The Book of Bamidbar consists of 10 Sidrot, which can be divided into two completely separate parts, representing 2 periods in the history of the Exodus. The first 5 Sidrot describe the events that took place within the first two years of the Exodus, until the end of the rebellion of Korach. The last 5 Sidrot describe the events that took place in the 40th year, as the new generation of Israelites were preparing for the conquest.
The new era started with the sad death of Miriam at the age of 127. Some of our ancient rabbis say that she died on the first of Nissan, in the 40th years, on exactly the same day that the nation arrived in Kadesh. According to another Rabbinic tradition, Miriam died on the 10th of Nissan. The settlement of Kadesh where they were now encamped was not the same location to which the 10 spies returned. This was called Kadesh-Barne’a. However, both of these places were in the desert of Zin, in the Southern Negev, and were not very distant from one another.
The Israelites did not travel very far for more than 37 years. The new generation of Israelites grew up in the same place. Israelites, who were over the age of 20, at the time of the sin of the 10 spies, also died in the same place. It is most striking that the Torah is totally silent about this long period and does not record any events. We can assume that this silence is part of the punishment that was meted out to them, following the sin of the 10 spies. The silence symbolises the Almighty’s total rejection of that generation. However, it should be noted that according to some commentators we should apply the ancient rabbinic principle which is that the Torah is not arranged chronologically. Accordingly, it is highly likely that some of the events, which are described in this Sidra, took place in earlier years.
The first part of the Sidra is devoted to the law of the Red Heifer. This was given much earlier on, soon after the Exodus. But it is recorded here and serves to separate the two parts of the book. Since it deals with purification after death, it may be regarded as an appropriate conclusion to the story of an entire generation, whose punishment was to die in the desert.
When Miriam died the people suffered a major crisis. They missed her leadership very badly because she had always been like a mother figure to them. Tradition teaches us that because of Miriam, they always found plenty of water to drink. Now that she had died, the water stopped. The shortage of water angered the people very much, as it had angered their parents in a similar incident 37 years earlier. That incident, which is described in the Sidra of Beshalach, occurred in Refidim. In that incident the people were ready to stone Moses. Moses cried out to God for help. God instructed him: “March in front of the people along with the elders of Israel. Take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile , and go. I shall stand before you, on the rock, at Horeb. You must strike the rock and water will come out for the people to drink. Moses did this in the presence of the elders of Israel.”
There are two very crucial differences between these two episodes. The first difference is, that this time Moses was not instructed to hit the rock but to speak to it. The second difference is that on this occasion the people assembled against Moses and Aaron in a much more threatening way than they had ever done before. The Torah uses the verb “VAYIKAHALU”. It is true that Moses was frightened on both occasions. But this time he actually had to flee into the Tent of Meeting, where he fell on his face. As soon as he fell on his face, the Torah tells us, that God’s glory was revealed to the people. Some say that he fell on his face in order to pray. Others say that he tried to appease the demonstrators. A third group of commentators suggest that he fell on his face in order to experience prophecy. There is a view that this might have been the first time that God spoke to Moses after a break of 38 years.
Moses fell on his face when Korach and his group of protesters confronted him, 38 years earlier. On that occasion the glory of the Lord was also revealed to the people. I believe that the appearance of the Lord’s glory signifies the seriousness of the situation and its purpose is to serve as a warning. In this respect, the similarity, , of these two situation are significant. On both occasions, the protest against Moses reached boiling point.
But the outcomes were different. This time Moses lost his cool. For the very first time, he failed to obey God’s instructions. According to Rashi, his mistake was to hit the rock in anger instead of speaking to it. Because of this sin, God punished him and it was decreed that he and Aaron would not lead the Israelite nation into the Promised Land. Many people question Rashi’s interpretation of Moses’ sin. In view of the fact that, in the earlier episode, Moses had been specifically told to hit the rock, it is possible to assume that because he was under massive pressure. He forgot that this time God had given him different instruction.
The place where this sin took place became known as MEI MERIVAH, which means Waters of Dispute. It is the same name that had been given to the place in Refidim where the first episode had taken place 38 years earlier. In order to avoid confusion, the place of the second confrontation later became known as MERIVAT KADESH. It is mentioned many times in the Bible.
The last two words in chapter 20, verse 13 are VAYYIKADESH BAM. This means: “He was sanctified through them”. This summarises this extremely tragic event in a positive way. At the same time, it is a play on the name of the place, “KADESH”. It tells us that through the production of the water from the rock, the name of the Almighty was sanctified in the midst of all the Israelites, who witnessed the enormity of His power to control nature according to His will.