blogs/rabbi-joshua-hoffman

Doesn't it seem like the early start of the 5774 year is spinning the Jewish institutional world into a wild frenzy?  Here we are in early June and there doesn't seem to be a chance to catch our breaths or find respite as the school year reaches culmination, budgets are passed, and programmatic calendars for the coming year are set.  Rabbis are already beginning to frantically wring their hands to craft just the right message in their High Holiday sermons.  Administrators are anticipating the changeover into the New Year with increased anxiety (and trepidation).  The pressure feels like it is mounting far too soon. There are more than the usual sighs of “Enough!” permeating the office space, the study hall, and the administrative offices; yet we must still continue on to the Promised Land of vibrant Jewish communal life.

There is a cautionary tale in this week's Torah portion, Chukkat.  We would do well to pay attention to those moments when the allure of “Enough!” lulls us into a false sense of comfort.  It is poignantly found in Moshe's fatal encounter with the rock at Meribah.  Time and again the Israelites lose their faith in the wilderness and question every challenging moment of their arduous journey, “Why did you make us leave Egypt to bring us to this wretched place with no grain or figs or vines or pomegranates?  There is not even water to drink!” (20:5)

We are aware that Moshe's reaction to the incessant complaints of the Israelites results in a strike to the rock when God's plaintive command was to speak to it so the Israelite's insatiable thirst would be quenched.  “‘Listen you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?' And Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod.  Out came copious water, and the community and their beasts drank.” (20:10-11)

Why couldn't Moshe hear God's command clearly and speak to the rock as instructed?  Was he exhausted, overwhelmed, angry or vengeful?  It was one of those, “Enough!” moments for Moshe.  For that generation of Israelites wandering in the wilderness, we learn there would never be a moment when they could ever confidently face the challenges of their freedom.  Whatever range of emotions Moshe was feeling in the moment he struck the rock, the outcome was catastrophic, resulting in the punishment forbidding his entrance into the Promised Land.  And sadly, he regrets his choice later on too.

When “Enough!” moments arise from forces beyond our control, as in the Israelite's complaining to Moshe and God, we learn from Moshe's impulsive response to think through our choices more thoroughly.  Any decision made in haste can be irreparable.   While preparing for an early High Holidays can hardly be likened to the complete futility Moshe must have confronted in the wilderness, we can avoid the wasted effort of fretting about it and can remain ever-focused on the task of serving the Jewish people.

We can look to the positive “Enough!” moments instead.  When we plan well, those moments are the well-deserved result of dedicated focus.  We can turn to Moshe's many other admirable qualities for guidance too, like his humility and his sincere pleas for God's mercy upon the Israelite people to respond to those moments of tension.   With faith, we learn to avoid the shortfalls of anger and frustration that prevent us from choosing wisely.  We too can learn that our well planned choices, shaped with humility and mercy,  will lead us to choose any moment of sacred encounter so we may wholeheartedly say, "Enough!" Indeed, the road to the Promised Land is paved with these choices every step along the way.