Much has been written to try to explain/understand what Moshe and Aharon did to warrant the severe consequences of not being allowed to enter the Promised Land (20:12). My previous contributions to the discussion can be found at http://www.aishdas.org/ta/5764/chukas.pdf (page 4), http://www.aishdas.org/ta/5768/chukas.pdf(page 2) and  http://rabbidmk.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/parashas-chukas-5770/; by taking a closer look at how Rashi either understood or built upon what Chazal said, I would like to further the discussion even more.Rashi is trying to explain not just what Moshe (and Aharon) did wrong, but also why he (apparently speaking for Aharon too) asked the nation “can we bring forth water from this rock” (20:10) if water had flowed from it constantly before Miriam’s death; why Moshe hit the rock (20:11) rather than speaking to it (which is what G-d had commanded; 20:7); and why he hit it twice (20:11). From Rashi’s commentary on 20:10 and 20:11, the following picture emerges: G-d commands Moshe to speak to the rock so that it will resume giving forth water, but Moshe couldn’t figure out which rock he should speak to (as it was no longer easily distinguishable from other rocks). While searching for the right rock (G-d said to speak to “the rock,” i.e. the same one that had previously supplied the nation with water), the nation asked him why it mattered so much which rock Moshe spoke to; since any rock giving forth massive amounts of water would be miraculous, G-d could use any rock to perform His miracle. (In the Midrashim, some accused Moshe of knowing which rocks could naturally give water, saying that he was searching for such a rock, and challenged Moshe to use a different rock.) Moshe responded by calling them “rebels” and telling them (by asking a rhetorical question) that he can only use the rock that G-d had specified. Thinking they found the right rock, Moshe and Aharon spoke to it, but nothing happened. After (further) consultation (between Moshe and Aharon), they thought that perhaps the reason nothing happened was because they had to hit also the rock, just as Moshe had done shortly after they left Egypt (Sh’mos 17:6). When they returned from their consultation, they ended up by the right rock (unknowingly, as had they realized it was a different rock they likely would have tried speaking to it first), and Moshe hit it. Only a few drops of water came out, so Moshe hit it a second time, whereupon much water flowed from it.

Several questions arise from this description of the events. First of all, why did G-d want Moshe to speak to the rock? What can be gained from talking to an inanimate object, and why was it preferable to hitting it (as Moshe had done, appropriately, decades earlier)? As Ramban points out, the miracle is no greater if water comes streaming out of a rock that is spoken to than if it comes from a rock that is hit. Secondly, if the rock was now indistinguishable from other rocks, shouldn’t G-d have told Moshe where the right one was? What was the point of having Moshe try to figure out which one it was, thereby opening the door for the tragic consequences that followed? Also, didn’t the nation make a valid point? Why did Moshe insist that only the right rock would work? Even if Moshe was correct in insisting that he follow G-d’s instructions (which included talking to a specific rock), why did G-d insist that it had to be the same rock that had been the nation’s water source until now rather than performing the miracle on a different rock?

Earlier this year (http://rabbidmk.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/parashas-bereishis-5773/), I discussed how G-d always, or almost always, works within the laws of nature, laws that He set up/created. Even “miracles” work within His natural laws, so much so that G-d had to make a stipulation (as it were) with His creation that it would do certain things (such as the sea splitting) which would otherwise be against its nature — in essence making these “exceptions” part of its “nature” (see Rabbeinu Bachye on Sh’mos 14:27; according to Radak on B’reishis 2:1, there are rare exceptions that do break the laws of nature). One of the ten “miraculous” things that G-d created right before Shabbos during the week of creation (Avos 5:6) was the “mouth of the well,” the miraculous water source that followed the nation throughout the desert. Since this “miracle,” that this rock would supply enough water for the nation in the desert, was one of the “exceptions” pre-set into creation, obviously Moshe couldn’t talk to just “any” rock, it had to be this specific rock.It is also obvious, if the nation questioned why Moshe was insisting on finding the right rock, that they didn’t understand this, and didn’t realize that there was little difference between the “hidden miracles,” what we call nature, and the “blatant miracles” which seem to break the laws of nature (see Ramban on Sh’mos 13:16). [Those who accused Moshe of knowing which rocks naturally produce water didn’t understand this either; that they thought anything could happen “naturally,” without G-d, meant that they needed a lesson in how G-d really runs things.] Having lived for decades under the protection of G-d’s “clouds of glory,” eating the manna that fell from heaven daily, and drinking water that flowed from the miraculous well, the nation became accustomed to “blatant miracles,” and needed to be taught that even though life would be very different once they crossed into the Promised Land (see Netziv on Bamidbar 20:8 and 20:12), things would be no less “miraculous.” By “hiding” the “miraculous” rock from Moshe and making him search for it, G-d was creating a teachable moment, and a conversation about how miracles work (both the blatant and hidden ones) should have resulted. Moshe and Aharon were supposed to talk “about the rock,” using the opportunity G-d had specifically set up for them to explain how G-d “constantly renews His acts of creation” through the hidden miracles that manifest themselves in every aspect of life.

However, rather than calmly “talking about the rock” when the nation asked why Moshe and Aharon were insisting upon using the same rock, Moshe responded out of frustration and anger, telling them “because G-d said so.” Even though ultimately that is the reason why he was doing it, the opportunity to “sanctify G-d’s name” by explaining why G-d said so, and in the process teaching them that G-d is not just behind the “blatant miracles” but works through life’s everyday “hidden miracles,” was lost.

Although it would be difficult to suggest that this was Rashi’s intent (if for no other reason than that Rashi says Moshe did speak to a rock, albeit the wrong one, without giving us any indication that Moshe said the wrong thing), it is possible that Moshe thought he was fulfilling G-d’s command to “speak about the rock” when he asked the nation if they thought he and Aharon could bring forth water from the wrong rock. The problem was that he didn’t explain why he couldn’t use the wrong rock, thereby not causing the nation “to believe in [G-d]” (see Rav Saadya Gaon on 20:12), i.e. to fully recognize that G-d is behind everything, even the “hidden miracles.”

Had the nation learned this lesson, they would have been far less likely to attribute “natural things” to other deities, even after crossing the Jordan River and transitioning to living “naturally.” As a result of failing to “sanctify G-d” by teaching them that G-d is constantly performing the miracles that we call “nature,” Moshe and Aharon were punished by not being allowed to enter the Promised Land, where this transition from constant “blatant miracles” to constant “hidden miracles” occurred.