Parshas Chukas

After the petirah of Miriam Hanevi’ah the Jewish People had no water to drink. Until now they had drunk from the well that had been in her zechus. Moshe and Aharon are commanded in this week’s parsha to “speak to the rock,” which would then bring forth water. Confusion developed at the scene of the rock, as the verse states, and Moshe hit the rock instead of speaking to it, bringing forth waters that quenched the nation’s thirst.

For this sin, Moshe and Aharon were not allowed to enter Eretz Yisrael, and the question is: why? Whether water gushed forth from the rock after it was hit or spoken to, what difference should it make? In either case, the nation saw that Hashem had made for them a miracle.

Of course, by hitting the rock, Moshe had not obeyed Hashem’s command to the last detail, but that is not the reason the verse gives for his punishment. Rather, the verse states that Moshe did not cause Hashem’s Name to be sanctified before the nation. Clearly, some element of kiddush Hashem could have been caused at Mei Meriva but was not. Only, what was lacking? By seeing a miracle, the spectators had experienced Kiddush Shem Shamayim. Why, then, was Moshe’s punishment so great?

In order to get to the bottom of Moshe’s error, we must first understand what exactly Moshe was expected to speak to this rock. Yalkut Shimoni (Chukas 20) explains that Moshe was to say “perek echad, halacha achas.” Teaching over a halacha at the rock in the presence of Klal Yisrael would bring water.

Rav Yechiel Michel Feinstein explains the connection between teaching Torah to the masses and bringing forth water through a principle stated in Chovas Halevavos (Shaar Habechina 4), that the entire natural world exists to serve the Torah, just as a slave exists to serve his master. By teaching a halacha to the nation in the presence of the rock, the power of Am Yisrael’s Torah study would have elicited water from the rock as a natural consequence. This was to have been the lesson of the rock. Hitting the rock instead was tantamount to performing what for the Dor Hamidbar was a “familiar sort of miracle,” nothing that would show Torah study’s power to direct the entire natural world. This was Moshe’s error.

Particularly before the nation was to enter Eretz Yisrael, this was to be a critical lesson — that in times of distress, a Jew’s natural response should be to apply himself in Torah study.

In our times as well, the Chazon Ish was known to say that a person who is capable of learning Torah can make no greater contribution to Klal Yisrael than by applying himself deeply into his learning.

“Sometimes just one Tosafos has the power to annul many evil decrees,” he was known to say. This is an expression of the power Torah study has to direct the natural world.

The Netziv has a similar approach to understanding Moshe’s sin at Mei Meriva, saying Hashem’s command to “talk” to the rock meant that he was to lead the nation in prayer. It was to be through the power of tefilas harabim that water would come forth.

Prayer, no less than Torah study, has the power to direct the natural world. A Jew’s first recourse when beset by difficulties should be prayer, and this was the lesson Hashem wanted Moshe to impart at this time. As the nation stood by, thirsty, Moshe would direct them in prayer as a natural form of hishtadlus. Failing to teach this lesson, particularly now, as the nation was about to enter Eretz Yisrael, was Moshe’s error.

This principle appears in an episode in the Gemara (Kiddushin 29b), where a demon had been harming Abayei’s town. When Rav Acha Bar Yaakov was passing through the area, Abayei instructed the townspeople not to take him in as a guest. This, so that Rav Acha bar Yaakov would be forced to lodge in the local beis medrash, where the demon hid itself.

That night, Rav Acha bar Yaakov found himself in a face-off with a 7-headed demon, and he began praying. The Gemara relates that each time Rav Acha bar Yaakov bowed his head, one of the demon’s heads fell off. Finally, after seven bows, Rav Acha was able to go to sleep.

The Maharsha asks: What right did Abayei have to effectively place Rav Acha bar Yaakov in a state of danger? What about the rule that one does not rely on miracles?

The Maharsha answers with the principle we learned above, that since tefilla is a natural form of hishtadlus, its successful outcome is not a miracle but rather a natural consequence.

The Chazon Ish would often tell people seeking his guidance to simply “daven with all your heart; this should be the main form of hishtadlus.” In a letter, he wrote to a sick person that davening “will be for you a help and frequent remedy, gladdening the heart and enlightening the eyes.”

Once, a man suffering from a serious medical condition came to the Chazon Ish wanting to discuss this with him. While waiting to be let in, this man met up with a Rav who came weekly to discuss matters with the Chazon Ish. The Rav enquired as to why this man had come, and slowly became appraised of his medical condition.

“I know of exactly the right doctor for you,” said the Rav, and passed on the doctor’s address. The man left and tried to meet with this doctor. When the Chazon Ish learned of this, he rebuked the Rav.

“This man had come to me so that either he or I should daven about his situation. Davening is the main form of hishtadlus. Why did you go straight to secondary efforts like telling him to go to a doctor!”

May we be zoche to use Torah and tefilla as the “natural remedies” they are!