מנהיגות ודיבור

And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown up, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he smote the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. And he went out the second day, and, behold, two men of the Hebrews were striving together; and he said to him that did the wrong: ‘Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?’ And he said: ‘Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? thinkest thou to kill me, as thou didst kill the Egyptian?’ And Moses feared, and said: ‘Surely the thing is known.’

And afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said unto Pharaoh: ‘Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness.’ And Pharaoh said: ‘Who is the LORD, that I should hearken unto His voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, and moreover I will not let Israel go.’ And they said: ‘The God of the Hebrews hath met with us. Let us go, we pray thee, three days’journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest He fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.’ And the king of Egypt said unto them: ‘Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, cause the people to break loose from their work? get you unto your burdens.’ And Pharaoh said: ‘Behold, the people of the land are now many, and will ye make them rest from their burdens?’ And the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying: ’Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof; for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying: Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let heavier work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard lying words.’ And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying: ‘Thus saith Pharaoh: I will not give you straw. Go yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it; for nought of your work shall be diminished.’ So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. And the taskmasters were urgent, saying: ‘Fulfil your work, your daily task, as when there was straw.’ And the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, saying: ‘Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your appointed task in making brick both yesterday and today as heretofore?’ Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying: ‘Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us: Make brick; and, behold, thy servants are beaten, but the fault is in thine own people.’ But he said: ‘Ye are idle, ye are idle; therefore ye say: Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD. Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.’ And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were set on mischief, when they said: ‘Ye shall not diminish aught from your bricks, your daily task.’ And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh; and they said unto them: ‘The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.’ And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said: ‘Lord, wherefore hast Thou dealt ill with this people? why is it that Thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name, he hath dealt ill with this people; neither hast Thou delivered Thy people at all.’ And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh; for by a strong hand shall he let them go, and by a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.’ And God spoke unto Moses, and said unto him: ‘I am the LORD; and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name יהוה I made Me not known to them. And I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, wherein they sojourned. And moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered My covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel: I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments; and I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning which I lifted up My hand to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for a heritage: I am the LORD.’ And Moses spoke so unto the children of Israel; but they hearkened not unto Moses for impatience of spirit, and for cruel bondage. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: ’Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.’ And Moses spoke before the LORD, saying: ‘Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?’ And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. These are the heads of their fathers’houses: the sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the families of Reuben. And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman. These are the families of Simeon. And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath, and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were a hundred thirty and seven years. The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families. And the sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were a hundred thirty and three years. And the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. And Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty and seven years. And the sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri. And Aaron took him Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, to wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. And the sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. And Eleazar Aaron’s son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’houses of the Levites according to their families. These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said: ‘Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts.’ These are they that spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are that Moses and Aaron. And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spoke unto Moses in the land of Egypt, that the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: ‘I am the LORD; speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak unto thee.’ And Moses said before the LORD: ‘Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?’

מקצר רות ומעבודה קשה, for impatience of spirit and cruel bondage. Perhaps the people did not respond positively to this assurance because they had not yet received the Torah. Since Torah broadens a person's mind, the Torah may hint at that by describing the Israelites' state of mind as "narrow minded, limited." ומעבודה קשה, and because of the cruel bondage. The reason that the Torah writes: "and because of the cruel bondage," is that they suffered from קצר רוח, impatience, quite independently of the effects of the bondage on their state of mind. They had become impatient at their fate when they pondered the additional workload Pharaoh had imposed upon them. A person who is in that frame of mind cannot even perform the labour he is normally capable of performing. This is why the Torah adds the words ומעבודה קשה.

"If you had spoken..." This implies that their sin was in not speaking to the rock, whereas in the reading of Beha'alotecha (Numbers 11:22), Rashi wrote 'which is worse, this statement (Could enough flocks and herds be slaughtered to suffice them? Or could all the fish of the sea be gathered for them to suffice them?”) or "Hear now, you rebels..." which implies that their sin was in saying 'hear now you rebels'? (This is the difficulty which the Re'em noted.) One might say that Rashi wasn't being specific there when he cited their statement of 'hear now you rebels,' but rather quoted the beginning of the incident when really his point was what came at the end (when they struck the rock.) Furthermore, is it really true that their sin began with saying 'hear now you rebels?' If they had not become angry, they never would have made any mistake at all. This is just as Rashi explains in a different incident in the reading of Matot (Numbers 31:21) when Moshe becomes angry with the commanders of the army. In reality, when one knows the truth they will recognize that these two transgressions - the declaration 'hear now you rebels' and striking the rock twice - are actually one sin. Since many are confused in their attempts to explain this matter, unable to clarify the truth of the transgression, it is necessary to explain. Know then that the sin of Moshe and Aharon is just as it is written in the verse "Because you did not believe in Me enough to affirm My sanctity ..." (Num. 20:12) The fact that they struck the rock twice, despite the miracle which was being done for them, is itself is a loss of faith because they acted out of anger. One who fulfills God's commandments in an angry way, as they did by declaring 'hear now you rebels' and striking the rock, especially when such a miracle is being done for them, has no faith. Faith means that one who trusts in God feel only joy. The meaning of faith is that one believes in God, trusts in him, and with that trust comes joy. Where there is anger, there is no faith. The fact that Moshe struck the rock twice indicates his lack of trust and faith, and thus he was angry. It is a well known phenomenon that one who lacks a wholeness of faith and trust in God, is plagued by anger and pain. When God told Moshe to bring water out of the rock, he and Aharon should have done this in faith, because God does such miracles for Israel. Then they would have seen what trust in God can do for creation. Moshe and Aharon should have strengthened and renewed themselves with an even greater faith and trust, then they would have acted in joy over the great miracle which God was going to do. It was fitting to renew their faith and trust, to add to their faith and trust, and it was fit that they be joyful. Do not say that they were simply angry at the children of Israel, that is not a real challenge, because with faith comes joy, not anger. Therefore what was lacking here was faith. That is why the verse says "Because you did not believe in Me enough to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel..." If they had acted in faith, taking joy in God's command (because faith always brings joy as one trusts in the goodness of God) this would have been a sanctification before all Israel, teaching them that one should have faith and trust in God that he does the miraculous. And behold, both acts - the declaration of 'hear now you rebels,' and striking the rock - are the opposite of faith. This is why you will find that sometimes our Sages say that the sin was in striking the rock twice, and sometimes in declaring 'hear now you rebels,' because they are one thing. At the moment when God did for them such a miracle, they should have grown in their faith and trust, and with that faith and trust there is no place for anger.