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Moshe, the Rock, & the Spies
By Rabbi Pesach Wolicki

In Parashat Devarim, Moshe recounts how the spies were sent to scout out the land and how the people responded to their report upon their return.

The punishment for the sin of the spies is the forty year sojourn in the desert. In recounting this punishment, Moshe adds:

"Also at me was G-d angry because of you, to say, 'You, too, will not arrive there. Yehoshua the son of Nun, who attends you, he will arrive there."

In paraphrasing G-d's punishment, Moshe includes the decree that Moshe himself would not be allowed into the land. This is strange considering that the decree that Moshe and Aharon would not be allowed to enter the land of Israel is expressly stated as a punishment for hitting the rock instead of speaking to it. (Bamidbar 20:12)

Furthermore, a close look at the verses here in Devarim chapter 1 show that Moshe says that G-d spoke Moshe's prohibition from entering the land at the same time as he decreed that the entire generation would not enter the land. This is difficult because Moshe's rock hitting incident occurred thirty- eight years later.

This passage implies that Moshe was forbidden from entering the land of Israel as a result of the sin of the spies. The following quotation from the Midrash addresses this point.

"'Therefore [because of hitting the rock] you will not bring this congregation...'; This is analogous to two women who are being sentenced by the court. One committed adultery and one ate unripe grapes of the seventh year [a very minor transgression]. The latter woman said to [the court], 'Please inform people the reason for my guilt so that they will not say that I too committed adultery.' They brought unripe grapes and hung them on her and said, 'This one ate grapes of the seventh year and that one committed adultery.' So too said Moshe, 'Behold You have decreed upon me to die in the desert with this generation who angered you. Now, for generations they will say that I am like them. Let it be written for what reason I was punished." (Bamidbar Rabbah 19:12)

According to this, Moshe feared precisely the problem caused by the text in Devarim chapter 1 that implies that he was included with the entire generation in the punishment for the sin of spies.

What is the connection between the sin of the spies and the sin of the hitting of the rock? The Kli Yakar explains as follows. The reason that a miracle had to be performed to draw water from the rock was that the people lacked proper faith. This is evidenced by the fact that G-d was upset at Moshe and Aharon for not maximizing the sanctification of G-d's name by speaking to the rock. If the people had perfect faith in G-d they would not have complained the way they did and a miraculous public display would not have been necessary.

The sin of the spies is the paradigm of lack of faith. G- d said that He would give Israel the land. The people thought that this was not possible. G-d's first reaction to the sin of the spies expresses this.

"G-d said to Moshe, 'Until when will this people provoke Me, and how much longer will they have no faith in Me, despite all the signs which I have done in their midst.'" (Num 14:11)

Because of their lack of faith in G-d, that generation was doomed to die in the desert. The lack of water thirty-eight years later provided an opportunity to restore the faith in G-d of the next generation by performing another "sign in their midst." By hitting the rock instead of speaking to it Moshe did not produce the maximum miracle possible and thus did not completely restore the faith of the people. This allowed the lack of faith begun by the spies to continue.

Kli Yakar's approach does not entirely answer the question. Why is Moshe at fault for all of this? Why suggest that he was punished for the sin of the spies? What does all this have to do with leading the people into the promised land?

In his review of the events of the sin of the spies Moshe mentions not only that he will not be allowed into the land of Israel. Moshe's punishment is mentioned in direct connection to the choice of Yehoshua to lead the people into the land.

Moshe and Yehoshua had very different reactions to the sin of the spies. After the negative report of the spies and the ensuing panic, the Torah relates Moshe's reaction: "Moshe and Aharon fell on their faces before the entire gathering of the congregation of the People of Israrel." (Bamidbar 14:5)

And Yehoshua's reaction,"Yehoshua the son of Nun and Calev the son of Yefuneh - tore their garments. They said: If G-d desires us, He will bring us into this land and give it to us. However, do not rebel against G- d...'" (ibid 14:6,8-9)

Yehoshua's reaction was to implore the people to not lose faith. Moshe's reaction (see Seforno) was to despair at the lack of faith of the people.

By hitting the rock Moshe did not maximize the faith in G-d that could have been produced by speaking to it as G-d had commanded him.

Entry into the land of Israel required great faith on the part of the people. This project would entail fourteen years of battle to conquer the land. One of the primary characteristics required for the leader of this military campaign is faith in the people that he is leading. Perhaps, Moshe's initial reaction to the sin of the spies as well has his motive for hitting the rock display that Moshe - as great a leader as he was for the People of Israel in the desert - displayed enough of a lack of confidence in the faith of the people to prevent him from leading them into the land.