Rabbi Lizz Goldstein
This week’s Torah portion is Chukat: Numbers 19:1 – 22:1
Some quotes from movies or books or TV shows become so repeated and meme-ified as to become iconic lines in and of themselves, almost divorced from their original contexts. People may know the line or the meme without knowing the medium from which it came. And then these lines live rent free in our heads — or at least, my head, especially if I do know their context and was cognizant of the birth of the meme. And so it is that in my irony-rotted millennial brain, when I read Moses’s sarcastic taunt to the insatiable Israelites, “Listen, you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?” I immediately hear Russell Crowe’s voice shouting, “Are you not entertained?”
This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Chukat, includes the famous story of Moses hitting a rock twice in order to call forth water, after God has told him to merely speak to the rock, and so he is punished with not being allowed into the Holy Land. This is a troubling story. The punishment seems too great for the sin. Previously, God had told Moses to strike a different rock to get water, so it seems understandable that Moses got confused. Although time is confusing and not always chronological in the Torah, we are led to believe this is pretty far along in the 40 years of wandering, and Moses has been putting up with the Israelites whining a lot. He and God are constantly playing house with each of them taking turns basically saying to each other, “Can you believe what your kids did today! I’m going to kill them!” and the other more or less responding, “Now, now honey, boys will be boys.” So, when the Israelites quarrel yet again, and it’s Moses’ turn to be the tough parent, it is not surprising that God takes on the merciful role, but it is surprising that God punishes Moses for his harshness.
Bible scholars Ronald Allen and Richard Boyce both suggest that Moses’ harshness stems from his frustration with all the times he has had to play the soft parent for the Israelites. Many times, he has interceded on the people’s behalf when God was angry, and now his own patience has been pushed to his limits, and he literally cannot believe that this is the moment God chooses to be merciful. He has been put in this difficult position and is feeling incredulous at the entitlement of these people he has been forced to serve, not unlike Maximus in “Gladiator.” I feel completely sympathetic to Moses putting on this mocking show for the people. However, while Maximus is a slave, Moses’ servitude gives him a position of power over his ungrateful crew. And while the performance Maximus must put on is to satiate blood lust, the people of Israel do actually need water to survive.
Sometimes, doing something harshly is still better than doing nothing at all, but it does open us up to more criticism than slinking away into the shadows. As a people committed to caring for one another, even when parts of our communities feel at odds with one another, we must ask ourselves: is it better to serve others despite some resentment, or to withhold aid entirely? It may be worth the pushback to still step up and do what needs to be done, while being honest about how it feels to have to be in such a position. May we be so blessed with Moses’ courage, patience, and righteous rage.
Rabbi Lizz Goldstein serves Congregation Ner Shalom in Woodbridge, Virginia.
