Dvar Torah for Parshat Chukat

Based on Likutey Halakhot, Hilkhot Gezeilah 5:7

“God said to Moshe and Aharon, ‘Because you did not believe in Me enough to sanctify Me in the presence of the Jewish people [by hitting the rock instead of speaking to it], you will not bring this community to the land I have given them.’”
Numbers 20:12

The question as to what exactly was Moshe Rabbeinu’s mistake (another word for “sin”) in striking the rock is an oft-discussed topic. Rebbe Nachman offers an interpretation in Likutey MoHaran I, 20 and in the halakha we cited Reb Noson elaborates on one particular aspect of that answer.

Rebbe Nachman writes that there is a soul, named Miriam, through which all genuine Torah teachers draw their lessons and explanations. This soul lives a life of suffering and all her words are like fiery coals. When she falls from her lofty level and her words become cold, she dies. When she dies, the wells of Torah dry up.

This is what happened when the Prophetess Miriam passed away. When God told Moshe Rabbeinu to speak to the rock, He was telling Moshe Rabbeinu that in order to teach true Torah he had to tap in the supernal heart, “the rock of my heart” (Psalms 73:26), by approaching God with a beggar’s humility and pleading with Him to provide the teachings. Moshe Rabbeinu was to use his spiritual credit to subdue the evil within the community. (The word TZiBuR, community, is an acronym for TZaddikim, righteous people, Beinonim, average people, Reshaim, wicked people.)

However, Moshe Rabbeinu used his merit not to subdue the evil, but as a reason to demand that Torah lessons be given to him. Since he “pressed the hour” and took the water of Torah by force, “the hour pressed him” and he had to forfeit his life. Moshe Rabbeinu prayed successfully on many, many occasions (in response to the golden calf, the rebellion of Korach, etc.). Only here he did not.

The Rebbe writes:

“Because of this, a person should not pressure himself about anything. Rather, he should request with pleading. If God will give it to him, He will give it; and if not, not.”

Reb Noson writes:

“In this subject many people, great and ordinary, many people slip up, so much so that the negative effect even adversely affects the great tzaddikim.

“The sins and destruction brought about by sinners is brought about by failing to heed this suggestion because the teasing and temptation of the yetzer hara (Evil Inclination) is transient. If they would only wait just a little bit they would merit both This World and the World to Come.

“[Pressing the hour] was the mistake of Adam. He [was with Eve Friday afternoon] instead of waiting till Shabbat night. And he wanted to know all the secrets of Creation right away, rather than waiting till Shabbat to fathom them. Even had he not eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, he still would have had to plead for mercy in order to become aware of them. The same mistake is made by philosophers and spiritual-seekers who want to know the answers right away, without first becoming masters of themselves.

“Even our holy Patriarchs made this error:
“Avraham wanted to know immediately how God was going to fulfill His promise of giving the Holy Land to Avraham’s descendants.
“Yitzchak wanted Esav to use his prowess right then to gain control of the Holy Land for Yaakov.
“After suffering the chapters of Esav and Lavan, Yaakov wanted to “retire” and relax for the remainder of his life. Then, shortly before he passed away, he wanted to reveal to his sons when the final Redemption would take place, but it was not yet time even to reveal that information.

“I heard this from the Rebbe’s holy mouth—that many people, especially great ones, have a strong yetzer hara for something they think is a mitzvah and abandon everything else in order to press the hour on behalf of that “mitzvah.” This is incredibly destructive, especially when it results in machloket (argument, contention, strife).

“Reuven, thinking that his mother had been slighted, also pressed the hour and lost the privileges of the first-born.

“Shimon and Levy, in their quest for tikkun olam, were ready to kill Yosef HaTzaddik, so that [his descendants, the wicked and villainous] Jereboam and Ahab would not be born. Despite the fact that Shimon and Levy were great saints they made a grave error in their pressing the hour in order to “rectify” the Yosef-problem immediately.

“Only Yehudah (Judah) and his descendants, King David and the Messiah, would rectify this mistake of pressing the hour. They would fight the necessary wars with toughness and they would approach God in prayer as helpless. This is why King David is called “Adino HaEtzni” (2 Samuel  23:8). He knew when to be as tough as an eitz (tree) and when to be as adin (soft) and pliable as a worm.”

agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!