My summer session fell during the summer parshiot and I explained that Moshe’s mission fell apart both on a communal and personal level because of misplaced expectations.
From a community perspective, the episode of the meraglim (spies), doomed his progeny to die while travelling in the desert, only to be followed by a disastrous rebellion. This was followed immediately by the personal devastating disappointment of not being allowed to lead this new generation into the land of Israel.
A key common denominator throughout these parshiot which contributed in a significant way to the unfortunate results were expectations that weren’t matched with reality.
The Jewish people wrongly believed that their ultimate inheritance of the land of Israel would be without challenges and they became paralyzed with fear by the reality of a land inhabited by other people whom they would have to challenge for supremacy. Therefore, when these same people were told that as punishment for their actions, they would not be allowed to enter Israel and would instead die in the desert, they became susceptible to calls for rebellion against Moshe’s authority. It was in this context that Korach knew the time was right for a massive rebellion precisely because the Jewish people were frustrated that their expectations of a life in Israel were suddenly dashed.
On a personal level, Moshe may have made the unforgiving and terrible mistake of hitting the rock also due to frustrations from a reality that did not match his expectations.
As a leader, Moshe had grown to understand the Jewish people and their limitations. The Jewish people had been forced into slavery their entire lives and therefore only knew an enslaved culture and mentality. They did not understand the concepts of individual choice or independence and they were not able to stand on their own without Moshe’s support and leadership.
When they complained in Egypt and were unable to fight against Amalek, Moshe understood and he reacted with a measure of patience and compassion. However, Parshat Chukat took place 39 years after Korach. The generation of slaves who left Egypt had all died and they were replaced by their children who Moshe believed would be different. This second generation didn’t grow up under Pharaoh’s whip and wasn’t filled with the same psychological trauma that had paralyzed their parents. These Jews were supposed to be different.
All of a sudden, the Jewish people arrive in Kadesh and there is no water to drink and they react the same way that their parents had, only this time, Moshe expected better. While Moshe was willing to forgive their parents because he felt they weren’t capable of anything more, this generation was different and he expected more. Filled with the frustration of unrealized expectations, Moshe overreacts, hits the rock and ultimately seals his punishment:the fate dying without entering the land of Israel.
In this respect, we aren’t that different from Moshe and Bnei Yisrael. Our feelings and emotions such as anger, disappointment, frustration, hurt, even impatience and a loss of temper often flow from unrealized expectations. Our measure of frustration is often correlated to our level of expectations for a given experience or outcome.
