By Tuvia Goldstein “We use our words and we don’t hit!” Those words, oft-cited by my mother in a house full of boys, are often the classic message derived from משה’s striking the rock and his subsequent punishment. This idea comes from none other than רש''י, who explains that משה’s great sin was in not abiding ה'’s directive of ודברתם אל הסלע. Since משה hit the rock instead, he and אהרן were punished, barring them from entering א"י. But is that really why they were punished?