Parashat Balak - Curses Turned into Blessings

Wednesday, July 1, 2015 · Posted in , , , , ,

Bamidbar 22:2 - 25:9
[Balak - Artist Yoram Raanan]

Summary

Balak, the king of Moav, summons the prophet Balaam to curse the people of Israel. On the way, Balaam is berated by his donkey, who sees, before Balaam does, the angel that G‑d sends to block their way. Three times, from three different vantage points, Balaam attempts to pronounce his curses; each time, blessings issue forth instead. 

Balaam also prophesies on the end of the days and the coming of Mashiach.

The people fall prey to the charms of the daughters of Moav, and are enticed to worship the idol Peor. When a high-ranking Israelite official publicly takes a Midiani princess into a tent, Pinchas kills them both, stopping the plague raging among the people.

The Ten Wondrous Creations

According to our Sages, the phenomenon of the talking donkey was one of the ten things created at the twilight hour before Shabbat. These included: 

- the mouth of the earth that swallowed Korach and his band; 
- the opening of Miriam's well that accompanied the Benei Yisrael in the desert; 
- the mouth of Balaam's donkey which had been predetermined to speak at this time; 
- the manna that the Benei Yisrael ate in the desert; 
- the staff of our teacher Moshe; 
- and the shamir - a thread-like worm, which when placed upon any rock would split it, and could thus be used for breaking up and dislodging giant boulders, or even mountains. When King Shlomo was building the Holy Temple, the shamir was used for this purpose, rather than using iron implements whose clang was forbidden to be heard during the building of the Temple.

The other things created included the lettering and the words that were engraved in the Tablets, which could be read from all directions, and the stone Tablets themselves. These Tablets constituted two blocks of translucent material whose dimensions, each, were six handbreadths long by six handbreadths wide by three handbreadths thick.

There is also tradition that also included were the destructive agencies ("demons" or shedim), the burial place of Moshe, and the ram sacrificed by Avraham in place of YItzchak. (Avot, Chapter 5)

A further tradition relates that the cave where our teacher Moshe, and later the prophet Eliyahu hid, was also created as well as the staff of Aharon, and the "garments" of Adam. (Halachot Gedolot 148c) There is also an opinion to the effect that the Clouds of Glory were created at the same time. (Targum Yonatan)

The Curses Turned into Blessings


The Talmud informs us that the blessings which Bilaam invoked upon the Benei Yisrael had actually been intended as curses. However, G-d transformed the ten curses that he wanted to utter and replaced them by ten corresponding blessings. (Sanhedrin, Chapter 11. See Rabbi Yoshia Pinto (Riph) ad loc.)

The first of his intended curses was that the Benei Yisrael should have no houses of worship and no academies. Whereupon G-d caused him to say, instead, "How good are your tents, Yaakov, your tabernacles, Yisrael" - and thus, wherever Jews are to be found, there is never a lack of synagogues and houses of study. The designation "tents of Yaakov" appears, since about him it was said: "Yaakov was a scholarly man who remained with the tents" (Bereishit 25:27). That is, the name Yaakov is specifically stressed, rather than the name Yisrael, for the Torah wants us to know that by "tents" are likewise meant tents of study. (Maharsha ad loc.)

We have a tradition that because G-d wanted to enhance the prestige of the Benei Yisrael in Balaam's eyes, He showed him the Throne of Glory, and that inscribed upon it was the likeness of our patriarch Yaakov. Influenced by this heavenly vision, Balaam exclaimed: "How good are your tents, Yaakov." That is, how remarkable and glorious is the tent of Yaakov thus to be with the Throne of Glory. (Yalkut Reuveni)

Balaam's second curse was meant to prevent the Divine Presence from resting upon the Benei Yisrael. Whereupon G-d had him say, "your tabernacles, Yisrael." That is, "I see that the Shechinah will affect Yisrael."

Thirdly, he meant to curse them that their sovereignty should not be perpetuated, but come to an abrupt end. And G-d made him say, "(they) stretch out like streams"; Just as a river flows on without interruption so too will their kingdom never be terminated.

