DID MOSHE DEFY THE DIRECT COMMAND OF HASHEM?
וישלח אותם משה אלף למטה לצבא, אתם ואת פינחס בן אלעזר הכהן לצבא וכלי הקדש וחצצרות התרועה בידו
“And Moshe sent them – a thousand from each shevet for the army – them and Pinchos the son of Elazar the Kohen to the army, and the sacred vessels and the trumpets for sounding under his authority.”
The Midrash tells us that Moshe Rabbeinu did not want to go to battle against Midyan, for Midyan was his home for years; he thus sent Pinchos in his stead. This seems very difficult to understand. How could the great tzaddik, Moshe Rabbeinu, make such a calculation of why he shouldn’t take vengeance against Midyan in the face of a direct command from Hashem?
The obligation of showing proper gratitude is so fundamental that when Hashem told Moshe to take vengeance, it was certainly with the understanding that Moshe needed to take into account his obligation to show gratitude. Moshe taking vengeance against Midyan would have been a show of ungratefulness. Thus, Moshe knew definitively that when Hashem gave him the command, it was never meant for him to do it himself, for that would be a lack of gratitude. Rather, Hashem wanted him to accomplish it through a shliach.
By the incident of the מי מריבה, the waters of strife, Moshe was commanded to take a staff, go to the rock, and speak to it in order for it to bring forth water. Moshe was punished severely for a sin involving the מי מריבה, but there is a great dispute amongst Chazal as to what exactly the sin was, with many different suggestions as to what the sin was. Rashi says that Moshe’s error was hitting the rock instead of speaking to it. The Ramban questions Rashi’s p’shat, for why was there a command for him to take his staff if he was supposed to speak to the rock? It must have been that he was commanded to take the staff because he was supposed to hit the rock.
Based on the above, we can answer this question. It says in the Yalkut 763 – “Do you not remember what this rock has done for My children? And after all the good it has done, you strike it? You are not fit to preside over My children! I have already appointed another leader in your place.” We see from this Yalkut that it was unacceptable for Moshe to hit this rock. This was the rock that provided water for Klal Yisroel for almost forty years in the Midbar. How could Moshe hit the rock? That was a lack of gratitude. Although Moshe was commanded to take the staff with him, it wasn’t possible that it was meant for him to hit the rock, for that would show a lack of gratitude. (שיחות מוסר)
The middah of hakoras hatov is something that is meant to be an integral part of every Yid. The ultimate goal of having hakoras hatov to others is that one recognizes that he is not self-sufficient. We need Hakodosh Boruch Hu for everything we do. Moshe was commanded to take vengeance against Midyan, but he understood that Hakodosh Boruch Hu could not have meant for him to actually go, for that would have been a lack of hakoras hatov, thus Moshe ensured it would be done through Pinchos.
May we be zoche to truly exhibit the middah of hakoras hatov.
When a Jew Is in Doubt
When one lacks a strong conviction about the need to do mitzvos, the logical way of thinking is as follows: If, after further intensive study, his conviction is strengthened, all the better.
On the other hand, should one come to the conclusion that what he was doing was unnecessary, the most he could regret would be the "inconvenience" of having spent a few minutes on putting on Tefillin every weekday morning, or having deprived himself of non-kosher food, having kept Shabbos and Yom Tov, and so on. But if he recklessly gives up his Jewish way of life, eventually, sooner or later, he is bound to realize that the Torah and mitzvos and Jewish way of life are indeed "our life and the length of our days," both in this life and in eternal life. Then he will never forgive himself for having treated them so lightly...
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Excerpt from a letter of the Rebbi
RABBI YAKOV YOSEF SCHECHTER
U FARATZTA
RABBI SHALOM BER MUNITZ
COUNTING DOWN UNTIL UMAN 75 DAYS
