Mei Meriva - What Was Their Sin?

All the congregation of Israel came to the wilderness of Zin on the first month (of the 40th year). and the people stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there. (2) The community was without water, and they gathered upon Moshe and Aharon. (3) The people quarreled with Moshe, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished at the instance of Hashem (4) Why have you brought Hashem’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) Moshe and Aharon came away from the congregation to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and fell on their faces. The Presence of Hashem appeared to them,

(7) and Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying, (8) “You and your brother Aharon 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) Moshe took the rod from before ה׳, as he had been commanded. (10) Moshe and Aharon 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 Moshe raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Out came copious water, and the community and their beasts drank. (12) But Hashem said to Moshe and Aharon, “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) These are the Waters of Merivah that Bnei Yisrael quarreled with Hashem, he was sanctified through them.

The sin of Moshe and Aharon in the waters of Merivah is not clearly expressed in the Torah. Rashi explains that because He had commanded them, speak to the rock, and did not say you shall strike it. For had they spoken to it Hashem, would have been sanctified before the whole congregation, since the people would have said: “If this rock, which does not hear and does not speak, obeys Hashem how much more so should we!” These words are a homiletic interpretation, but they do not clarify.

For since God had commanded Moshe: Take the rod, it implied that he should strike with it, for had He only wanted that he should speak to it, why was the rod in his hand? Similarly, with the plagues of Egypt where He said, and the rod which was turned to a serpent shall you take in your hand it was in order to strike with it; and sometimes He said, Stretch forth your hand when the meaning is: to strike with the rod since the Torah writes briefly when the subject-matter is self-understood.

Moreover, the miracle is no greater if by speech than by striking, for as far as the rock is concerned both are equal.

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Now Rabbi Avraham ibn Ezra has already refuted many of them about this sin. But the secret to which he alluded is also incorrect. For if Moshe lost his concentration of mind because of the strife of the people, and did not speak to the rock, so that the water did not come forth the first time, and only when he hit the rock again, a second time, with concentration of cleaving unto all, did the water come forth then the people sinned the first time, but it was not such a sin about which He would say: you didn't believed Me, to sanctify Me, since there was no lack of “faith” here at all!

Now Rabbeinu (the Rambam) advanced the following reasoning, and explained “that the sin of Moshe our teacher, consisted of tending towards anger, when he said, Hear now you rebels, and Hashem treated this as a failing, that a man like him should show anger in front of the congregation of Israel, in a situation in which anger was not warranted. All similar actions of such a man are treated as a profanation of God’s Name, because the people take an example from all his actions and words, hoping thereby to achieve success in this world and the World to Come.

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The most likely explanation amongst all those that have been said about this matter, and the one best suited to answer a questioner, is that of Rabbeinu Chananel, who wrote that the sin consisted of their saying, are ‘we’ to bring you forth water out of this rock? They should have said “shall the Eternal bring you forth water?” just as they had said when ‘the Eternal shall give’ you in the evening flesh to eat, and similarly in the miracles they informed them that the Eternal would do wonders for them. And perhaps the people thought that Moshe and Aharon in their wisdom had brought water from the rock and this was not sanctifying me.