Let's dive into a story from Legends of the Jews by Ginzberg that really brings this home.
The Israelites, thirsty and weary, gathered around Moses, desperate for water. Moses, understandably, felt the pressure. He thought to himself, according to the legend, "If I speak to the rock, bidding it bring forth water, and nothing happens, I’ll be humiliated in front of everyone! They'll say, 'Where is thy wisdom?'" Can you imagine the weight of that expectation?
So, Moses addresses the people, explaining that while God can perform miracles, He hadn’t revealed which rock would yield water. He says something like, "When God doesn't want a person to know something, their wisdom is useless." Moses then gently slides his staff down the rock, uttering, as if speaking to the people, "Shall we bring you forth water out of this rock?"
Now, this is where things get interesting. The rock, of its own accord, begins to produce water! It’s a miracle! But then, Moses strikes the rock with his staff. And instead of water, blood flows forth. What?!
A perplexed Moses cries out to God, "This rock brings forth no water!" And God immediately turns to the rock, asking, "Why are you bringing forth blood instead of water?" The rock's reply? "O Lord of the world! Why did Moses strike me?"
The tension is palpable. God asks Moses why he struck the rock. Moses's response: "So that it might bring forth water!" But God’s reply is cutting. "Did I tell you to strike the rock? I only said, 'Speak to it.'"
According to this legend, Moses attempts to defend himself, saying he did speak to it, but nothing happened. But God isn't buying it. He reminds Moses that he taught Israel to judge their neighbors righteously. Why, then, didn’t Moses judge the rock righteously? This rock, which, the story implies, sustained Moses in Egypt, providing him with honey. God asks, “Is this how you repay it?”
It gets even worse. God accuses Moses of calling His children fools. “If you are a wise man," God says, "it does not become you to have anything further to do with fools, and therefore you shall not with them learn to know the land of Israel.” Ouch.
And then comes the hammer blow: Neither Moses, his brother Aaron, nor his sister Miriam, will set foot in the promised land.
Apparently, in Egypt, God had already warned Moses and Aaron against calling the Israelites fools. And at the waters of Meribah (the waters of strife) at Kadesh, when Moses, without Aaron protesting, did call them fools, their fate was sealed. The punishment of death, in a way, was decreed.
Finally, God instructs the rock to turn the blood back into water, and it obeys.
What are we to make of this story? It seems harsh, doesn't it? Moses, the leader who brought the Israelites out of slavery, is denied entry into the promised land for what seems like a relatively small transgression. But perhaps that's the point. Leadership comes with immense responsibility. And those in positions of power are held to a higher standard. As we find in Midrash Rabbah, even a small mistake can have huge consequences.
The story also highlights the importance of listening to God's instructions precisely. Moses was told to speak to the rock, not strike it. By deviating from the divine command, he demonstrated a lack of faith, a lack of trust in God's power.
The Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, might suggest that Moses's striking of the rock represents a forceful, even aggressive approach, when a gentler, more compassionate approach was required. Perhaps the lesson is that we must always strive to act with wisdom, compassion, and unwavering faith in God's guidance. And remember, even the greatest among us are capable of making mistakes, and sometimes, those mistakes have profound and lasting consequences.