spirituality >> Torah portion WILLIAM DAVIDSON Newls40 „ege 'loan prog ram INTEREST-FREE LOANS FOR Stop! Before You Hit Parshat Chukat: Numbers 19:1-22:1; Judges 11:1-11:33. L eadership can be one of the most rewarding experiences, but it is also a challenge. In this week's Torah portion, Moses once again feels the stress of leadership. Tired and losing hope after his sister Miriam's death, Moses hears complaints of the Israelites that they would have rather died in Egypt. The say they were actually happier during their years in Egyptian slavery, where they had certain assurances compared to their current situation. They kvetch to their exas- perated leader that he brought them to a wretched place with no good food or water. To produce water for the people, God commands Moses and his brother Aaron to assemble the community and to verbally instruct a rock to yield its water for the Israelites to drink. Rather than obeying these words verbatim, Moses takes his rod and strikes the rock twice producing water. For disobeying God's instruction, Moses is condemned by God to die in the wilder- ness rather than finishing his mission and leading the people to the Promised Land. This seems like a harsh punishment for hitting a rock for water rather than talking to it. Does it fit the crime? Upon deeper examination, there is much to learn from both the mistake and the punishment Rashi suggests that Moses striking the rock twice was unnecessary and could have been interpreted as an insult to the sanctity of God by diminishing the greatness of the miracle. A midrash explains that the sin of Moses was not merely physically strik- ing the rock, but also losing control of his temper as his people were complaining and rebelling. Both Maimonides and Samson Raphael Hirsch concur that the severe punishment was for losing patience with the Israelites and striking the rock twice in frustration. The Talmud uses this story to illustrate that when a prophet loses his temper, his gift of prophecy abandons him. Several excuses can be made in defense of Moses' action. Leading this kvetchy nation in the hot desert grew taxing on Moses, raising his stress level and making it more difficult for him to reason with the Israelites. The pressure simply made it a challenge for him to lead. Also, while Moses had the best interest of the people in mind when answering their call for more drinking water, he ulti- mately allowed his emotions to get the best of him and resorted to hitting rather than speaking. Domestic Violence While Moses hit an inanimate object rather than speaking to it, his actions are symbolic of a seri- ous problem today in the Jewish community. Domestic violence occurs in Jewish fam- ilies at about the same rate as in the general community. However, studies demonstrate that Jewish women tend to stay in abusive relationships two or three times longer than those in the general population. The misnomer that domestic abuse is not a Jewish concern further exacerbates the problem by discouraging abused women from reporting the abuse to others. Rather than speaking to each other about difficult issues within the relation- ship, many partners (mostly men, accord- ing to statistics) resort to violence. Often, men blame their abusive actions on stress from work, and they allow their emotions to impair their better judgment. Regardless of how demanding one's life may seem with weighty responsibilities at home and at work, domestic violence is never acceptable. The lesson of Moses aptly demonstrates this for us. He allowed the stress of his job to cloud his better judgment, and he struck the rock rather than talking to it as God had com- manded. His punishment was certainly severe, but so is the message it sends to our community: It is always better to use words than to hit. For more information on domestic abuse in the Jewish community, visit www.jcada. org. ❑ Rabbi Jason Miller is an educator, entrepreneur and director of Kosher Michigan, a kosher certi- fication agency. Twitter: @RabbiJason. MICHIGAN JEWISH RESIDENTS APPLICATIONS OPEN JULY 1 T° JULY 31 COMPLETE AND SUBMIT ONLINE: jewishcollegeloansmi.org WHAT IS THE WILLIAM DAVIDSON JEWISH COLLEGE LOAN PROGRAM? 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