MEDITATION: On Moshe’s Mistake and Being People of Growth (Parashat Chukat-Balak)

In the incident of the rock, Moshe says to the people, before he hits the rock, Shimu na hamorim, “listen up, you rebels” (Numbers 20:10). In this meditation, we explore the ways that such harsh words and negative assessments, both internal and external, hurt us, and we consider the possibility of substituting for such harshness a mentality of growth towards ourselves, epitomized by the phrase, Shma Yisrael, listen to the sound of your own growth potential, as implied by the name Yisrael, a symbol of Yaakov’s growth. We feel into this divine space of believing in ourselves and sense the ways that our soul’s waters might naturally flow forth from the rock in such a gentle, encouraging environment.

Sources (in the order they appear in the meditation):
Numbers 20:1-13
Midrash Bamidbar Rabbah 19:9 (also in Rashi)
Talmud Brachot 10a (Beruriah story)
Deuteronomy 6:4 (Shma)
Unetaneh Tokef prayer from Mussaf for High Holidays
Rashi on Numbers 20:10, Vayakhilu
Midrash Shir HaShirim Rabbah 5:3 (on eye of the needle)

Photo by Robert Schrader at Pexels

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