A Faithful Shepherd

7.

Still, we need to clarify: Since Rashi says that the well disappeared after Moshe’s passing, this implies that Rashi presumes that the well returned {after Miriam’s passing} in Moshe’s merit. Why, then, did the Clouds of Glory not return {following Aharon’s passing} in Moshe’s merit?

The answer: According to pshat, the beneficial things that happened for the Jewish people through Moshe expressed his role as their faithful shepherd. (With Aharon or Miriam, however, it was in their merit that the Jewish people were provided with the Clouds of Glory and with the well). Moshe provided the Jewish people with all of their needs at the time that their needs arose.

In this light, the solution becomes even more elegant: We see that Moshe’s assurance that the Jewish people would have their critical needs met (was not contingent upon his merit, which would cease after he died, but his assurance) endured even after his demise. He ensured that (they would still obtain, or,) they would no longer need those things.

Even though the well disappeared after Moshe’s passing, the Jewish people did not need the well anymore because they had already reached the Jordan River. Similarly, regarding the manna, Rashi explains that (although) ‘when Moshe died on the seventh of Adar, the manna stopped descending; however (they still had the manna later on because) they had a sufficient supply from the manna that they had gathered on that day, which would last until they had brought the omer on the sixteenth of Nissan.’