It is for this reason that whenever a king was anointed, the ceremony would take place by a river, as we find recorded in the case of King Shlomo's anointment. It was meant to symbolize that just as a river never stops flowing, so might the reign of the anointed one continue.

The fourth intended curse was that the Benei Yisrael should have neither olives nor vineyards, nor gardens. So G-d made him say, "like gardens by the river"; not only should they own gardens, but their gardens should be located near streams and hence forever be flourishing.

The fifth curse was meant to say that the fragrance of good deeds not exude from them. G-d made him say the opposite - "like aloes G-d has planted"; Just as these divinely planted spices emit aromas, so shall the effects of commandments fulfill flow from them. (Rashi on Sanhedrin, loc. cit. See Maharsha ad loc.)

His intended sixth curse was that the Benei Yisrael should be frail rather than men of might. So G-d had him say, "like cedars by the water"; They should be as mighty and powerful as the cedars planted by the water that grow daily.

The seventh intended curse was that their monarchs should not be succeeded by their own sons. Whereupon G-d made him say (24:27), "his dipper shall overflow." The water that he draws should be from his own dipper and not from somewhere else; that is, one king should be descended from another king of his own family.

The eighth curse would have said that the kingdom of Yisrael should not be able to survive among the nations. Whereupon G-d made him say, "and his crops shall have abundant waters." The nations are denoted as abundant waters - as in, "many waters cannot quench love...." (Shir HaShirim 8:7); the nations will not succeed in their efforts to quench G-d's love for Yisrael.

The ninth intended curse meant to say that the kingdom of YIsrael should not have the power to overcome the other nations. So G-d had him say, "Their king shall be greater than Agag," referring to the Amalaki king Agag who was subdued by a Jewish king and killed. 

The tenth curse was meant to eliminate any fear the nations might have of a Jewish kingdom. G-d made him say, "Their kingdom shall be exalted," causing everyone to fear them.

Of these ten curses that Balaam wanted to invoke against the Benei Yisrael, the first one was intended to make it impossible for them to have houses of worship and study. For he knew that when the Benei Yisrael frequent their synagogues and houses of study where the Shechinah is present among them, they can, with their study and prayers, reach on high and have their pleas answered. So first of all, Balaam wanted to eliminate this possibility. But G-d in His great mercy turned everything into a corresponding blessing; in this case, that they should possess houses of prayer and houses of study.

Accordingly the Torah says in Parashat Ki Tavo: "Of course, G-d did not consent to listen to Balaam, and Hashem your G-d transformed the curse into a blessing for you, since Hashem your G-d loves you" (Devarim 23:6). The Torah does not say that He transformed the curses (plural) into blessings, but the curse (singular) - the first curse. The other curses remained in force in the face of Yisrael's transgressions. (Sifetei Kohen)

It is a reflection of G-d's compassion that He preserved this particular blessing. He knew that by remaining in possession of this blessing, the Benei Yisrael could always hope to attain the other blessings, since G-d does not shut the gates of repentance before any sinner. Indeed, when anyone wants to do penance, he is helped from on high. Chazal declare that whosoever comes to be purified, is helped to do so. By G-d providing them with this blessing to have houses of worship and houses of study where a would-be penitent could direct himself in prayer to the Almighty and plead for forgiveness, He made it possible for them to repent and thus to merit the good of the World to Come.

Houses of study are necessary so that the Benei YIsrael do not forget the Torah and hence are guided in their conduct by knowledge of its laws. Without Torah supervision, even synagogues are meaningless and all the curses may go into effect. (Rabbi Yoshia Pinto [Riph] ad loc.)

