Rabbi Kideckel's Weekly Message

Dear Friends,

As we join together to celebrate Shabbat we invite you to bring a kiddush cup or any glass filled with wine or grape juice and join together with us at the end of services to share in a l'chayim.

I look forward to celebrating Shabbat with you.

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Chukat 2025

There are many different interpretations as to what actually happened when Moses strikes the rock, instead of speaking to it, as God commands him to do. The miscue by Moses occurs just after his sister Miriam has died. Upon her death, the Torah tells us that the community was without water. Immediately, the Children of Israel once again quarrel with Moses and Aaron complaining about the lack of water. Rather than helping the brothers mourn, they confront them by asking why had they, Moses and Aaron, brought them out of Egypt, into the desert, devoid of the staples of food they were accustomed to, and now there is no water.

Professor Arnold Eisen, chancellor emeritus of the Jewish Theological Seminary writes this week:

Moses strikes the rock without having been commanded to do so. The gesture at that moment is utterly natural—that is to say, human. The man’s sister has just died, he is frustrated beyond measure by Israelite whining, and he was told the last time this situation occurred to use the rod in his hand for striking. So he does. But humanity is not a valid excuse.

The words Moses utters betray a similar straying from God’s intention. God says, “You shall draw (vehotzeta) water from the rock for them,” with the verb in second-person singular. It is only natural that Moses should say to the people, “shall we draw (notzi) water?” Some commentators believe that, in doing so, he takes credit for the miracle himself rather than awarding it to God. But Moses can surely be forgiven for his phrasing, being human. He merely follows God’s own grammar, in fact adjusting it to include Aaron (“we”) rather than speaking only of himself. But the commentators are onto something in their criticism. His sarcasm seems to place performance of the miracle in doubt, and Moses does omit any mention of God. Perhaps he feels that by this point in events, after God has fed the people with manna, found them water more than once, and sent more quail than they can eat—not to mention causing the ground to open miraculously and swallow up the leaders of Korah’s rebellion, and—oh yes—the minor matter of splitting the Red Sea and drowning Pharaoh’s army—after all that, perhaps it might not be necessary to explain that God is saving Israel yet again and that he is only the intermediary.

I would like to add to Arnie Eisen’s commentary by suggesting that Moses, perhaps, had not forgotten that it was God that was the creator of the miracles, the promise to enter the Promised Land, and was the one who brought them out of Egypt. But at that moment, he and Aaron were being blamed as their leaders, as though the onus was on them, not God. And between the death of his sister and the angry mob, he simply answered based on their words: “Why did you bring us out of Egypt,” to basically die in the wilderness?

Today and all of this weekend we celebrate the 4^th of July celebrating the birth of American independence. As we read through the story of Moses and the striking of the rock perhaps we can ask the following questions:

• What does this story tell us about leadership and consequences?
• On July 4th, we celebrate founding leaders – how do we balance admiration with critical reflection?
• What can we learn from Moses about servant leadership and personal responsibility?

There is one other point that seems to be rather true today. The story of Moses and the striking of the rock shows a generational change amongst the Children of Israel. Miriam, Aaron, and Moses will die in the chapters ahead and a new leadership will be formed under Joshua. In America, as we see the events in real time taking place, can we see that parallel happening here? Or is it a totally different reality?

Am Yisrael Chai!!!

Bring them home now!!!

Please join us this Friday evening for services as Roz and Faye join us with melodies that reflect the Fourth; and on Shabbat morning, as we celebrate Shabbat at its finest.

Wishing you a Happy Fourth and a Shabbat Shalom!!!

Rabbi K