The Ramban: His Take on Moshe and Aharon's Sin

 It is eye-opening to see how the Ramban relates to the Rambam's interpretation on the nature of Moshe and Aharon's sin in this week's parsha. Perhaps what's even more interesting is the sheer variety of opinions on what exactly Moshe and Aharon had done wrong, to cause them to be denied entry into the land. Particularly vitriolic though is the Ramban's attack on the Rambam: "He has added absurdity to absurdity," perhaps an apt translation for the usage here of Kohelet's refrain, הבל הבלים. The Ramban, in his commentary on the Rambam, writes, "הוסיף הבל להבלים," words that one perhaps wouldn't find nowadays in how Torah scholars on the highest of calibers relate to each other. 

Yet, for the Ramban, the question of why Moshe and Aharon were denied entry into the land of Israel was of supreme importance. "What sin could justify," asked the Ramban, and all of the Rishonim (the early scholars) for that mattter, "could be so grave that it would bring in tow a denial of the very raison d'être for which the Torah was given?" The land, whose sole purpose was the fruition of the Torah, should be denied to those who gave it to us?!

The Rambam, shares the Ramban, contends that the sin of anger was the root cause. The Ramban looks at the Torah narrative, and argues that textually that simply could not be true. Hashem says that Moshe and Aharon failed to "glorify his name" and "did not have full faith in me." Likewise, Hashem himself voices anger towards the behavior of the Jewish people, who had become intractable and rebellious, undermining His and Moshe's leadership. Furthermore, Aharon never showed any expression of anger whatsoever, and certainly, the Ramban argues, were Moshe to show any iteration of anger, the people would have certainly seen it as justified and recognized their errant ways. 

The Ramban, himself, shares that he views Rabbeinu Chananel's view to be closest to the truth - or most accurate. It was one word, the Ramban shares, that caused Moshe and Aharon to be denied entry into the land. "From this rock will we be able to bring forth water to you?!" Moshe and Aharon, relates the Ramban, should have said, "...will God bring forth water to you," and therein, he relates, lies their downfall. Had they had greater faith in Hashem, they would have worded their rhetorical question differently. They would have realized that the Jewish people's ways were not a reason to attack them but rather use the mention of divine providence, and kindness, and His glory, to help the people regain their footing, and get back on track. Rather, though, argues the Ramban, they put themselves first. They saw the Jewish people's failure to reach a higher level of faith as a failure on their own part, in a certain way not giving credence to the elevated stature of the Jewish people, a nation who will fall short, but who are always at their core, deep down inside vested more than anything in fulfilling Hashem's will. 

Perhaps the Ramban's outlook was that a leader's greatest flaw is not realizing how great his followers are, causing him, in his capacity as the leader, to second guess whether he is up for the task.