Moshe is standing on top of the hill looking out to the Promised
Land.
‘What I wouldn’t give to enter the Land!’ cries Moshe.
‘Quiet! I have decreed that you will pass in this wilderness,’ is the
Almighty’s response.
‘Please God, I have led these people like a humble shepherd for forty
years! Why have I now been denied
entry?’ Moshe beseeches.
‘You know the answer to that,’ replies God sternly, ‘When the Children of
Israel were thirsty, I instructed you to speak to the rock and ask it for
water. Instead you had a momentary lapse
of judgment and struck the rock. You
have therefore forfeited your right to a portion in the Land.’
Thus, Moshe, our greatest prophet
and leader, remained in the wilderness, buried all alone, while Yehoshua led
the people into the Promised Land. But
was it not just a drop too harsh a punishment for such a small infraction? Moshe was so faithful to Heaven all those
years. And then in one quick moment to
lose it all? How was that a just and
fair Divine decision?
תַּנְיָא אָמַר רַבִּי
צָדוֹק: כָּךְ הָיָה מִנְהָגוֹ שֶׁל בֵּית רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל, שֶׁהָיוּ נוֹתְנִין
כְּלֵי לָבָן לְכוֹבֵס שְׁלֹשָׁה יָמִים קוֹדֶם לַשַּׁבָּת, וּצְבוּעִים אֲפִילּוּ
בְּעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת. וּמִדִּבְרֵיהֶם לָמַדְנוּ שֶׁהַלְּבָנִים קָשִׁים לְכַבְּסָן
יוֹתֵר מִן הַצְּבוּעִין. אַבָּיֵי הֲוָה יָהֵיב לֵיהּ הַהוּא מָנָא דִצְבִיעָא
לְקַצָּרָא. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: כַּמָּה בָּעֵית עִילָּוֵיהּ. אֲמַר לֵיהּ:
כִּדְחִיוָּרָא. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: כְּבָר קַדְמוּךָ רַבָּנַן. אָמַר אַבָּיֵי: הַאי
מַאן דְּיָהֵיב מָנָא לְקַצָּרָא, בְּמִשְׁחָא נִיתֵּיב לֵיהּ וּבְמִשְׁחָא
נִשְׁקוֹל מִינֵּיהּ. דְּאִי טְפֵי — אַפְסְדֵיהּ דְּמַתְחֵיהּ. וְאִי בְּצִיר —
אַפְסְדֵיהּ דְּכַוְּוצֵיהּ
Rabbi Tzadok said: This was
the custom of the house of Rabban Gamliel: They would give white clothes to the
launderer three days before Shabbat, and coloured clothes even on Shabbat eve. And from their statement we learned that white
garments are more difficult to launder than coloured. Abaye once gave a coloured garment to the
launderer. He said to him: How much do you want for it? He said to him: Same as
for white. Abaye said to him: The Sages have already beaten you to the mark
(and ruled that colours are less difficult to wash, and should therefore be
cheaper). Abaye said: One who gives clothing to the launderer, he should
measure it before and after. In that way, if it is longer, it is an indication
that the launderer caused him a loss because he stretched the garment. And if
it is shorter, he caused him a loss because he shrunk it.
When a garment is stained, is
it harder to remove the stain from a white garment or a coloured garment? The prima facie answer from the Gemara is
that it is easier to remove a stain from a coloured garment. But in reality, a stain is a stain, regardless
of the colour of the garment upon which it lands. It has a certain chemical consistency and no
matter its surroundings, it will require the same amount of effort to
extract. So why does the Gemara suggest
that it is easier to remove a stain from a coloured garment?
The answer is that it is not
easier to remove the stain from the coloured garment. Rather, on a coloured garment, even if you
don’t remove it entirely, the colour of the garment will hide the mark. Thus, even if a small amount of the chemical
substance remains on the garment, it will be difficult to discern and less of a
concern. In contrast, a stain upon a
white garment requires a cleansing so thorough that it removes the substance in
its entirety in order to make it presentable for use.
