t so grave as to hold him back from entering the land, it demonstrated that he no longer was in touch with the times.  Rav Levi Yitzchok asks why is it that תשבי יתרץ קושיות וביעות, why is it Eliyahu that will answer the questions, why not Moshe Rabbenu?  He explains that the psak halacha must be according to the generation.  Moshe died thousands of years ago; he no longer is aware of what the psak should be for the generation.  Only Eiyahu Hanavei who is still around, comes at a bris, pesach night etc., is aware of the pulse and needs of the generation can give the psak (Kedushas Levi likuttim.)

As discussed earlier, Sefer Bamidbar is the switchover from the generation that left Egypt to the generation entering Eretz Yisroel.  It’s the switch from the experience of the supernatural to that of the natural.  Moshe Rabbenu was the leader for the times of the supernatural.  The name Moshe reflects this essence.  Water represents the desires of an individual (see Tanya end Ch. 1.)  Moshe Rabbenu was completely above all physical desires; he was completely removed from all worldly limitations.  He was the man fit to lead a supernatural existence.  On the other hand, the generation that was entering Eretz Yisroel was a people that had to live in the limits of mundane life.  They weren’t completely removed from human desires.  In order to lead the nation, Moshe would have to be able to recognize and adapt to the change in the people.  

The generation that left Egypt had no feelings of self, they had no personal existence, all they had came from Hashem.  They had no personal desires, traits and talents to cultivate.  In that time, it was a time to beat the צור, a rock that is completely hardened inside and out.  It was a time to kill out any feelings of self and just accept what came from Hashem.  However, fast-forwarding to our parsha, times had changed.  It was time to enter Eretz Yisroel, it was a new generation that hadn’t been scarred by years of slavery.  They had a sense of self, a personal existence to cultivate and develop.  The task of Moshe was no longer to beat them down, it was to draw out their powers and capabilities to be used in a positive manner.  The סלע is made of a סמך, למד, עין.  The middle letter’s spells out מים, the outside is hard but inside there is life.  Moshe’s job was to show that the rock has inside of it waters, ונתן מימיו, to be able to draw out the water from inside of it.  To foster the desires, talents and capabilities the next generation had and use it to serve Hashem. 

Moshe however, was afraid of the consequences that could happen if a person isn’t curbed and rung in and persisted with the old methodology of hitting the rock, of beating one’s physical self instead of handling it gently and with care, with soft words.  Moshe was thus unfit to be the leader anymore and Hashem told him a replacement would have to be put in place.

[Based upon Sfas Emes, Rav Tzaddok (Risasei Lalyah #56,) Kli Yakar (20:8) and Or HaTorah of Tzemach Tzedek and shiurim from Rabbi Y.Y. Jacobson.]