וירם משה את ידו ויך את הסלע במטהו פעמים
When Moshe Rabbeinu struck the stone, instead of speaking to it, as per his instructions from Hashem, his actions were considered to be sinful. As a result, he was not permitted to enter into Eretz Yisrael. The commentators offer a number of different explanations to shed light on Moshe’s error. Rashi says that altering Hashem’s command from “speaking” to “striking” was wrong. Other commentators attribute the error to his reaction, the derogatory manner in which he spoke to the people: Shimu na hamorim, “Listen, you rebellious ones/fools.” Whether the issue was becoming angry or referring to descendants of the Avos,…