Looking at the facts of
Moshe’s rock-striking incident objectively, he could hardly have been held
responsible and punishable to the extent of being barred entry into the
Promised Land. The people were crying
out for water. On a previous occasion,
God had indeed instructed him to strike the rock. In this instance, he tried speaking to the
rock, as Hashem had commanded. But when
that failed to work and hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children –
yes, children! – were looking so pale and on the verge of fainting in the hot
desert sun, he tried something that had worked years earlier. He struck the rock. And sure enough, a drop of water emerged. And so he struck it again. And the water gushed forth! What a tzaddik! What compassion he demonstrated towards his
brethren! And yet, he was punished. Why?
Moshe Rabbeinu was like a
white garment. The tiniest, lightest
stain made its mark until it was near impossible to remove. God said ‘Speak to the rock!’ and he acted
contrary to God’s will. At that moment,
he thought that an alternative approach might work better. Anyone else – any coloured garment person –
God could have forgiven. They would have
been lauded for their creativity and their ability to think fast under pressure
and the stain would have been scrubbed away.
But not Moshe. He should have obeyed God unwaveringly. That tiny stain was there forever.
Does that mean that a person
with a more checkered, coloured track record would no longer have had the mark
on their soul, if the incident had happened to them? No, the stain would have remained. But when you’re wearing a coloured garment,
it’s difficult to discern a very light stain.
While such an appreciation of
Moshe’s experience might be logical, you might be thinking, ‘Well then, why
should I bother striving for spiritual excellence? The whiter my garment gets, the more
discernible the stains will be. Let me just go about my coloured life and my
life won’t be so scrutinized by the heavenly court!’
It is said that the great
student of the Arizal, Rabbi Chaim Vital declared, “A man is required to wear
white garments (on Shabbat) and not of any other colour. I received from my
teacher that according to the colour and hue of a man’s garments that he wears
on the Shabbat in this world, thus exactly will a man be dressed in the world
to come, after his death on every Shabbat day. He said to me that one Kabbalat
Shabbat the soul of a certain sage who had died in his days appeared to him. He
saw him wearing all black on the Shabbat day. He said to him, “since I wore black
on the day of Shabbat in this world, thus do they punish me here after my passing
to wear black garments even on the Shabbat day.”
This kabbalistic teaching is
one of the reasons that many people endeavour to wear a white shirt on
Shabbat. But of course, the story is not
to be understood literally. It is an
elucidation of the concept in our Gemara of the difference between wearing
white clothes and coloured clothes (with black being situated at the other end
of the spectrum that begins with white and progresses towards bright colours
and then dark colours until it eventually gets to black).
What did this sage mean when
he said he wore black clothes in this world?
It would seem that he adopted a lackadaisical approach towards his
personal religious standards. He was
content to measure his Jewish observance by what others were doing. But like Abaye says, one must always make
sure to measure the garment before and after cleaning, to ensure that it hasn’t
been stretched or shrunk. Each garment
is different and can only be measured against itself. He measured his garment’s
size and colour against those around him, instead of holding himself to personal
measure of excellence before God.
When you wash clothes, you
need to separate them out into three piles: whites, brights, and darks. You would assume that, as you move along the
colour spectrum, the temperature would increase. But it’s not so simple. Whites are washed in hot water, bright
colours are washed in cold water, and dark colours are washed in warm
water! Why do we that? Whites require the deepest clean.
Dark-coloured garments you can wash in warm water. Even if the colours run a little, it won’t be
noticeable. But with brights you need to
be very careful that the colours don’t run from one garment to another.
Most of us aren’t black or
white. We fall somewhere in
between. We run the risk of our colours
running with others around us. We look
at our peers and neighbours and model our behaviour and standards based on what
others are doing. But when brights get
coloured from other garments, it’s not good.
You are running your own personal
marathon. Nobody else is in the race,
just you. Only you and God know how well
you respond when God commands you to ‘speak to the rock.’ Spirituality requires self-awareness and
constant reassessment of your garment’s measurements to make sure you’re not
shrinking or over-stretching, based on what you see other people doing.
Rashi points out that garments
shrink in hot water. The obvious
solution would be to avoid using hot water to launder. The answer, of course, is that when clothes
are white, they require a more thorough cleansing. May you strive to make your soul brighter and
brighter and conduct your spiritual affairs in a way that measures-up for you
personally!
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