Chutzpah–Impudence, Unmitigated Gall, Spiritual Audacity, and Courage

Sources from essay by Rabbi Jan Katzew, PhD in The Mussar Torah Commentary

Death is the dominant theme in Parashat Chukat. The portion is a pivot point, a transition from the generation that experienced negative liberty (freedom from Egyptian slavery) to the generation that would experience positive liberty (freedom to worship God in the land of promise). Miriam the prophet and Aaron the priest die, and Moses learns that he will also die in the wilderness because of his impulsive act of defiance, an act of chutzpah against God.

-Rabbi Jan Katzew

He has sealed his faith and fate in just one verse, and perhaps in just a single word. Common wisdom may be that Moses's decision to strike the rock twice led to his ultimate demise. However, in this case, common wisdom is not Rabbinic wisdom. The Sages argue that rather than Moses's act of physical anger, his word of chutzpah, of impudence, of arrogating human authority to divine action, does him in. His fateful word is "we" – "Shall we get water for you out of this rock?" (Numbers 20:10). Moses, the same person Torah characterizes as the most humble person on earth, takes credit that is not his to take. In this respect at least, Moses is not unique— then or now. Humility and chutzpah, which on their surface appear to be on opposite ends of the moral scale, reside within the same person. Indeed, they reside within every person.

Chutzpah at its worst claims power that humans do not possess. By saying "we," Moses commits idolatry. He substitutes himself (and Aaron) for God, and he learns a painful, yet vital lesson that is as timely as it is timeless. We are not God. We are powerful. We can give and take life. We are co-creators of our world. However, when we claim to be responsible for actions that are beyond our control or even our influence, we imitate Moses and exhibit the vice of chutzpah.

-Rabbi Jan Katzew

Chutzpah is that quality enshrined in a man who, having killed his mother and father, throws himself on the mercy of the court because he is an orphan.

-Leo Rosten, The Joys of Yiddish

The Rabbis noted that the yetzer hara, often translated as "evil inclination," is not always
evil-that is, it is actually necessary for acts of procreation, building, and inventions; chutzpah, especialy in moderation, is good, even redemptive. "According to
Rav Nachman, chutzpah, even when it is toward God, is worthwhile." Rav Nachman
cited the case of Balaam, the pagan diviner, who was told by God not to go with Balak and his entourage (Numbers 22:12). Balaam refused to accept God's command, and due to his resistance, God relented. Balaam ended up accompanying Balak, yet he invoked God's blessing of the Children of Israel. Chutzpah is not necessarily wrong in Parashat Chukat either. The people's complaint that they have no water is both a chutzpadik rebellion and an entirely reasonable plea: after all, they are without water! Chutzpah is multifaceted and capable of being a vice and a virtue at the same time.

-Rabbi Jan Katzew

How are we supposed to know when chutzpah is a vice and when chutzpah is a virtue? For cogent responses, we need to look within us and between us. Looking within involves examining intention and reflection. What is motivating our chutzpah? Are we grandstanding and taking credit for work that is not of our own design? Mussar practice
involves looking within and looking around; chutzpah is an intrapersonal trait, and it is also an interpersonal trait. We can find chutzpah within us and also around us. Looking between us involves considering the impact of our chutzpah on other people–our family and our neighbors as well as the strangers among us. Are we taking up a cause that may not benefit us directly, but will give voice to someone who has been silenced? Our moral integrity, that is, our soul, is at stake. When we are chutzpadik (when we exhibit chutzpah), we should look inside us and ask, "Why am I doing this?" We should
look around us and ask, "Who is benefiting from my chutzpah?"

Moshe Rabbeinu is indeed our teacher when we learn from his example of chutzpah that has gone too far; and yet, we can also learn from Balaam that chutzpah has its place, an honorable place, in our moral repertoire. "Any virtue [including chutzpah] carried to an extreme can become a vice."

-Rabbi Jan Katzew

Questions to Ask

• When has chutzpah served you well? When has chutzpah served you ill? How do you understand the distinction and its rationale?

• Does chutzpah need to be cultivated or curbed in our culture? Why?

• Jews in general and Israelis in particular are often stereo- typed as chutzpadik. When might "Jewish (or Israeli) chutzpah" be utilized for good? How might it be a response to our history?

• Does God's punishment, causing Moses to die before entering the Land of Israel, fit Moses's crime of chutzpah? Explain.