Speech Versus Striking the Rock
בענין מי מריבה יען לא כו' לעיני בני ישראל לכן לא תביאו כו' כבר כתבנו במ"א כי לא הי' זה עונש רק הוכחה וראיה שאין דור הזה של באי הארץ נמשכים אחר הנהגתו הגבוהה של מרע"ה
Regarding the waters of Merivah — "Because you did not... before the eyes of Bnei Yisrael, therefore you shall not bring..." (Bamidbar 20:12) — we have already written elsewhere that this was not a punishment, but rather a demonstration and a proof that this generation, the ones who were to enter the Land, were not able to be drawn after the exalted conduct of Moshe Rabbeinu.
The Sfas Emes establishes that Moshe Rabbeinu being barred from Eretz Yisrael was not a punishment but a demonstration that the generation entering the Land could not sustain his lofty mode of divine service.
כי משה רבינו ע"ה נתנבא באספקלריא המאירה ושאר נביאים באספקלריא שאינה מאירה והוא בחי' המלכות דלית לה מגרמה כלום וכעין דאיתא מאן דאכיל דלאו דילי' בהית לאסתכולי באפי'
For Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, prophesied through the clear lens (aspaklaria ha'me'irah), while the other prophets prophesied through the dim, non-illuminating lens — and this is the aspect of Malchus (kingship), which "has nothing of its own," as in the teaching, "One who eats that which is not his own is ashamed to look upon the face" (of the giver).
Moshe Rabbeinu's prophecy was perfectly clear and self-illuminated, whereas the level fitting for entering the Land is that of Malchus — which has nothing of its own and receives entirely from Above, like one who is humbled before the Giver of a free gift.
וכל ענין א"י הוא כן שהיא מתנת חנם כמ"ש בפ' ואתחנן מזה
And the entire matter of Eretz Yisrael is so — that it is a free gift, as is written in Parshas Va'eschanan concerning this.
Eretz Yisrael itself embodies this very quality: it is received as a free gift from Hashem, not earned by one's own power.
וזה עצמו החילוק בין הכאה לדיבור כענין דאיתא אסא אמר אני רודף כו'
And this itself is the distinction between striking and speaking, like the matter taught: Asa said, "I will pursue...",
The difference between hitting the rock and speaking to it parallels two approaches to overcoming the enemy — Asa relied on his own strength to pursue.
ויהושפט אמר אין בי כח לרדוף אלא אומר שירה והם נופלים ובעת החלו ברנה כו'
while Yehoshafat said, "There is no strength in me to pursue; rather I will say song, and they will fall," and "at the time they began with joyous song..." (Divrei HaYamim II 20:22) — the enemies were struck down.
Yehoshafat, by contrast, had no strength of his own and instead sang Hashem's praises, and through that song of bittul the enemies fell on their own.
כי בצור כתיב והכית כו' והיינו כחו של מרע"ה והוא מענין תורה שבכתב חקוקה ורשומה
For regarding the rock it is written, "And you shall strike..." (Shemos 17:6), and that is the power of Moshe Rabbeinu, and it is of the nature of the Written Torah — engraved and inscribed.
Striking the rock corresponds to Moshe Rabbeinu's own great power and to the Written Torah, which is fixed, engraved, and active from the doer's side.
וכאן כתיב ודברתם כו' לעיניהם היינו כפי כחן של בנ"י שלא יכלו להימשך אחר מדריגת משה רבינו ע"ה הנ"ל
But here it is written, "And you shall speak... before their eyes" (Bamidbar 20:8) — namely, according to the capacity of Bnei Yisrael, who were not able to be drawn after the level of Moshe Rabbeinu mentioned above.
Speaking to the rock corresponds to the lower capacity of Bnei Yisrael, who could not be drawn after Moshe Rabbeinu's exalted self-illuminated level.
וזה עצמו ענין מ"ש במדרש המורים את מוריהם
And this itself is the matter of what the Midrash says: "those who instruct (rebuke) their instructors" (ha'morim es moreihem).
This is the meaning of the Midrash's phrase about those who "instruct their instructors" — the generation's limitation effectively redefined the avodah required of Moshe Rabbeinu.
כי ע"י שלא נמשכו אחר הנהגה שלו (והוצרך) [*הוצרך] להיות כמו נחית דרגא
For because they were not drawn after his conduct, he was compelled to be, as it were, one who descends a level (nachis darga).
Because the people could not rise to his conduct, Moshe Rabbeinu was forced to lower himself a level (nachis darga) to meet them where they stood.
וכתיב המן הסלע הזה נוציא
And it is written, "Shall we bring forth water from this rock?" (Bamidbar 20:10).
Moshe Rabbeinu's words "shall we bring forth water from this rock" reflect his being drawn into this lowered, mixed situation.
דהנה נק' מי מריבה א"כ הי' בו ענין התערובות דהנה מרע"ה הי' בחי' כולו טוב בחי' עץ החיים דכתי' כי טוב הוא
For behold, it is called the "waters of Merivah (strife)"; thus there was within it a matter of admixture — for behold, Moshe Rabbeinu was the aspect of "entirely good," the aspect of the Tree of Life, of whom it is written, "for he was good" (Shemos 2:2).
