Moses is severely chastised in this week's Torah portion for hitting a rock to bring forth water, when God had told him to bring about the miracle by speaking to the rock. He is criticized for failing to Sanctify the Name of God.
This seems a bit strange, after all, hitting a rock and having water come out would seem to be a pretty significant miracle in its own right! What is so wrong about impressing the people with the ability for God to bring about a miracle by hitting instead of speaking?
The Kabbalists explain this with a verse in Proverbs which explains that a slave does not respond to speaking - a child does. They explain that hitting a rock and bringing forth water only demonstrates that God is the Master of Creation; all that exists is subservient to his will. Creation is His slave, so to speak. It doesn't demonstrate, however, that God is the Creator of All, and that He - His Presence and Will - permeates all. Speaking to the rock and having it bring forth water would have shown that Moses could bring forth the Will of God that is present in the rock, that the rock is permeated with God and responds to His word.
Doing so would have brought about a much higher consciousness of God's presence in this world. Forgoing this opportunity is what Moses was chastised for.
1 comment:
On a more pshat level, maybe this could also mean that using words is preferred to using power/strength (i.e., dialogue vs. violence) :)
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