30 Jun CHUKAT: LIFTING PEOPLE UP

Parashat Hukat tells the
famous story of Moshe’s
hitting the rock. To briefly
review – Beneh Yisrael found
themselves without water in
the desert, and they argued with
Moshe, demanding water.
Hashem commanded Moshe to assemble the
people around a rock, and to speak to the rock,
whereupon it would miraculously produce
water. Moshe gathered the people around the
rock, and angrily criticized them, calling them
morim – “rebellious people.” He then struck
the rock with his stick, and it produced water
for all the people.
Hashem was very angry at Moshe, and
decreed that he would not enter the Land of
Israel. He would instead die before Beneh
Yisrael cross into the land.
Many different explanations have been given
to this story, for why Hashem was so angry at
Moshe. What exactly did he do wrong?
The most famous approach taken is that of
Rashi, who writes that Moshe was commanded
to speak to the rock, but he disobeyed
Hashem, and struck the rock, instead. For a
person on Moshe’s level of greatness, this was
considered a grave misdeed, and so he was
severely punished.

Another famous explanation was given by the
Rambam. He writes that Moshe’s sin was not
striking the rock, but rather angrily criticizing
the people, calling them morim.
The Kedushat Levi offers a beautiful insight,
suggesting that in truth, these two explanations
are one and the same.
When we want to offer criticism – such as to
children or students – there are two ways this
could be done. One is to emphasize how bad
the act was, repeatedly telling them that they
did something disgraceful. The other way is to
remind the wrongdoer that he is better than
this, that he is capable of so much more, that
he has such vast potential, that the world
needs him, and that we are confident that he
will do better in the future.
Both responses are equally accurate. They are
both factually correct.
However, they have opposite effects on the
person hearing the criticism. The first
response knocks him down, and makes him
feel low and worthless. The second lifts him
up, and gives him the encouragement to
improve.
The Kedushat Levi explains that there is
actually a much more powerful difference
between these two forms of criticism.

Remarkably, he writes that the way we
criticize someone affects the way the world
itself treats the person. The entire world was
created for the human being; everything in
nature is meant to serve us. But if we knock
somebody down, depicting him as terrible
because he did something wrong, then the
world will not want to serve that person.
Conversely, if we lift somebody up,
emphasizing his great potential, how much he
can achieve, and how much he can contribute
to the world, then the world will respond by
serving that person so he can make his
important contribution.
It thus turns out that the way we speak to
somebody can determine the way the world
treats that person!
On this basis, the Kedushat Levi explains
Moshe’s sin.
In this one instance, Moshe responded to the
people’s wrongdoing by knocking them
down, instead of lifting them up. On this one
occasion, he reacted the wrong way. As a
result, the rock did not want to serve them. It
did not want to miraculously provide water to
morim, to rebellious people. This is why
Moshe needed to strike the rock in order for
the water to come.

Thus, Rashi’s understanding and the
Rambam’s understanding are really the same.
Moshe’s mistake was reacting the wrong way,
which necessitated striking the rock.
We need to be very careful with the way we
speak to and deal with other people, especially
when they act wrongly. Instead of knocking
them down, and reacting angrily, we should
do just the opposite, and try to encourage

them, to empower them, to build their self-
esteem and ambition to achieve. This is how

we help people actualize their potential, and
enable them to do their share to make our
world better.