Ibn Ezra, Numbers, 20:1
On the first new moon. Of the 40th year. Notice that there is not a single event or prophecy in the Torah dated to any year of the wilderness period other than the 1st or the 40th.
Michael Carasik, Numbers, The Commentators’ Bible; Accordance electronic ed. (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2011), paragraph 2692.
Midrash Yelamdaenu on the Parsha 20:8
And you will speak to the rock... and hit it is not said? He said to him: When a child is young their teacher is physical and teaches them. When the student grows up, words are used to guide them. So God said to Moses: When this rock was small, you stuck it, as it is said "You will hit the rock" (Ex. 17:6) but now, "you will speak to the rock" And what will you say to the rock? Learn upon it one chapter and water will come forth from the rock.
(1) The Israelites arrived in a body at the wilderness of Zin on the first new moon, and the people stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there. (2) The community was without water, and they joined against Moses and Aaron. (3) The people quarreled with Moses, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished at the instance of the LORD! (4) Why have you brought the LORD’s congregation into this wilderness for us and our beasts to die there? (5) Why did you make us leave Egypt to bring us to this wretched place, a place with no grain or figs or vines or pomegranates? There is not even water to drink!” (6) Moses and Aaron came away from the congregation to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and fell on their faces. The Presence of the LORD appeared to them, (7) and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (8) “You and your brother Aaron take the rod and assemble the community, and before their very eyes order the rock to yield its water. Thus you shall produce water for them from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their beasts.” (9) Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as God had commanded him. (10) Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation in front of the rock; and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?” (11) And Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Out came copious water, and the community and their beasts drank. (12) But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them.” (13) Those are the Waters of Meribah—meaning that the Israelites quarrelled with the LORD—through which God affirmed God's sanctity.
Rav Yonatan Grossman - The Sin of Moshe and Aharon
As we know, the sin of Moshe and Aharon in the chapter of the waters of Meriva is not explicit. Many different explanations have been given in order to explain what was wrong with their behavior. The different explanations given by the different commentaries can be divided into two basic types:
a. Moshe's ACTION - Instead of talking to the rock, Moshe hit it; he hit it twice instead of once; he hit a different rock than the one he was commanded to hit, etc.
b. Moshe's WORDS - "Listen you rebels" (ibid. 10) teaches us about Moshe's anger; the words of Moshe express doubt in the possibility of a miracle, etc.
It seems to me that for a nation who has wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, this is a most important and critical question. For 38 years there has been no communication between God and Moshe (assuming, correctly I believe, that this event took place in the 40th year). If the traveling in the wilderness is not done under the supervision of God and is not part of a Divine plan that leads to the land flowing with milk and honey, all of the sufferings of the journey would be for nothing, and this thought breeds despair in the heart of the nation.
God emphasizes to Moshe and Aharon that a clear miracle must be performed, by which the nation will understand that God is the one giving water to the nation in the wilderness. Moshe is instructed to perform the miracle IN FRONT OF ALL OF THE PEOPLE: "Take the rod and assemble the community, you and your brother Aharon, and before their eyes order the rock to yield its water ..." (ibid. 8). In other words, the nation suspects that Moshe and Aharon have been leading them of their own accord, and thus, it is important that all of the nation see that God is the one giving water.
And, so it was. Moshe gathers the people before the rock, hits it and out comes water. However, the main purpose of the lesson is not fulfilled as God desires. The verse states: "Listen you rebels, shall WE get water for you out of this rock?" (ibid. 10) On this verse, the Chizkuni explains: "For this reason, God was strict (with Moshe) for he was commanded to be specific in his use of language, so that all would know clearly that God is the one giving them the water, and Moshe was not precise with his words." The problem with Moshe's speech is in the following text: "shall WE get water for you?" From this language, it is possible to understand that Moshe and Aharon have special and supernatural powers, and even wresting water from a rock was within their power - they have the magic and they find the water.