"How good are the tents," Balaam exclaimed, "the houses of study where Yaakov is to be found; and the Mishkan in the midst of the camp of the Benei YIsrael. Like streams that stretch out and increase are the encampments of Benei Yisrael, competing and vanquishing each other in contests of Torah knowledge - and vanquishing their enemies. Like gardens planted by the river are gathered the students of the academies in assemblies, their faces aglow with the light of the Torah like the brightness of the sky, formed by the creation on the second day. Like the tents G-d has planted - the seven heavens He expanded as an external dwelling place for His Shechinah - will the Benei Yisrael also exist forever. They will always be acclaimed, towering like the cedars planted by the water. Their king and sovereign will arise soon enough and gather the dispersed of Yisrael from the lands of their enemies, and the seed of Yaakov will then have dominion over all the nations. (Targum Yerushalmi; Targum Yonatan)

The Messianic Age Foreseen

In veiled language, Balaam now began to speak of what was to happen to the Benei Yisrael in the end of days. As was usual with him, however, he first launched into self-exultation: "This is the word of Beor's son, Balaam, the word of the man with the enlightened eye. It is the word of one who hears G-d's sayings and knows the Highest One's will, who sees a vision of the Almighty while fallen [in a meditative trance] with mystical insight" (24:15, 16].

Bamidbar 24:17 I see it, but not now; I perceive it, but not in the near future. A star shall go forth from Yaakov, and a staff shall arise in Yisrael, crushing all of Moav's princes, and dominating all of Shet's descendants.

"The prophecy that I see is not for now for for the near future, and what I see is that a king will arise from the House of Yaakov, a ruler over Yisrael who will crush the mighty warriors of Moav and annihilate all the descendants of Shet - the armies of Gog and Magog who in the future will make war upon Yisrael but fall to the Jewish king." (Targum Yonatan; Targum Yerushalmi)

Another interpretation of, "dominating all of Shet's descendants," is that it refers to the nations of the world, all of whom are descended from Adam's offspring Shet, since after the flood there remained only Noach and his sons, who stemmed from Shet. In other words, it is presage that the messianic king would vanquish all the nations.(Rashi; Abarbanel)

24:18 Edom shall be demolished, and his enemy Seir destroyed, but Yisrael shall be triumphant.

Edom and Seir will pass over into possession of the Benei Yisrael, who will triumph over everyone.

24:19 Out of Yaakov shall come an absolute ruler who will obliterate the city's last survivors.

It is prophesied that the Mashiach, who will descend from the House of Yaakov, will be an absolute ruler, and he will demolish the last vestige of the city of Rome, the city which epitomizes Esav, leaving no survivors. Thus the prophet says in the Book of Ovadya 1:18 "And the House of Yaakov shall be a fire and the House of Yosef flame, and the House of Esav stubble and they should kindle in them and devour them; and there shall not be any remnant of the House of Esav; for Hashem has spoken it."

24:20 When [Balaam] saw Amalek, he proclaimed his oracle and said, "First among nations is Amalek, but in the end he will be destroyed forever."

When Balaam saw the affliction that would descend upon Amalek in the future, he prolaimed: "Amalek was the first to make war upon the Benei Yisrael and his end will be that when together with other nations they go to war at the time of the Mashiach, they will fall into the hands of Yisrael and the name of Amalek will be obliterated forever." (Targum Yonatan; Targum Yerushalmi)

24:21 When he saw the Keni, he proclaimed his oracle and said, "You live in a fortress and have placed your nest in a cliff. 22 But when the time comes to destroy the Keni, how long will Assyria hold you in captivity!"

The Keni were the people of Yirtro's family, and referring to Yitro, who had converted to Judaism, Balaam speaks symbolically.

"I am astonished to find you so grand and favored a position. For had you not been together with me, a counselor to Pharaoh, when he proclaimed, "We must deal wisely with them, otherwise, they may increase so much that  if there is war, they will join our enemies and fight against us, driving [us] from the land" (Shemot 1:10)? Then we were both on the same side, but now you have merited to be in a powerful position, close to YIsrael, a nation obdurate in strength like a cliff that no nation can touch. Even if in the future you stand to be exiled together with the Ten Tribes and depart for the captivity of Assyria, that will only be a temporary exile, since in the end they will be redeemed, even as in the time of the Messianic king all the other exiles will be redeemed." (Ibid; Rashi)

24:23 He then declared his oracle and said, "Alas! Who can survive G-d's devastation?"

