By: Rabbi Aryeh Gitlin
Living by the Word of Hashem
In this week's parsha, the Torah reviews all the journeys of Bnei Yisrael in the desert. When it describes their encampment in Rephidim, it states that "there was no water for the people to drink" (Bamidbar 33:14). Yet it never mentions that Hashem miraculously brought forth water from the rock. Nor does it mention the mann that sustained the nation for forty years.
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, in Dorash Moshe, asks why the Torah records the lack of water but omits the miracle that followed.
Rav Moshe explains that Bnei Yisrael's requests for bread and water reflected a deficiency in emunah. Their complaints suggested doubt that Hashem could provide for them in the wilderness.
Even so, why omit the miracles?
Rav Moshe gives a remarkable answer. Ideally, Bnei Yisrael were never meant to need food or water in the desert at all. Just as Moshe Rabbeinu remained on Har Sinai for forty days and nights without eating or drinking, sustained solely by the will of Hashem, so too the Jewish people could have lived through the wilderness entirely through Divine sustenance.
He cites the verse in Devarim (8:3): "He afflicted you and made you hunger... to teach you that man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that emanates from the mouth of Hashem."
Rav Moshe explains that the hunger came because they assumed they needed bread in order to survive. Their worry reflected an incomplete recognition that life itself is sustained only by the word of Hashem. Bread is merely the means through which Hashem usually provides that sustenance.
The very next verse reinforces this lesson. Throughout the forty years in the desert, their clothing never wore out and grew together with them. Since they never worried about clothing, Hashem provided for that need miraculously. Had they displayed the same level of trust regarding food and water, Hashem would have sustained them without bread or water as well.
Accordingly, the mann and the water from the rock are omitted from the Torah's summary because, in the ideal state, they would never have been necessary.
One of my rebbeim, Rabbi Yitzchok Zev Golembeck, shared a powerful illustration of this principle. A talmid of his was very sensitive to cold temperatures. His wife was very sensitive to heat. He constantly wanted the air conditioning off while she wanted it on. This became a source of tension in their shalom bayis. The husband realized he needed to change his perspective. After hearing this teaching of Rav Moshe, he began reminding himself, "Is it the temperature that makes me comfortable, or is it the word of Hashem? Certainly it is the word of Hashem." As he internalized this idea, the air conditioning no longer bothered him. More importantly, the tension disappeared and their shalom bayis flourished. Most importantly is the lesson we can learn and apply to every area of our lives: our quality of life is not determined by our circumstances. Rather, it is determined by our recognition that everything comes directly from Hashem.
May we merit to internalize this priceless lesson, strengthen our emunah and bitachon, and live with the awareness that "not by bread alone does man live, but by everything that emanates from the mouth of Hashem."
Taken from the Kollel Avreichim Hollywood