Under normal conditions, we would not expect an inaccurate or imprecise wording to engender such a severe punishment. However, because this was exactly the problem gripping the nation - who are the leaders in the wilderness? Is it God or Moshe and Aharon leading us through the vast wilderness? - the precise wording has higher importance.The main educational message God requests to impart to the nation is thwarted, and even more so, the opposite could be infered from the words of Moshe, that indeed he and Aharon have the power. Moshe himself does not mean this to happen, of course, but he does not emphasize in his words that the absolute sovereignty of God also applies during the nation's trek through the wilderness; and so he is punished: "Because you did not trust enough in Me to affirm my sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the Land which I have given them" (20:12).
(1) ולא היה מים לעדה AND THERE WAS NO WATER FOR THE CONGREGATION — From here, we learn that during the entire forty years they had the “well” through Miriam’s merit (Taanit 9a).
(יב) להקדישני. שֶׁאִלּוּ דִּבַּרְתֶּם אֶל הַסֶּלַע וְהוֹצִיא, הָיִיתִי מְקֻדָּשׁ לְעֵינֵי הָעֵדָה, וְאוֹמְרִים מַה סֶּלַע זֶה שֶׁאֵינוֹ מְדַבֵּר וְאֵינוֹ שׁוֹמֵעַ וְאֵינוֹ צָרִיךְ לְפַרְנָסָה, מְקַיֵּם דִּבּוּרוֹ שֶׁל מָקוֹם, קַל וָחוׂמֶר אָנוּ:
(12) להקדישני TO SANCTIFY ME — For had you spoken to the rock and it had brought forth water I would have been sanctified before the whole congregation, for they would have said: What is the case with this rock which cannot speak and cannot hear and needs no maintenance? It fulfils the bidding of the Omnipresent God! How much more should we do so?
וירם משה את ידו ויך את הסלע הכהו פעם אחת, התחיל הסלע נוטף מים מועטים, שנאמר (תהלים עח): הן הכה צור ויזובו מים... אמרו לו: בן עמרם! הללו מים ליונקי שדים, או לגמולי חלב?! מיד, הקפיד כנגדן והכהו פעמים, ויצאו מים רבים ושטפו כל מי שהיה מרנן כנגדן, שנאמר (שם): ונחלים ישטפו.
"And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod": he hit it once, and the rock began to drip a small amount of water, as it says, "Behold, he smote the rock, that waters issued,"(Psalm 78:20)...They said to him: Son of Amram! Is this water for for those who breast-feed or recently weaned children?! Immediately, [Moses] became impatient with them and hit the rock twice, and great water came out and washed away all those who were mocking against [Moses and Aaron], as it says "And streams overflowed."
(י) המן הסלע הזה נוציא לכם מים - בשעת הרמת ידו במטה - ויך בו את הסלע פעמים -אז אמר להם דרך כעס וחמה, סבורים אתם שמן הסלע הזה נוציא לכם מים?! ומספק אמר משה כן, שטעה במה שאמר לו הקב"ה: קח את המטה - ולא האמין שבדיבורו עם הסלע יוציא ממנו מים אלא בהכאת המטה, כמו שעשה ברפידים. ומה שאמר לו הקב"ה: ודברתם אל הסלע - היה סבור שזו היא דבור הסלע הנאמר במטה, ולכך הכה פעמים בסלע כעין חימה וכעס ומספק אם יוציא מים הרי טוב ואם אין, אדבר אל הסלע אחרי כן. והקב"ה הסכים על ידי משה לצאת ע"י הכאתו ואף על פי כן נענש, שהקב"ה מדקדק עם הצדיקים, וזהו שאמר הקב"ה: יען לא האמנתם בי להקדישנו - על ידי דבוריהם אל הסלע. לפי שהוא מדקדק עם הצדיקים אפילו כחוט השערה. ולפי שידעתי אני המפרש, שמשה רבינו לא היה כי אם שוגג לעבור על דברי הקב"ה, לפיכך אני זקוק לפרש כי משה רבינו טעה כמו שפירשתי.