"Woe is to that nation that will be present at the time when G-d delivers YIsrael? When a lion and a lioness are about to mate, who will dare cast his garment at them to draw them apart? So too will it be when the hour of Yisrael's redemption comes. What nature will dare intervene to stop their deliverance?

Analogously we an say, woe to those who incline after the lusts of this world and allow themselves to be drawn to its pleasures without concern for the World-to-Come, for fulfilling the commandments, and for doing good deeds! Woe to them that throw off the yoke of Torah and its commandments! Woe to them in that hour when G-d rewards the righteous for having fulfilled the Torah and its commandments, and when He seeks retribution from the wicked!" (Yalkut Shimoni; Sanhedrin, Chapter 11)

24:24 Warships shall come from the ports of the Kittim, and they will lay waste Assyria and Ever. But in the end they too shall be destroyed forever.
25 With that, Balaam set out and returned home. Balak also went on his way.

"G-d will cause great warships of Kittim, located near Rome, to come and do battle against the other nations. They will reach and lay waste as far as the city of Assyria, and continue on to the city of Ever, which they will capture. But in the end they will all perish and only Yisrael will remain." (Rashi ad loc. See Targum Yonatan)

So it was that when Balaam was blessing the Benei Yisrael, his voice penetrated to all the encampments across a distance of 60 mil (30 km.) (Yalkut Shimoni) and was magnified so that they would all hear his words and fall under an evil spell. As a result, they succumbed to a terrible sin for which they paid dearly - all in accordance with Balaam's evil scheme that he had proposed to Balak. (Kesef Mezukak)

The Twelve Miracles

25:1 Yisrael was staying in Shittim when the people began to behave immorally with the Moavi girls. 2 [The girls] invited the people to their religious sacrifices, and the people ate and worshiped the [Moavi] gods. 3 Yisrael thus became involved with Baal Peor, and G-d displayed anger against Yisrael 4 G-d said to Moshe, "Take the people's leaders, and [have them] impale them before G-d, facing the sin. This will reverse G-d's display of anger against Yisrael. 5 Moshe said to Yisrael's judges, "Each of you must kill your constituents who were involved with Baal Peor." 6 [The judges] were still weeping [in indecision] at the Tent of Meeting entrance, when a man of Yisrael brought forth a Midyani woman to his brethren before the eyes of Moshe and the community of Yisrael.7 When Pinchas, a son of Ele'azar and a grandson of Aharon, the Kohen, saw this, he rose up from the midst of the assembly and took a spear in his hand.8 He followed the man of Yisrael into the tent's inner chamber and rammed them through, [driving the spear] through the man of Yisrael and the woman's groin. With that, the plague that had struck the Benei Yisrael was arrested.9 In that plague, 24,000 people had died.

Our Sages list a total of twelve auspicious circumstances involved in connection with the action of Pinchas.
  1. They did not draw apart when Pinchas approached them. Had they done so, he could not have executed them without himself then being executed.
  2. Zimri and Kazbi were turned speechless, and so could not call out to the Shimonim outside, who would have rushed in and torn Pinchas to shreds.
  3. They remained locked together on the spear that passed through his and her genitals. It was thus clear to everyone that they had been joined carnally, and no one could claim that Pinchas had invented the story of finding them together.
  4. The handle and the blade did not separate when he rammed them through.
  5. When he was dragging them outside, the tent lifted up, enabling him to emerge upright with the spear in its original vertical position. Had it been necessary to lower the spear, the two bodies would have slipped off.
  6. G-d gave him the strength of arm to hold on to them as he traversed the entire camp of Yisrael - a distance of three parsangs.
  7. He twirled them about on his right arm directly in front of their relatives, and they could not harm him.
  8. The metal part of the spear was hardened so that it did not break under the combined weight.
  9. This metal part was elongated, moreover, so that both bodies stayed on without slipping.
  10. By divine intervention the woman remained on the bottom and the man on top, just as they had been positioned during copulation.
  11. they both remained alive until he had taken them through the entire camp of Yisrael; otherwise, Pinchas, who was a kohen, would have been contaminated.
  12. Their blood was congealed and did not drip downward. (Bamidbar Rabbah; Targum Yonatan; Sanhedrin, Chapter 9; Yalkut Shimoni) There is also the view that by divine agency Zimri's fellow Shimonim were slain to prevent them from killing Pinchas. (Sanhedrin 9; Rashi; Maharsha)

