Parashat Chukat
Parashat Chukat tells one of the most baffling stories in the entire Torah – the story of Moshe hitting the rock. God commands Moshe to gather the people and speak to a certain rock, as a result of which it would produce water. But Moshe hit the rock, instead, and God punished him by denying him the right to enter into the Land of Israel.
Numerous questions arise when reading this narrative. For one thing, how does one speak to a rock? What was Moshe supposed to say to the rock? Furthermore, when God criticizes Moshe for his mistake, he says that he and Aharon failed "to sanctify Me in the presence of Benei Yisrael" (20:12). This implies that by hitting the rock, rather than speaking to it, Moshe failed to create a Kiddush Hashem (sanctification of God's Name). Why is producing water by hitting a rock any less of a Kiddush Hashem than speaking to a rock? The Torah tells that after Moshe hit the rock, enough water flowed forth for the entire nation and all their animals. Is this not a miraculous event and clear demonstration of God's power?
The Gemara in Masechet Berachot records a debate between Rabbi Yishmael and Rabban Shimon Bar Yochai as to which lifestyle a Jew should follow. Rabbi Yishmael held that one should spend some time learning in the morning and evening, and devote the rest of the time to his profession. Rabban Shimon, however, argues that a person who spends most of his time working will never achieve mastery over Torah. In his view, one should spend all his time learning Torah, and God will provide him with a livelihood. The Gemara writes that many people followed Rabbi Yishmael's view and were successful, and many others followed Rabban Shimon's view and were not successful.
Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk (Lithuania, 1853-1918) inferred from the Gemara's conclusion that the proper lifestyle depends on the individual. As the Gemara indicates, most people cannot follow Rabban Shimon's approach and devote their entire day to Torah study. The implication, however, is that for a minority of people, for those endowed with special talent, concentration and ambition, this is, indeed, a laudable approach. If we look around our communities, we see that this is precisely what happens: the vast majority of Jews spend their days working, devoting some time each day for Torah study, as Rabbi Yishmael advocates, while a small minority study full-time in Yeshivot, following Rabban Shimon's approach.
During the forty years of Benei Yisrael's travel in the wilderness, however, the entire generation devoted themselves full-time to Torah study. God supernaturally cared for all their needs; they received manna from the heavens, and their clothing and shoes grew with them and remained intact throughout the period. The entire nation spent the whole day studying Torah with Moshe, without having to worry about earning a livelihood.
The story of Moshe and the rock takes place in the final year of this period, just prior to Benei Yisrael's entry into the land. They faced the question of whether this "Torah-only" lifestyle could be followed even in Israel, where they would not receive manna from the heavens, when they would have to purchase new clothing and new shoes. According to one view in the Midrash, when God instructed Moshe to speak to the rock, He meant that Moshe should deliver a Shiur, that he should teach Torah and produce water in this manner. This would have conveyed the message that even in Israel, the majority of the people could devote themselves full-time to Torah learning, and be supported by the minority who would till the land. But Moshe hit the rock, an act that symbolizes human effort and work. This indicated to the people that in Israel one can "produce water" only through work, and that the vast majority of the nation would have to work the fields to earn a livelihood, rather than engaging in full-time Torah learning.
This is why Moshe's hitting the rock resulted in a lost opportunity for Kiddush Hashem. Had he spoken at the rock, thereby establishing that even in Israel most members of the nation could devote themselves exclusively to Torah, Benei Yisrael's existence in the land – with the majority of the nation learning, and only a small minority working – would have created an extraordinary Kiddush Hashem. Moshe's mistake resulted in a fundamental change in the nation's existence in the land, whereby the majority of the people work and only a small minority of select individuals devote themselves to full-time learning.
Of course, after Moshe's mistake, this is, indeed, the arrangement that has been followed, right to this very day: the majority of Jews spend their days working, while the select few are supported to learn Torah. Both are perfectly legitimate and praiseworthy lifestyles, and depend on the particular talents and tendencies of each individual.
It must be emphasized, however, that no view allows for only working without allocating any time for Torah study. "Workaholicism" runs in direct opposition with Torah values. Although the Torah certainly allows one to pursue a successful and fulfilling career, one is required to allocate periods of time each day exclusively for Torah learning. Even the majority, who follow Rabbi Yishmael's approach, bear the obligation to study Torah as a spiritual supplement to their professional lives.