(10) At the time he raised the staff he struck it twice in succession followed by saying :did you really think that we would produce water from this rock?” Moses said this because he harboured doubt; seeing that G’d had instructed him to take the staff with him (verse 8) he did not think that speaking to the rock was meant to result in the rock yielding up its water, but that striking it may be required, just as he had done at Refidim.
As to the fact that G’d had specifically instructed him to “speak” to the rock, he thought that speaking to a rock, i.e. communicating one’s thoughts to it, consisted of striking the rock. In the absence of certainty about which course to follow, Moses decided to speak to the rock in addition to striking it, but G’d had already indicated that God accepted Moses’ striking the rock by making all that water come forth.
In spite of G’d’s apparent approval of what Moses had done he was punished, seeing that G’d employs more stringent rules in dealing with the righteous such as Moses than God applies to ordinary mortals. This is what God meant when God said in verse 12 “because you did not demonstrate faith in Me to use this opportunity to sanctify Me by means of first having spoken to the rock.”
“Seeing that I, the commentator, am aware that Moses was quite incapable of deliberately countermanding G’d’s instructions, I had to explain the episode as resulting from an error Moses made.”
(ד) ודברתם אל הסלע לעיניהם גו' יען לא האמנתם בי להקדישני לעיני בני ישראל (במדבר כ, ז-יב). הנה רש"י והרמב"ן חולקים בחטא של משה אחד מפרש על שאמר לישראל שמעו נאכו', ואחד מפרש על שהכה את הסלע. והנראה שטעם אחד הוא, כי זה גרם זה. והנה יש שני בחינות במוכיח שמוכיח את ישראל שיעשו רצון הבורא ברוך הוא. אחד, שמוכיח בדברים טובים, דהיינו שאומר לכל איש ישראל גודל מעלתו ומקום מקור מחצב נשמתו אשר באמת נשמת ישראל חצובה למעלה מכסא כבוד וגודל הנחת רוח אשר להבורא יתברך כביכול ממצות כל איש ישראל וגודל השמחה אשר בכל העולמות בעשות איש ישראל מצות הבורא בזה ובזה התוכחה מטה את לב בני ישראל לעשות רצון הבורא ברוך הוא לקבל כל איש מישראל עול מלכות שמים עליו. ויש שמוכיח את ישראל בדברים קשים ובדברי ביושים עד שהם מוכרחים לעשות רצון הבורא. והחילוק שביניהם, זה שמוכיח את ישראל בטוב מעלה את נשמת ישראל למעלה למעלה ומספר תמיד בצדקת ובגדולת ישראל כמה גדול כוחם למעלה וראוי הוא להיות מנהיג על ישראל. וזה שמוכיח את ישראל בדברים קשים אינו בבחינה הזאת. והנה זה שמוכיח את ישראל בטוב ומספר תמיד בגדולת ישראל וצדקתם אז כל הדברים הנבראים בעולם צריכין לעשות מעצמם הרצון של ישראל לדבר שנבראו, דהיינו בשביל ישראל. אבל אם אינו מספר ומעלה צדקת ישראל אז צריך להכריח כל הנברא בהכרח גדול לעשות מה שנברא, דהיינו לעשות רצון ישראל. והנה משה אמר בכאן שמעו נא המורים, הוכיח את ישראל בדברים קשים ולכך הוצרך להכות את הסלע לעשות מה שנברא, כי אילו היה מעלה את ישראל כנ"ל, וכמו שהיה כוונת הקדוש ברוך הוא ודברת אל הסלע, כי אז היה מדבר אל הסלע אתה שנבראת בשביל ישראל והם במעלה גדולה צריך אתה לעשות מה שנבראת, דהיינו להוציא מים לישראל. אבל עתה שהוכיח את ישראל בדברים קשים שמעו נאכו', הוצרך להכות את הסלע לעשות רצון ישראל, ונמצא זה גרם את זה וטעם אחד הוא. וזהו הרמז יען לא האמנתם בי להקדישני לעיני בני ישראל, כי זה שמוכיח את ישראל בטוב יכול גם הוא להשיג את העם זה השכל. וזה הרמז להקדישני לעיני בני ישראל, כמאמר חכמינו ז"ל עיני עדה, חכמי עדה שגם הם ישיגו זה השכל:
(4) Numbers 20,8. “you are to speak to the rock in full view of them, etc.”, “because you did not have enough faith in Me to sanctify Me in full view of the Israelites.”
