Chukat: Striking at Rocks was Never a Good Idea

Right now, all the newspaper headlines talk about oil. The BP scandal continues with no end in sight, and I shudder to think of the long-term damage that will come from this. Just as the oil continues to spread out along the Gulf Coast, this story seems to be seeping into more and more aspects of our lives. I initially had another plan for this week's blog post, but BP has "inspired" me to take a very different approach to our Torah portion.

Ordinarily, when I read the story of the Israelites crying out for water, and Moses responding in anger and desperation by hitting a rock, my focus is on the emotions that are playing out. I see a people fed up with wandering, and disappointed in their leader. I see a man who's sister, Miriam, had just died, and who was harassed by whining people day in and day out. Moses was pushed to the brink, and he lost his cool. Instead of speaking to the rock, he struck it with his staff. And even though water DID begin to flow, his own fate was sealed, and he would never be allowed to enter the Holy Land.

I never saw it in this story before, but there is a definite message hidden in the text about how we mistreat our planet, and our over-dependence on the earth's natural resources. Moses represents all of us, striking at nature rather than coexisting with it. Many people survive in the desert, and have for millenia. Why are the Israelites unable to fend for themselves? Why must they constantly turn to Moses and Aaron, never once trying to become self-sufficient or to better understand the desert around them? They are completely dependent on their leaders, and on a rapidly diminishing resource: miracles.

I look at this story, and I wonder why God still let water flow from the rock, even after Moses' egregious error. And BP has given me the answer. Nature will not object when we mistreat it... at least not right away. We can abuse our earth and get away with it for a bit. Drilling endlessly offshore will indeed give us oil, but at what price? Moses learned his lesson the hard way, and I fear that we are all traveling down that same path.