The Rod of God

The “Mateh” in the text of the Tora.

As part of Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg’s chapter on Parashat Chukat, “Heart of Stone, Heart of Flesh” (Bewilderments: Reflections on the Book of Numbers, Schocken Books, NY, 2015, pp. 194-233), she reflects upon the connotation of Moshe’s staff, as it appears first in Shemot and then, after a long interval, a final time in BeMidbar:

a) Shemot 4:2,4 “2 And the LORD Said unto him: What is that in thy hand? And he said: A rod. 3 And He Said: Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moshe fled from before it… 4 And the LORD Said unto Moshe: Put forth thy hand, and take it by the tail–and he put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand. (sign #1)

b) 17, 20 “17 And thou shalt take in thy hand this rod, wherewith thou shalt do the signs… 20 And Moshe took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt; and Moshe took the rod of God in his hand.

c) 7:15, 17, 19-20 “15 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thy hand…17 Thus Saith the LORD: In this thou shalt know that I Am the LORD–behold, I will smite with the rod that is in my hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood… 19 And the LORD Said unto Moshe: Say unto Aharon: Take thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone. 20 And Moshe and Aharon did so, as the LORD Commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.” (Plague #1)

(Ibid. 9, 12, the Mateh that Aharon uses, and is called in the biblical text “Aharon’s rod, really belongs to Moshe:

When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying: Show a wonder for you; then thou shalt say unto Aharon: Take thy rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it become a serpent…             For they cast down every man (Pharoah’s magicians) his rod, and they became serpents; but Aharon’s rod swallowed up their rods.”

in contrast to BeMidbar 17:16-25, where the Mateh is identified as the staff that would belong to the tribe of Levi:

16 And the LORD Spoke unto Moshe, saying: 17 Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of them rods, one for each fathers’ house, of all their princes according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods; thou shalt write every man’s name upon his rod. 18 And thou shalt write Aharon’s name upon the rod of Levi, for there shall be one rod for the head of their fathers’ houses. 19 And thou shalt lay them up in the Tent of Meeting before the Testimony, where I Meet with you. 20 And it shall come to pass, that the man whom I shall Choose, his rod shall bud; and I will Make to Cease from Me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you. 21 And Moshe spoke unto the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods; and the rod of Aharon was among their rods. 22 And Moshe laid up the rods before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony. 23 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moshe went into the Tent of the Testimony; and, behold, the rod of Aharon for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. 24 And Moshe brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel; and they looked and took every man his rod. 25 And the LORD Said unto Moshe: Put back the rod of Aharon before the Testimony, to be kept there, for a token against the rebellious children; that there may be made an end of their murmurings against Me, that they die not.

But see the note below concerning Yoma 52b.)

d) 8:12-3 “12 And the LORD Said unto Moshe: Say unto Aharon: Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. 13 And they did so; and Aharon stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and there were gnats upon man, and upon beast; all the dust of the earth became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.” (Plague #3)

e) 9:23 “And Moshe stretched forth his rod toward heaven; and the LORD Sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down unto the earth; and the LORD Caused to hail upon the land of Egypt.” (plague #7)

f) 10:13 “And Moshe stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD Brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.” (plague #8)

(Sometimes the Command “Extend your hand” is followed by mention of the staff, and sometimes not, as in: Ibid. 10:22; 14:21, 26-7:

Shemot 21:21-2

“21 And the LORD Said unto Moshe: Stretch out thy hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. 22 And Moshe stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.” (plague #9)

Ibid. 14:21, 26-7

“And Moshe stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD Caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided … 26 And the LORD Said unto Moshe: Stretch out thy hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. 27 And Moshe stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD Overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.”  (splitting the sea)

Are we to assume that a reference to either Moshe’s or Aharon’s hand connotes holding the staff or must it be taken literally?)

g) 14:16 “And lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it; and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground.” (splitting the sea)

h) 17:5-6 “5 And the LORD Said unto Moshe: Pass on before the people and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thy hand, and go. 6 Behold, I will Stand before thee there upon the rock in Chorev; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moshe did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.” (extracting water from the rock the first time)

i) 17:9 “And Moshe said unto Yehoshua: Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.” (fighting Amalek)

(Even though Moshe says that he will hold the rod of HaShem, does the text suggest that he actually does so?

11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aharon and Chur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

This is the reverse of the situation described in the note to f) above.)

j) BeMidbar 20:8 “’Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, thou, and Aharon thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and their cattle drink.” (extracting water from the rock the second time)

Whereas, the usages of the rod in Shemot were all legitimate and in accordance with God’s Instructions, this is clearly not the case in BeMidbar. The misuse by Moshe of the rod directly leads to the Divine Decree that ordains the identical fate for him and Aharon as the rest of the Dor Midbar, i.e., not entering the land of Israel:

Ibid. 11-2 “11 And Moshe lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle. {S} 12 And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron: ‘Because ye believed not in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.’

