I

t is a scene that still has the power to shock 
and disturb. The people complain. There is no 
water. It is an old complaint and a predictable 
one. That is what happens in a desert. Moses should 
have been able to handle it with ease. He has been 
through far tougher challenges in his time. Yet sud-
denly at Mei Meriva (“the waters of contention”), 
he exploded into vituperative anger: 
“‘Listen, you rebels, shall we bring you 
water out of this rock?’ Moses raised 
his hand and struck the rock twice 
with his staff.” Num. 20:10–11
In past essays, I have argued that 
Moses did not sin. It was simply that 
he was the right leader for the gen-
eration that left Egypt but not the 
right leader for their children who would cross the 
Jordan and engage in conquering a land and build-
ing a society. The fact that he was not permitted to 
lead the next generation was not a failure but an 
inevitability. As a group of slaves facing freedom, 
a new relationship with God and a difficult jour-
ney, both physically and spiritually, the Children of 
Israel needed a strong leader capable of contending 
with them and with God. But as builders of a new 
society, they needed a leader who would not do the 
work for them but who would instead inspire them 
to do it for themselves.
The face of Moses was like the sun, the face of 
Joshua was like the moon (Bava Batra 75a). The dif-
ference is that sunlight is so strong it leaves no work 
for a candle to do, whereas a candle can illuminate 
when the only other source of light is the moon. 
Joshua empowered his generation more than a fig-
ure as strong as Moses would have done.
But there is another question altogether about the 
episode we read of this week. What made this trial 
different? Why did Moses momentarily lose con-
trol? Why then? Why there? He had faced just this 
challenge before.
The Torah mentions two previous episodes. 
One took place at Mara, almost immediately after 
the division of the Red Sea. The people found 
water, but it was bitter. Moses prayed to God, 
God told him how to sweeten the water, and the 
episode passed. The second episode occurred at 
Rephidim (Ex. 17:1–7). This time there was no 
water at all. Moses rebuked the people: “Why are 
you quarrelling with me? Are you trying to test 
God?” He then turned to God and said, “What 
am I to do with this people? Before long they will 
stone me!” God told him to go to a rock at Horeb, 
take his staff and hit the rock. Moses did so, and 
water came out. There was drama, tension, but 
nothing like the emotional distress evident in this 
week’s parshah of Chukat. Surely Moses, by now 
almost 40 years older, with a generation of expe-
rience behind him, should have coped with this 

Rabbi Lord 
Jonathan 
Sacks

44 | JUNE 29 • 2023 

Losing 
Miriam

SPIRIT
A WORD OF TORAH

