Last month, we saw unprecedented heat waves move through weather systems throughout the globe. Within the U.S., warnings of excessive heat were a common phenomenon, with temperatures soaring 10 to 15 degrees above average in southern states and record highs in the North. Across the Atlantic, rising temperatures combined with a lack of vital services took a deadly toll on Muslim pilgrims making their way to Mecca to perform the Hajj, as more than a thousand pilgrims died, many of them due to heat stroke. Finally, because these heat waves are arriving earlier in the season, populations, especially vulnerable ones, are at a higher risk of dying due to the unique dangers that early-season heat brings. The earth is facing a catastrophe, and we are not acting nearly fast enough to save one another.
It is incredibly frustrating and alarming for me to see these changes in temperature take place across the world. I have grown up with climate scientists warning over and over again about the disastrous effects of carbon emissions, deforestation, and pollution on climate change and have seen leaders again and again fail to recognize and act on this climate emergency. I find it alarmingly reminiscent of Moses’ failed leadership in this week’s parshah, Chukat.
Find more commentaries on Chukat.
This week, we find the Israelites located in a scorching desert in a state of turmoil. This turmoil is attributed to a severe natural disaster that occurred through the death of Miriam, Moses’ sister. Miriam, according to commentators, provided a source of water to the Israelites during their 40 years in the wilderness. When she died, the Israelites were left in a deadly drought (Talmud Taanit 9a). The Israelites respond to this disaster in anger, pointing out to Moses that to perish by thirst is the worst fate — even more so than perishing by disease. Moses responds in two ways — famously striking the rock instead of speaking to it as he was commanded, and belittling the people of Israel by responding to their desperation with harsh language. Many understand Moses’ action of striking the rock to reflect his lack of trust in God and to be the factor that led to his inability to enter the Land of Israel. However, it is his anger at the people and disregard for their plight that some rabbis find to be the significant factor in the loss of his privilege to serve as the Israelites’ leader as they enter the Holy Land. His words indicate that he was not in touch with the reality of the situation in front of him, the suffering of the people, or his own role as a leader.
When reading the commentaries for this section of the parshah, we find support for the Israelites’ reaction to the dangerous situation. The 13th-century commentator Chizkuni on Numbers 20:2 suggests that, unlike in other instances where the Israelites were quarrelsome, the complaints that the Israelites made here were, in fact, legitimate. The Israelites were facing the real danger of dying of thirst. Not only that, but the Tur HaAroch (13th-14th century) points out that this is the first time that the complaint lo makom zera, “not a place where you can plant a seed,” occurs in the years of the Israelites’ wanderings. To imagine this scene is to imagine a truly horrible situation of profound suffering that the people found themselves in. Moses’ angry response to their plea reflects not only his inability to treat the people with decency and respect but also how he fundamentally lacks a grasp on the reality of the emergency at hand. In today’s world, we see how leaders are delusional about climate change, for many fail to grasp the reality of the extent of harm and suffering that will occur if immediate and forceful action is not taken.
In the Chasidic work Netivot Shalom (Chukat 2), the sin that Moses commits is not striking the rock but addressing the people with disdain by calling them a term that describes something irredeemable. “Shimu na hamorim, listen, you rebels!” He belittles the people, something that the rabbis take very seriously, for it signifies an irreverence towards God and an all-consuming contempt for the people to whom he is speaking. We find another example in HaKtav VeHaKabalah, a 19th-century commentary:
Some of the Sages held the view that Moses and Aaron’s sin was that they slighted the Israelites’ honor; they slighted the honor of people who had not sinned… They only assembled, and perhaps this was for the sake of requesting Moses and Aaron to make efforts in prayer in order to satiate their thirst. They did not sin at all, and yet Moses spoke harshly to them and called them rebels. (HaKtav VeHaKabalah, Numbers 20:10:1)
In response to ecological and social unrest, Moses speaks with harshness and contempt. The Torah requires an understanding of not only the natural disaster at hand but also an understanding of the human pain and anguish that comes with it.
Find more commentaries on Environment, Climate, and Animal Rights.
In response to the havoc that climate change is creating in this world, communities demand action and change. Perhaps Moses’ behavior should give us pause when we think about what we are required to do when responding to the climate disaster. Facing this disaster means facing one another with respect and sincere empathy. Only then can we manage the amount of work it will take to fix that in which each of us has a stake.
When leaders, policymakers, and legislators renege on their promises, favor the demands of fossil fuel industries, and leave considerations for the health of the most affected communities as a low priority — this is a way that they are fundamentally disrespecting communities and refusing to be in touch with a reality that we all share. We pay dearly for this. This parshah, by showing what it means not to listen to one’s community, leaves open the possibility of what it means to listen. Had Moses been capable of hearing from his community about their desperation with empathy and compassion, I imagine it less likely that he would have struck the rock. I hope we can listen and heed each other’s warnings, for that is the start of sacred action.
Maetal just completed her first year as a rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary. She is an Avodah Service Corps Chicago alum and is currently working as a Climate Organizing Fellow at Dayenu.