#740: Ends and Means
Rashi on Parashat Hukkat, Bamidbar/Numbers 20:11
וַיָּ֨רֶם מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶת־יָד֗וֹ וַיַּ֧ךְ אֶת־הַסֶּ֛לַע בְּמַטֵּ֖הוּ פַּעֲמָ֑יִם וַיֵּצְאוּ֙ מַ֣יִם רַבִּ֔ים וַתֵּ֥שְׁתְּ הָעֵדָ֖ה וּבְעִירָֽם׃
And Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Out came copious water, and the community and their beasts drank.
Gimme Some Torah #740
The Florentine diplomat and philosopher Niccoló Macchiavelli is often quoted as having said that “the ends justify the means.” Although he never actually said those words, that is an accurate characterization of his thoughts on the matter:
“In judging policies, we should consider the results that have been achieved through them, rather than the means by which they have been executed.”
This is just one quotation that expresses favor on the nefarious acquisition of power. In Machiavelli’s opinion, the superiority of trickery and brute force over other conflict resolution strategies is manifest. Hence one of his other quotable thoughts: “When the act accuses, the result excuses.”
Sometimes, Moses acts as a kind of anti-Macchiavelli. On many occasions, he talks God out of wiping out the entire people and starting over with him. But in Num. 20:11, Moses falls victim to the siren song of Macchiavellian thought when he hits the rock twice to collect its water rather than speak to it as God told him to. Why did he hit the rock twice rather than once? Here is Rashi’s answer:
[HE STRUCK THE ROCK] TWICE, because at the first attempt it did not bring forth more than a few drops, for God had not commanded him to strike it, but He had said, (v. 8) “and you shall speak to the rock”. They had, indeed, spoken, but to a different rock (not that which God had intended) and it had not given forth water. They said, “Perhaps it is necessary to strike it as on the former occasion when it says, (Exodus 17:6) ‘and you shall strike the rock’, and just that rock intended by God happened to be there and they struck it [but without full effect, and so they smote it a second time] (cf. Midrash Tanhuma, Hukkat 9).
The idea of the ends justifying the means is so alluring. Like many husbands, I do not load the dishwasher in the approved, space-efficient matter. My policy is “If the machine closes, it is loaded correctly.” Of course my way of getting the job done is wrong, but it is way easier than using my non-existent Tetris skills to do it right.
Those who seek power at all costs routinely use immoral means to reach their desired ends. Macchiavellianism may indeed promote the achievement of short term goals, but it does so at an exorbitant moral cost. It is antithetical to ideas like democracy and civil rights.
A world governed by Macchiavellianism would destroy itself in short order.
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I am the rabbi of Temple Beth El in Somerset, New Jersey, and the author of The JPS Jewish Heritage Torah Commentary.