Hukkat-Balak
Numbers 19:1-35:9
Micah 5:6-6:8
“The size of a man is measured by the size of the thing that makes him angry.”
J. Kenfield Morley’s comment compels a student of the Torah to consider Moses, whose anger defined his leadership. Angered about oppression, cruelty and inequality, Moses utilized that emotion as a firebrand with which to confront Pharaoh about the injustices of slavery and oppression.
But this week’s Torah portion, Hukkat-Balak, describes a different kind of anger, a misplaced anger displayed by Moses when ordered to speak to the rock to bring forth water to slake the thirst of the unruly demanding Israelites:
“Why have you brought the Lord’s congregation into this wilderness for us and our beasts to die there? Why did you make us leave Egypt to bring us to this wretched place, a place with no grain or figs or vines or pomegranates? There is not even water to drink” (Numbers 20:4).
An angered Moses disregarded the instruction to speak to the rock, and struck it instead. This misplaced anger, the sin considered by some to be the act that prevented Moses from entering the Promised Land, led God to sentence him: “Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them” (Numbers 20:12).
However, the Book of Exodus (17:1-7) is at cross-purposes with the notion that Moses sinned by striking the rock because in the Exodus account, God ordered Moses to strike the rock to obtain water, a deed that was accomplished without any consequence or reprimand.
The problem is further complicated by the fact that in two places in Deuteronomy (3:26, 4:21), Moses attributed his not being permitted to enter the Promised Land to the behavior of the Israelites, and not to his own overzealousness with rod and rock. Nevertheless, his anger toward the people must be carefully considered, as the contemporary illustration provides.
A woman of scandalous reputation once approached Apter Rav Abraham Joshua Heschel (the great-great-grandfather of the 20th century theologian of the same name): “Rabbi, I need your help, I want to repent. I want to change my ways and lead a better life.”
The rabbi reprimanded the woman: “Now you come to me after a lifetime of such disgraceful behavior. Don’t you think I have eyes that can see into your soul and that I know what you have done?” To prove his words, he described her offenses in detail. The woman blushed with embarrassment and then, with sadness, said to the rabbi, “I don’t understand you, rabbi. Why must you reveal in public what God prefers to keep secret?”
Heschel was taken aback because although the woman came to him to change, the encounter prompted him to change instead. From that day forward, he used his mantle of leadership to be more charitable, sympathetic, kindhearted and lenient in judging others by choosing rachamim — compassion, over din — judgment, and not striking out at others with harsh words and stern pronouncements.
Maimonides suggests that Moses’ real sin was not his anger at the rock or disregard for God’s command, but his anger toward the people. Moses could be forgiven for abusing a rock, but could he be trusted not to be impulsive and abrupt with people if he was so quick to anger and strike out with rage? Indeed, anger must be tempered by rachamim — compassion — and that is why leaders must be judged by stricter standards than those who follow. Whereas Moses’ punishment for striking the rock is thought to be the result of disobeying God, what he actually abused was his authority.
Anger is something to which everyone can relate. Like Moses, readers of the Torah need to know what makes them angry, whether their anger is misplaced, trivial or wasted on petty hurts and slights that can destroy relationships, overwhelm good judgment and make individuals say and do things that they later regret, sometimes for a lifetime.
With that in mind, Ben Zoma once answered the question, “Who is powerful?” with the response, “He who is slow to anger” (Pirke Avot 4.1, a paraphrase of Proverbs 16:32). The anger of Moses recorded in Hukkat should instruct students of the Torah to not waste anger on insignificant things, but rather to turn anger into purpose and compassion. That is how to enter the Promised Land!