A Hebrew essay in the Achvat A newsletter uses the water imagery in Parashat Chukat to argue that people should replace pressure and coercion with trust, dialogue, and faith. The piece frames the Torah portion as a moral lesson about how human beings respond when basic needs seem uncertain.
It begins with the death of Miriam and the disappearance of her well, which had sustained the Israelites in the desert for years. The writer says the miracle became so constant that the people took it for granted, and when it vanished they fell into panic instead of faith. God then tells Moses and Aaron to speak to the rock so it will yield water, but Moses strikes it twice with his staff, a choice the article describes as the opposite of the commanded act of speech and a sign of force rather than trust.
The essay then turns to Moses’ request to Edom to pass through its land and buy water, quoting his offer to pay for whatever he and his animals drink. Edom’s king refuses bluntly and threatens war, which the writer presents as a symbol of turning life-sustaining water into a tool of control, ego, and politics. The next episode is the Israelites’ complaint that there is no bread and no water and that they are sick of the “worthless” manna, after which God sends “fiery serpents.” The article says the snakes represent fear and a downward, cynical gaze, while the cure is the bronze serpent on a pole, which forces people to look upward again.
In its practical takeaway, the piece addresses parents, educators, and leaders, saying they are responsible for the “water supply” of those around them, meaning resources, energy, and confidence. It urges them not to “strike the rock” with pressure, anger, or threats, and not to use resources cynically like Edom, but to build a healthy “well consciousness” through open communication and faith that there will be enough to share.