When Pinchas saw the terrible plague that had spread, killing 24,000 men, mostly from the Tribe of Shimon, he cast them off from the spear before G-d, exclaiming: "Is it right that on account of these two cadavers 24,000 Benei Yisrael should perish? Although it is true that whenever sexual immorality becomes prevalent, the innocent fall no less than the guilty, that happens only if the acts of depravity are committed publicly. But the Midyani women had sinned with the Benei Yisrael in seclusion, and so did the daughters of Moav; it was only Zimri who had flaunted his transgression publicly. Why then should so many have had to die on account of one wicked man?

In response to this plea of Pinchas, the plague was halted. Thus the Scripture writes elsewhere: "Then Pinchas stood up and prayed; and so the plague was arrested" (Tehillim 106:30; Sanhedrin 9; Kesef Mezukak)

- Meam Loez

Haftarah: Micha 5:6 - 6:8

Parashat Chukkat - Miriam's Well - Moshe Strikes the Rock

Thursday, June 25, 2015 · Posted in

[Miriam HaNeviah - Artist Yoram Raanan]

Bamidbar 20:1 In the first month, the entire community of Benei Yisrael came to the Tzin Desert, and the people stopped in Kadesh. It was there that Miriam died and was buried.
We must understand why the death of Miriam is recorded immediately after the chapter dealing with the commandment of the Red Cow, althought this commandment was give to the Benei Yisrael on the day that the Mishkan was completed - the first of Nissan, in the second year after the Exodus - and that the death of Miriam occurred in the fortieth year. (Rashi; Mizrachi)

The answer is that the Torah does so, despite the time lag of so many years between one event and the other, in order to teach us that just as the Red Cow served to bring atonement upon the Benei Yisrael for their sin of the Golden Calf, so does the death of righteous persons bring forgiveness. (Ibid. and end of Moed Katan, cf. Tosefot ad loc. See Abarbanel)

Now the words, "The entire community of Benei Yisrael came," tell us that they were the survivors of the desert generation who would be entering the Land of Yisrael, all those who had been twenty years of age and over at the time of the Exodus having already died. That is, they were that "entire community" who were set apart for life.

20:2 The people did not have any water, so they began demonstrating against Moshe and Aharon."
When they arrived at this location, the waters of the well that had accompanied them during those forty years came to an end. (Yalkut Shemoni; Rashi; Divrei Shlomo, Chapter 28; See Ramban)

The Benei Yisrael in the wilderness enjoyed three benefits, bestowed upon them in the merit of Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam. The manna they were given on account of Moshe; the Clouds of Glory were present on account of Aharon; and the well of waters they had on account of Miriam.

This well was her reward for having waited by the river to see what would happen with Moshe when he was cast adrift in the river (Shemot 2:4), lingering there until the daugther of Pharaoh came and took him. Since this was the reason that the Benei Yisrael were given that source of water, when she died the well came to an end and it then became clear to everyone that it had been made available to them on her account. Now that it was gone, they all assembled in protest against Moshe and Aharon. (Yalkut Shemoni; Bachya)



20:11 With that, Moshe raised his hand, and struck the cliff with his staff.
20:12 Hashem said to Moshe and Aharon, "You did not have enough faith in Me to sanctify Me in the presence of the Benei Yisrael! Therfore, you shall not bring this assembly to the land that I have given you." 