In order to consider the significance of the role that the Mateh plays in all of these stories, one wonders where the rod has been between its mention in Shemot 17 and BeMidbar 20.

Zornberg posits that the rod may have been treated much as the Manna, with the latter yet continuing to fall virtually daily, while the former was relegated to serving exclusively as a reminder of a previous time.

Shemot 16:33

And Moshe said unto Aharon: Take a jar, and put an Omer-ful of Manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept throughout your generations.

(While the Mishkan had as yet not been built, when it would eventually be constructed, then the artifacts that had been stored in order to be placed within the Tabernacle, were put into their proper place.)

(Zornberg claims that BeMidbar 17:25 serves as a source for the rod used by Moshe being stored for generations. However, the verse talks about the rod associated with the tribe of Levi that sprouted almonds, proving Aharon’s right to be appointed High Priest—see the note to c) above—rather than the implement with which Moshe initiated many of God’s miracles associated with the Exodus. However, a source summarizing the substances preserved in the Aron of the Mishkan appears in the Talmud:

Yoma 52b

It has been taught: When the Ark was hidden, there was hidden with it 1) the bottle containing the Manna, and 2) that containing the sprinkling water (BeMidbar 19:9 “And a man that is ritually clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of sprinkling; it is a purification from sin”; 3) the staff of Aharon with its almonds and blossoms; and 4) the chest which the Philistines had sent as a gift to the God of Israel, as it is said: (I Shmuel 6:8) “And put the jewels of gold which you return to Him for a guilt-offering in a coffer by the side thereof and send it away that it may go.” 

No mention is made in the Talmudic passage that Moshe’s rod was included among the artifacts sequestered in the Aron, unless one insists that Moshe’s rod and Aharon’s rod were one and the same!)

BeMidbar 20:9

And Moshe took the rod from before the LORD, as He Commanded him.

Regarding the preservation of Moshe’s rod as an artifact once the events of Shemot are concluded, Zornberg writes:

The rod comes to represent an early period of powerful and miraculous interventions into the natural order.

A hypothesis that accounts for God’s Anger at Moshe and Aharon for striking the rock in order to obtain water, despite this being the recommended technique in Shemot 17:6.

Zornberg posits that the people had developed a visceral fear of the rod, and therefore of God Himself, since the rod had been continually used to wreak havoc upon the Egyptians, The extraction of water in Shemot utilizing the rod was intended to convey an opposite impression:

They will witness a benevolent use of that rod, which before had only been used to “strike”—that is, to plague the Egyptians. As soon as the Israelites see that the rod can be an instrument of benevolent—and not only destructive power… (they will come away with a different perspective of God and His Prophet Moshe.)

…Apparently, a rod is not always a rod. Implicitly, Moshe’s relation to the people is affected by this old-new usage of the rod. In effect, God is Teaching Moshe how to shift the people’s traumatic associations; how to evoke in them a measure of trust.

She proceeds to make a powerful case, that despite the rod’s potential to be used against Amalek as it was in order to bring Egypt to its knees, God specifically Wishes the rod, and therefore His Role to be seen by the Jews in a new way, and therefore it would make eminently good sPlense for Moshe to have discarded the rod before he lifted his hands in order to direct the thoughts of the Jews Heavenward (see Mishna Rosh HaShana 3:8 [29a].)

Placing the incident in Parashat Chukat in a similar context.

Towards the end of her most evocative essay, Zornberg quotes a Midrash that captures the dynamic of the rod in a very graphic manner:

Yalkut Shimoni #763

When a child is small, his teacher hits him and educates him. But when he grows up, he corrects him with words. So God Said to Moshe: When this rock was “young,” you struck it, as it is said: “And you shall strike the rock…” But now, “You shall speak to the rock…”—recite over it a chapter of Tora and you will produce water from the rock.

She explains:

Instead of regarding his earlier experience with the rock at Refidim as a precedent for future behavior, he is to regard it as an early stage of the people’s development, to be transcended as the child-rock matures.

Instead of Moshe opportunistically taking advantage of the present situation and incorporating it into the manner in which he approached the Jewish people, he reverted back to an earlier stage in their and his history, thereby demonstrating that it was time for a change in the leadership.

Discussion.

It is extremely difficult for anyone, let alone a leader with an admirable track record, to change, and re-calibrate the way that he does things. Even if he has received the best training, human nature is powerful and individuals always feel most comfortable doing what they know best and which has proved successful for them in the past. However, it is the nature of things to be in constant flux and a state of evolution. In order to acknowledge the presence of such a process, change is necessary. I think that it is far easier to demand positive change when a system of thought and practice does not greatly emphasize the past, and the origins of one’s culture and civilization. But when those considerations are in play, as they are in Orthodox Judaism, there is a fine line between change that is destructive, on the one hand, and developments that are compelled by the very nature of the progress of human civilization. Moshe’s inability to see the rod as something whose utilization is meant to take on new, positive connotations, regardless of its symbolism and application in the past is a most cautionary tale.