The name "waters of strife" signals an admixture of good and evil, whereas Moshe Rabbeinu himself was wholly good, of the aspect of the Tree of Life, as the Torah testifies that he was "good" at birth.
ויש רמז דכתי' המן הסלע וכתי' התם המן העץ
And there is a hint here, for it is written, "from the rock (ha'min ha'sela)," and it is written there, "from the tree (ha'min ha'eitz)" (Bereishis 3:11),
The Sfas Emes notes a textual hint linking "min ha'sela" (from the rock) to "min ha'eitz" (from the tree) in the account of Adam.
שהי' כאן בחי' עץ הדעת טו"ר
indicating that there was here the aspect of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil.
This linguistic parallel signals that at the rock there was present the aspect of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil — the admixture corresponding to the strife.
ומרע"ה רצה להמשיך על הסלע מדריגה עליונה
And Moshe Rabbeinu wished to draw down upon the rock an exalted level.
Moshe Rabbeinu's intent was nonetheless to draw an exalted, lofty spiritual level down onto the rock.
דכמה בחי' יש בבאר
For behold, there are several aspects within the well.
He explains that the well of water contains several distinct spiritual aspects or sources.
כענין שנאמר שתה מים מבורך
Like the matter that is said, "Drink water from your own cistern" (Mishlei 5:15),
One aspect is alluded to in "drink water from your own cistern" — water rising from within oneself.
נוזלים מתוך בארך הוא המשכה מלמעלה
and "flowing waters from the midst of your well" (Mishlei 5:15) — this is a drawing down from Above.
A higher aspect is "flowing waters from the midst of your well" — water that is drawn down from Above rather than generated from below.
וז"ש המן הסלע הזה שלפנינו נוציא ורצה להמשיך בחי' נוזלים מתוך בארך
And this is the meaning of "from this rock that is before us shall we bring forth" — he wished to draw down the aspect of "flowing waters from the midst of your well."
Thus "from this rock before us shall we bring forth" reveals Moshe Rabbeinu's wish to draw down specifically the higher, heavenly-flowing aspect of the well.
[וע' ברמב"ן שמבאר מעין פי' זה]. ולכן לא נזכר מרע"ה בשירת הבאר דכתיב בי' וממדבר מתנה
[And see the Ramban, who explains an interpretation of this nature.] And therefore Moshe Rabbeinu is not mentioned in the Song of the Well, in which it is written, "and from the wilderness, a gift (matanah)" (Bamidbar 21:18).
Citing the Ramban's similar reading, he notes that Moshe Rabbeinu is absent from the Song of the Well, whose climax is "and from the wilderness, a gift" — the level of free gift that belongs to the entering generation.
ויש לרמוז על כל הדורות חפרוה שרים אבהן
And one may hint here to all the generations: "the princes (sarim) dug it" — these are the Avos (Patriarchs);
He reads the verses of the Song of the Well as a sweep through all the generations: "the princes dug it" alludes to the Avos.
כרוה נדיבי י"ב שבטים
"the nobles of the people excavated it" — the twelve tribes;
"The nobles of the people excavated it" alludes to the twelve tribes who descended to Egypt.
במחוקק ע' נפש
"with the staff (mechokek)" — the seventy souls;
"With the staff" alludes to the seventy souls of Yaakov's household.
במשענותם ס' ריבוא דורו של מרע"ה
"with their staffs (mish'anosam)" — the six hundred thousand, the generation of Moshe Rabbeinu.
"With their staffs" alludes to the six hundred thousand of Moshe Rabbeinu's generation in the wilderness.
ואח"כ התחיל ממדבר מתנה
And afterward it begins, "and from the wilderness, a gift (matanah)."
Only after all these stages does the verse arrive at "and from the wilderness, a gift" — the new, gift-like level.
וזה הענין התחיל בדור באי הארץ
And this matter began with the generation that entered the Land.
This gift-level avodah began specifically with the generation that merited to enter the Land.
עלי באר ענו היינו ענין אומר שירה ונעשה מעצמו כנ"ל:
"Rise up, O well; sing to it (anu lah)" — this is the matter of saying song, and it is then accomplished of itself, as explained above.
"Rise up, O well; sing to it" expresses the avodah of song and bittul, through which the well's water comes forth of itself — the very mode Moshe Rabbeinu's generation could not yet attain.
Summary: The Sfas Emes explains that Moshe Rabbeinu's being kept from Eretz Yisrael at the waters of Merivah was not a punishment but a demonstration that the generation entering the Land could not be drawn after his exalted level of avodah. Moshe Rabbeinu prophesied through the clear lens and was wholly good, of the aspect of the Tree of Life, and his power was that of striking the rock — corresponding to the fixed, engraved Written Torah and to one's own strength, like Asa who pursued the enemy by force. The entering generation, however, needed the level of speaking to the rock: the aspect of Malchus that has nothing of its own and receives everything as a free gift from Above, like Yehoshafat who conquered through song and bittul, and like Eretz Yisrael itself which is a free gift. This is why Moshe Rabbeinu, who had to lower himself a level to reach them, is not mentioned in the Song of the Well, whose climax is "and from the wilderness, a gift" — the gift-like avodah that begins only with the generation entering the Land. Their service is captured in "Rise up, O well; sing to it," where through song the heavenly waters are drawn down and come forth of themselves.