There are many different opinions concerning the precise nature of Moshe's sin in this portion. Rashi holds that Moshe had not been commanded to hit the rock at all but only speak to it, and to instruct it in the name of Hashem to produce water. He bases himself on the words, "you shall speak to the rock." If we were to ask what was the point of his being told to take his staff if not in order to strike the rock, this is no argument seeing that practically all the miracles Moshe had performed involved his staff although not necessary that he used the staff to strike something with. For instance, we find in Shemot 4:17 that G-d told Moshe to take his staff in order to perform the miracles with it but no mention is made of his using the staff to strike something or somebody. His sin therefore (according to Rashi) consisted in his striking the rock without having been commanded to do so.

The penalty was applied to both Moshe and Aharon as apparently they had agreed to use the staff to hit the rock instead of speaking to the rock. By doing so they minimized the impact of the miracle, seeing that G-d had wanted to demonstrate that the rock would respond to G-d's command even if merely spoken to. Had Moshe carried out G-d's instructions the people would have said to themselves that if a mere rock responds to verbal instructions by G-d to completely change its nature by turning into a well, how much more must intelligent people like themselves heed all instructions given to them by Hashem! Now that they saw that the rock responded only to Moshe's physical force as a result of being struck, this gave some of them a chance to use this as an argument that Moshe had achieved his objective by superior wisdom and machinations but that there was no question of the rock having responded to a command from its Creator. The people's faith in G-d's ability had been undermined by Moshe's hitting the rock. This is why G-d said to both Moshe and Aharon: "because you did not have enough faith in Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of the Benei Yisrael" (v12). Had they only *spoken* to the Rock this would have resulted in a great sanctification of G-d's Name.

Maimonides, in the fourth chapter of his introduction to Tractate Avot, views Moshe's sin as being that he addressed the people as "morim" (rebellious) (v10). Had he not been angry at the people which caused him to use such an unflattering description of them he would not have forgotten the instruction that he was to speak to the rock. When a man of the stature of Moshe allows himself to become angry the result is liable to be a desecration of G-d's Name. Even the bodily motions of a man of Moshe's caliber normally inspire people who see him, give them confidence of their progress towards a better world, the hereafter. When people observe that their leader reveals frustration such confidence is undermined. Public display of frustration displays an internal conflict in man. This in turn reduces his student's confidence in him. The people were very intelligent as they had experienced visions which even a great prophet such as Yechezkel had not experienced (Mechilta Shirata 50). When the people observed Moshe being angry they assumed that Moshe's anger at them reflected G-d's anger at them for having demanded water. This was an erroneous conclusion as the Torah does not indicate with a single syllable that G-d considered their request as inappropriate. When G-d said (v24) "you defied My word," He referred to the mistaken image of G-d's reaction to their request conveyed to them through Moshe's demeanor. 

Rabbeinu Chananel believes that Moshe's sin consisted of the word "notzi" - "we shall extract" or "shall we extract?" By using the first person plural Moshe created the impression that it was his and Aharon's task to extract the water from the rock. He should have said "He, G-d, will extract water for the people from the rock" (v10). The moment Moshe said: "We shall extract water," some of the people thought that whereas on the first occasion when Moshe had struck the rock this had been a miracle, a demonstration of G-d revealing His power (Shemot 17:5-7), this time there would not be a similar intervention by G-d in their fortunes. These people simply thought that Moshe and Aharon used their own devices in order to produce water from the rock. This is reflected in the Torah writing: "because you have missed an opportunity, "to demonstrate My Holiness before the eyes of the Benei Yisrael" (v12). According to Rabbeinu Chananel the expression "lehakdisheni" (to demonstrate My Holiness) is reflexive, i.e. to cause G-d to appear as Holy, whereas the words "lo-he'emantem bi" are not to be understood as transitive, i.e. "you have failed [to exploit the opportunity] to instill in the people an additional dimension of faith in Me."

The verses in front of us all support PARTS of the opinions express by Rashi, Maimonides, and Rabbeinu Chananel. But the overall meaning of the subject discussed in our paragraph is not explained satisfactorily by either one of these illustrious Rabbis. Rashi's approach would be acceptable if the speaking to the rock would be the only miracle at issue and not the striking of the rock. However, how can we ignore the fact that if water emerges from a rock after the rock has been struck that this is by itself a powerful miracle? Is there then a qualitative difference between the two kinds of miracle? Seeing G-d had instructed Moshe to take his staff (instead of leaving it in his tent) surely he was meant to use it to strike the rock!

