Miller's Musings Parshas Chukas: Drawing Water From A Stone

  בס''ד

If you’re going to perform a magic trick then you may as well make it the most astonishing and astounding illusion that you can muster.  You surely want to leave the audience with their mouth agape and their minds sufficiently blown by your feat of wonder. But if one were to ask what is more astonishing, to produce water from a rock by talking to it or by hitting it, the difference between the two is surely minimal.  Both of them are acts that go against nature and exhibit a mastery of the natural world. Putting aside what Moshe actually did wrong in striking the rock instead of talking to it, we must ask why it was that Hashem specifically wanted the miracle performed in this way through speech, rather than the manner that Moshe ultimately chose.

The truth is of course that the miraculous and the mundane is of no difference to Hashem.  All of reality is dictated by His Will and nothing that occurs is any more difficult or effortless for Him to achieve.  The general message generated by a miracle is to remind of us of this and that nature and its laws are the mechanism that G-d has chosen to run the world.  Yet aside from that purpose there are also messages conveyed in the manner that a miracle occurs and lessons that the people who witness them should take to heart.  Perhaps the significance of Moshe being instructed to speak to the rock was to teach the Jewish people the phenomenal power of words.  It was meant to transmit that idea that however much like a rock a person might seem, unaffected by those around them, and however much it may look like nothing being said is absorbed, there may be incredible effects that will manifest itself through the positive words one has spoken. 

Every day and every moment that we are in contact with other people, we possess an amazing potential to affect them for the better.  We have no idea how much a simple compliment or a kind word can impact those around us, even those we think would not be impacted at all.  A simple word of praise or a small indication of our approval about what someone else has done can bring so much joy and give so much confidence to another.  It is so easy to do and so powerful an act.  We might be catching that person feeling unhappy or despondent and our words may suddenly lift him through the dark cloud.  They might be struggling with their self-worth and our admiration may elevate their pride in themselves and chip away at their insecurity.  We never know the extent of the impact that we might have on another, but we do know that it takes so little to lift someone up and the effect could be monumental.

*May those who share this Shabbos with us gain from that closeness*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם 

לעילוי נשמת שרה יעל בת גרשון

לרפואת אלימלך יהושע אהרון בן דבורה רבקה