Rashi and Nachmanides disagree with one another concerning what was Moses’ sin. One says the sin was that he addressed the Israelites by calling them “obstinate, rebellious” people, i.e. שמעו נא המורים, whereas the other sage claims that Moses’ sin consisted in striking the rock instead of speaking to it.
I believe that Rashi and Nachmanides do not really disagree because the cause that Moses was angry enough to strike the rock was the rebelliousness of the people.
Rebuking people, especially the Jewish people, calling them to order, can be done by two different methods. Both methods are designed to make the people carry out the will of the Creator. One approach stresses the greatness of the Lord, and presents this as the reason why not obeying God's commands is a non starter. It reminds the people that their very souls originate immediately beneath the Creator’s throne in heaven. It reminds people of their duty to provide G’d with the pleasure of observing God's people performing God's will. When the people listen to this kind of rebuke their hearts will surely be moved in the right direction and they will realize that it is incumbent upon them to accept the yoke of heaven.
The other method of admonishing people stresses reminding people of the results of their failure to respond to the rebukes, the penalties in store for them. It is customary that when using this latter dimension of giving mussar, commonly known as the “fire and brimstone” approach, the preacher relies on the feelings of shame in every individual causing them to turn away from doing evil and do good instead.
The difference between these two methods is that the first method relies on reminding the subject of their high rank among the creatures G’d has created, a fact that makes it their duty not to go astray. This former method, through constantly pointing out Israel’s great virtues etc., will likely evoke in the listener a desire to conduct themselves in a way that will justify the compliments paid to them by the person doing the rebuking. The person using the method of harping on the wrongs the people are guilty of all the time, cannot at the same time arouse the feeling that they are basically highly valued people in G’d’s eyes, and need only to correct a flaw that has been brought to their attention on this occasion. The person who rebukes the sinner on this occasion, by acknowledging that though accused of an error, whether committed through negligence or even knowingly, they are still considered as part of G’d’s people, i.e. part of the elite of the human species, will evoke reciprocal feelings in those whom they address. Moses, on this occasion, chose to use the method of belittling the people and to shame them. It was therefore in keeping with this approach that he struck the rock, symbolizing how an obstinate rock has to be treated.
Since G’d a) had not instructed Moses to berate the people for demanding water, and b) would have preferred for him to choose the first method of rebuking, God had thereby missed an opportunity to demonstrate that even words sounding like compliments addressed to an erring Israelite when criticizing a sin, or even all of them at the right time, in the right circumstances, would have the desired effect on people of the spiritual greatness of Israel. This is all alluded to in G’d’s telling Moses about his failure to have grasped the opportunity to sanctify God's Name before all the Israelites.
(יז) אז ישיר ישראל. אז כשנתן להם הבאר ישיר ישראל מתוך שמחה שהיו סבורים למות שם הם ומקניהם בצמא אבל משה לא שר כדפרש"י:
(17) אז ישיר ישראל, At that point Israel broke out in a song of thanksgiving; when the people took possession of this well their hearts were full of gratitude, as they had previously been afraid of if not dying from thirst themselves, their livestock dying due to a shortage of drinking water. According to Rashi, Moses did not join in that song, seeing that according to Onkelos as well as Targum Yonathan ben Uzziel, Moses and Aaron had dug that well.