Also the words of Maimonides do not clarify all the problems raised by the text. He was himself aware of this as he said that he clarified *one of the problems* in our paragraph by his comments. His comments would be acceptable if indeed there were proof that Moshe was angry and displayed anger during this episode. However, the words "shimu-na hamorim" (hear now you rebellious [rebels]) do not necessarily reflect anger on Moshe's part but mean that he addressed the people as a group which needed to be admonished. Aharon, who stood beside him, certainly had never been angry during his career. He was known as always pursuing peaceful means. Had he permitted himself to become angry and display anger he would not have qualified for the title "Rodef Shalom" (Pursuer of Peace). Why would he suffer the same fate as Moshe if he had not been angry, had not displayed anger, had not said anything inappropriate?

Also the words of Rabbeinu Chananel are not totally convincing. If Moshe had said "We will produce water for you from this rock," he would be correct. However, this is not what Moshe said. He said, "shall we produce water from this rock?" Moshe implied that they themselves most certainly did not have the power to produce water from that rock. Moshe made it clear that only G-d could orchestrate such a miracle. Still, his words are the most plausible from all the commentators. (Me'am Lo'ez)

A Kabbalistic approach:

The sin is connected to the word "pa'amayim" (twice) (v11). This solves all the problems which have been raised previously. They mystical dimension of the whole episode is as follows:

Hashem, the Unique One, Who had descended to the mountain, i.e. Mount Sinai at the time He gave the Ten Commandments, was the same attribute that had revealed Himself to Moshe in Shemot 17:6 where Mount Chorev is identified with "tzur" (rock), the site also known (Tehillim 132:5) as "an abode for the Mighty One of Yaakov." The expression "tzur" in connection with G-d revealing Himself to Moshe occurs again in Shemot 33:21 where G-d tells Moshe to take up a position "next" to Him describing that place as "al-hatzur" (next to the Rock) Hashem. When G-d had instructed Moshe to hit the rock in Shemot 17:6, He had first described His presence in the words "hineni" i.e. "Here I am standing in front of you by the rock at Chorev and when you strike the rock water will emerge, etc." The attribute of YKVK appears frequently in the guise of the word "Ani." Moshe had struck the rock only a single time, seeing he had been receiving his instructions from a single attribute of Hashem. Here at Kadesh G-d had not spelled out which attribute of His had issued the instructions as He had not said "here is My attribute Ani, etc." There had not been a manifestation of the glory (attribute) of G-d such as there had been in Shemot. As a result of doubt as to which attribute had issued the instruction Moshe and Aharon both agreed to hit the rock twice, i.e. once in respect of each attribute which could have issued such an instruction, i.e. either to attribute "tzur" or the attribute Hashem. They considered it quite likely that the Shechinah was angry at the people (for having blamed Moshe for the shortage of water). The people, who had all been privy to manifestations of the Shechinah on the previous occasions associated with the phenomenon described as "tzur," were aware that that this time there had not been such a manifestation of G-d's glory. In view of all of these considerations Moshe and Aharon felt the need to attract the attribute of Hashem, attribute of Mercy, hence they struck the rock twice (instead of merely once). It is important to realize that neither Moshe nor Aharon entertained any wrongful thoughts in any of this. Their sin resulted exclusively from the fact that *by their action* they missed an opportunity presented to them by G-d to aggrandize His Name, i.e. "lehakdisheni le'einei Benei Yisrael" (to demonstrate My Holiness before the eyes of the Benei Yisrael) (v12). 

Although their intentions had been good, striking the rock twice could have led the people to believe that Moshe's powers [and by extension G-d's powers] had waned and that this was why he had to strike the rock twice instead of merely once. His sin was inadequate faith in G-d. He should have had faith enough not to hit the rock twice. This is why the Torah writes in v12 "because you did not plant sufficient faith in Me." (Bachya)

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