The Well and the Clouds of Glory
The well that supplied water for the Jewish people in the desert did so in Miriam’s merit. Therefore, immediately following Miriam’s passing, Scripture says, “There was no water for the people.” The Clouds of Glory appeared in Aharon’s merit, and “when Aharon died, the Clouds of Glory departed.”
Nevertheless, after the passing of Miriam, the well remained; and even after the passing of Aharon, the Clouds of Glory remained. As our Sages teach, after Miriam and Aharon passed away, “they {the well and the Clouds of Glory} both returned in Moshe’s merit.”
At first glance, Rashi’s commentary on the Torah, which presents the pshat, follows the approach of the above-quoted Gemara:
On the verse, “There was no water for the people,” Rashi comments: “From here we see that for the entire forty years {in the desert}, they had the well in Miriam’s merit” And on the verse, “The Canaanite king heard…,” Rashi remarks: “He heard that Aharon had died and the Clouds of Glory had departed.” On the other hand, we see that the well supplied the Jewish people with water even after Miriam’s passing, as the Torah relates further on (regarding the miracle of “the outpouring of the valleys”). In addition, Rashi himself explains the clause, “from the heights to the ravine… in the field of Moav — For there Moshe died; and there, the well ceased {to be with them}.”
This implies that Rashi presumes Hashem restored the well in Moshe’s merit. It is therefore reasonable to presume that the Clouds of Glory also were restored, for it is unreasonable to posit that Moshe’s merit only sufficed to restore the well, but not the Clouds of Glory.
In light of this, we must clarify a perplexing issue. The Torah relates how the well returned: “There was no water for the people and they gathered together against Moshe… the people quarreled.” Hashem commanded Moshe to “take the staff…,” and the Jewish people then were provided water from the rock.
In contrast, regarding the Clouds of Glory, neither the Chumash nor even Rashi, tells us how and when they returned!
We must also clarify: Just as the disappearance of the well after Miriam’s passing caused the Jewish people to collude against Moshe, the disappearance of the Clouds of Glory after Aharon’s passing should have elicited a similar reaction. Why did the Jewish people not voice any complaints when “the Clouds of Glory departed?”
