Moshe Blew It!

Hi Gutman,

I have a question. A non-Jewish man at my gym always talks to me about the Bible. He wants to know about the story of Moshe hitting the rock, and why it was such a big deal that Hashem got angry with him.

Can you please explain the story, what happened and why it was such a big deal that he hit the rock? Keep in mind that I want to explain it to him so to keep it in basic terms he can understand.

Gutman’s response:

A father has two sons; one is very capable, even a genius, while the other one is challenged, borderline mentally handicapped. If the challenged one makes a mistake the father can easily overlook it, but when the very capable son ignores the father's instructions the father get furious! The higher you go in your spiritual life the more is expected of you, and Moshe was the highest of all the prophets, ever.

Hashem instructed Moshe to speak to the rock to show the people that the miracle was coming straight from Hashem. Hashem’s message was supposed to be that the miraculous water came directly from Hashem, not Moshe. The Torah is likened to water. Hashem wanted the people to see that the water (the Torah) comes directly from G-d. Moshe hit the rock and the people thought that the water came from Moshe's greatness. The people needed to see Hashem as the Supreme One was giving them the water (Torah), not Moshe.