Not Again!
                               By Rabbi Joshua (erroneously known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
                            
                      
                       Moshe,continuing his farewell address to the nation,recounts the tragic episode of the worship of  golden calf and his reaction to of shattered the luchos,or tablets of testimony.The rabbis tell us that this was one of three things that Moshe did on his own which God later consented to .Moshe then prayed to God to forgive the people and not to destroy them,to which God also consented. He then told Moshe, Carve for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones...and make a wooden ark for Yourself. And I shall write onthe tablets the words that were on the tablets that you shattered,  and you shall place them in the ark" ( Devorim, 10:1-2).Rashi writes that this was not the aron that Bezalael was commanded to make, since that command came later. In fact,says Rashi,Moshe reversed the sequence  of the command that God had given him. While God first told him to make the luchos and subsequently told him to make the aron,Moshe reasoned that if he would wait to make the aron until after he made the luchos, the luchos,in the interim,  would not have a place in which to be housed.Sinc e this is not included in the list of things which Moshe did on his own, we may assume that it was God's original intent for Moshe to make the aron first God's intention to begin with. Why, then, did he tell Moshe to make the aron only after he told him to make the luchos? Apparently,He wanted Moshe to understand on his own  the need for the luchos to be housed in the aron. Why, however,was this so important? I believe that an observation of Rabbi Amnon Bazak, in his Nekudas Pesicha, can help us answer this question,but thenleaveuswih a further question.
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      Rav Bazak points out that the entire command to Moshe to build an aron is not mentioned at all the first time this episode is recorded, in parshas Ki Sisa. He explains that this is a function of the difference between the book of Shemos, in general,and the book of Devorim.. The mishkan, he says, is not discussed, in general,in Sefer Devorim,whereas it is described in great detail in Sefer Shemos.The function of the aron,in Sefer Shemos,is to serve as a place for the shechinah,or the divine presence,  to dwell within the mishkan. Therefore, the Torah only mentions that the luchos are to be placed in the aron that Bezalel made for the mishkan.However, in Sefer Devorim, the aron is mentioned in conjunction with the sin of the golden calf. When Moshe broke the luchos,As described here,God had not yet forgiven the people for worshiping the calf,and the shattering of the luchos represented the breaking of the covenant between God and His people. Moshe then prayed on their behalf and the covenant was restored through the second luchos.In order to emphasize this fact,and to demonstrate that the luchos were no longerin Moshe's hands to break, God told him to place them in an aron.
                        
                        While Rav Bazak's suggestion that God wanted Moshe to know that it was not in his hands to shatter the second luchos may sound a bit strange,there are several medieval commentators who say just that, although Rav Bazak does not mention them. Rabbi Yosef Bechor Shor,for example,  in his commentary to parshas Eikev,writes that God  told Moshe to place the luchos in the aron he made so that they would no longer be in his hands and he would therefore not be tempted to break them if he  again. became angry with the people.This explanation is also brought in the Pa'aneach Raza and the Chizkui.The implications of this explanation are,in fact,remarkable. God knew that Moshe was susceptible to anger,and,knew.in addition,that in his anger,he may come to reiterate an action that God approved of at one time,under certain circumstances,but no longer approved of under changed circumstances. Perhaps it was for this reason that He wanted Moshe to understand,on his own,why there was a need to build an aron for the luchos.,sothat he would not, at sometime,decide to shatter the second luchos,just as he had shattered the first ones. Apparently, thisd evice worked, as we know that Moshe did not,in fact,shatter the second luchos! 
                        
Given Rav Bazak's explanation and our application of it,one may,then,ask,in turn,why,on another occasion,God actually opened up the possibility for Moshe to reiterate an action that was correct at one time but incorrect at a later time,.I am referring to the incident of Mei Mervah,when the people asked for water.God told Moshe to take his staff and speak to the rock in front of the peole,and that water would then be   provided for them from the rock. Moshe,however, became angry and hit the rock,for which,at least according to Rashi's approach, he was punished by being barred from entering the Holy Land. Rashi's grandson,the Rashbam,writes that Moshe made his mistake because God told him to take his staff with him,and,once before,at Refidim,the people had asked for water,but on that occasion,God told Moshe to hit the rock with his staff and thereby provide water for the people. Moshe,says the Rashbam. thought that this was what he was supposed to do now,as well, and even though God had told him to speak to the rock,Moshe thought that the way to speak to a rock is to hit it,and,therefore,in light of what happened in Refidim,Moshe again hit the rock with his staff.The question is that f what we have seen, in regard to the aron,that God knew Moshe was prone to anger and therefore susceptible to the misapplication of a previously divinely  approved method of responding to the people's  actions, and therefore led him to understand the need to control his anger, by commanding him to make an aron, Why, then,in regard to bringing water from the rock,did God actually lead Moshe to make precisely that same kind of mistake,by telling him to take his staff in addition to telling him to speak to the rock? Perhaps we can suggest that whereas in the case of the luchos,God did not,in fact,want the second set to be broken,in regard to the water,He actually did want Moshe to make the mistake of hitting the rock .Rav Dovid Feinstein has,in fact, suggested the possibility that God brought about Moshe's mistake at Mei Merivah in order to provide the people with an explanation for why Moshe  was barred  from entering Eretz Yisroel,although, in actuality,he was actually refused admittance to the land for other reasons. Among these  possible reasons were  his complaint in Egypt over  the intensification of  the suffering  there after he had already started on  his mission,and his questioning,in parshas Beha'aloscha, of God's ability to provide meat for the entire nation. Whatever the real reason,God did not wish to reveal it to the people at the time,and,therefore,through divine providence,.He brought about Moshe's mistake at Mei Merivah,so that the nation would not think that he was unjustly  barred from entering the land..

 

 

Correction: In Netvort to parshas Vaeschanan,a midrash is quoted as asking why Aharon merited to be buried in Eretz Yisroel while Moshe did not.This is in correct.The question of the midrash is why Yosef merited to be buried in EY while Moshe did not.