Unlike the previous episode at Refidim where Moshe hit a rock and it produced water, in our parsha, 40 years later, Moshe was told to speak to the rock and it would produce water. Why then was Moshe was told to take his staff? If he wasn't supposed to hit the rock, what was the purpose in having it?
Maharasha B"M 86b asks the following: The gemara there relates that the be'er was given to Bn"Y as a reward for Avraham bringing water for his guests/the malachim to wash with:
דאמר ר' חמא בר' חנינא וכן תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל בשכר שלשה זכו לשלשה בשכר חמאה וחלב זכו למן בשכר והוא עומד עליהם זכו לעמוד הענן בשכר יוקח נא מעט מים זכו לבארה של מרים
However, the gemara (Taanis 9a) tells us that the be'er appeared in Miriam's merit:
ר' יוסי בר' יהודה אומר שלשה פרנסים טובים עמדו לישראל אלו הן משה ואהרן ומרים וג' מתנות טובות ניתנו על ידם ואלו הן באר וענן ומן באר בזכות מרים עמוד ענן בזכות אהרן מן בזכות משה מתה מרים נסתלק הבאר שנאמר ותמת שם מרים וכתיב בתריה ולא היה מים לעדה וחזרה בזכות שניהן מת אהרן נסתלקו ענני כבוד שנאמר וישמע הכנעני מלך ערד מה שמועה שמע שמע שמת אהרן ונסתלקו ענני כבוד וכסבור ניתנה לו רשות להלחם בישראל והיינו דכתיב ויראו כל העדה כי גוע אהרן אמר ר' אבהו אל תקרי ויראו אלא וייראו כדדריש ר"ל דאר"ל כי משמש בארבע לשונות אי דלמא אלא דהא חזרו שניהם בזכות משה מת משה נסתלקו כולן
Which is it that got us the be'er -- Avraham's merit or Miriams? Interestingly, the gemara in B"M which tells us that the be'er was in Avraham's merit even calls it בארה של מרים, alluding to her merit!
Maharasha answers that it would have sufficed for the be'er to appear for a short period as a reward to Avraham. It took the zechus of Miriam for it to remain with Bn"Y for all 40 years in the midbar. Iyun Yaakov answers that to reward Avraham the be'er might have appeared at any time. It was in Miriam's zechus that it appeared in the midbar when needed by Bn"Y. Shem m'Shmuel offers an answer that gets to the fundamentals of what the miracle of the be'er was all about. There are "tzvey denim" is the miracle of the be'er: 1) a water source springing up (no pun intended) in the middle of a rock; 2) the water being able to penetrate through the rock and flow out to the people.
הַהֹפְכִי הַצּוּר אֲגַם מָיִם חַלָּמִישׁ לְמַעְיְנוֹ מָיִם
Netziv comments:
הוכחה שכך רצונו יתברך, ממה שעשה בשעה שהכה צור להוציא מים לצורך ישראל – כתיב (תהלים קה,מא) ״פתח צור ויזובו מים הלכו בציות נהר״, ביאורו, שמתחילה לא הוציא מים בשפע רב משום דאם כן היו אומרים דאין זו בריאה יש מאין אלא ברכה ביסוד המים שבכל צור, על כן מתחילה ״פתח צור ויזובו מים״ – פירוש, יסוד המים שבו יצאו לחוץ, ונשאר אותו הצור כאבן חלמיש שמוציאים ממנו אש באשר אין בו את יסוד המים, ואחר כך ״הלכו בציות נהר״ וראו הכל את כח הנס.
והן הן הדברים: ״ההפכי הצור״ מתחילה ל״אגם מים״, ואחר כך כשנעשה ״חלמיש״ – ״למעינו מים״. ירדן וההרים דברים נפלאים יותר מהנדרש לצורך הענין.
Like Netziv, the Shem m'Shmuel sees the pasuk as reflecting two stages, just in the reverse of the way Netziv presents it. First the stone had to become an אֲגַם מָיִם, like a marsh, a place where water could penetrate and flow. Secondly, the stone became לְמַעְיְנוֹ מָיִם, meaning, there was a source within the stone from which water sprang.
Hashem gives us the gift of a neshoma that is לְמַעְיְנוֹ מָיִם, an inner spring of ruchniyus from which we can draw strength. However, that spring won't do any good if a person has a heart of stone that nothing can penetrate. It's up to us to soften that inner rock wall and fulfill הַהֹפְכִי הַצּוּר אֲגַם מָיִם.
This is why both the zechus of Miriam and the zechus of Avraham were needed for the be'er. It was in Miriam's merit that there was a spring within the rock; that there was a source of water where none was apparent. It was in the merit of Avraham that the stone became permeable and those waters were able to flow outward and provide sustenance. Avraham did not allow his age, his feeling ill and recovering from his milah, or the heat of the day to stop him from serving his guests. Physical hardship melted away in the face of his perseverance. So too, the walls of physical rock melted away in the path of the spring inside.
At Refidim, the start of Bn"Y's 40 year journey, the people's hearts still needed to be softened up. Moshe was told to strike the rock, as it takes force to break down barriers. Only then could the waters work their magic. Fast forward 40 years later, to the end of the journey, to our parsha. Hashem tells Moshe that he only need speak to the rock. By this point, are the hears of Bn"Y not soft enough, not permeable enough, to allow in the dvar Hashem? And yet Moshe is told at the same time to take his staff. We have bechira. If need be, we can choose to seal ourselves off, in which case only the staff will do.
Sm"S quotes a Zohar that says that if not for the hitting of the rock, we would not have Torah shebaal peh, with all its kushiyos and teirutzim and difficult sugyos. וְדִבַּרְתֶּם אֶל הַסֶּלַע לְעֵינֵיהֶם וְנָתַן מֵימָיו -- the water of Torah would just flow naturally and be easily absorbed and understood. If only our hearts were not still so made of stone... But because they are, we need to work on ourselves. We need to toil over every kasha and teirutz, because it is that investment of hard work that pounds away at the rock within, eventually allowing the water to flow.
