If striking the rock was so awful, why was it okay so many years earlier? Why didn't Moses follow G-d's simple instructions? Why did this seemingly minor offense have such severe consequences?
The details differ (a tiger raised in a Brooklyn apartment, a circus lion losing it in the ring) but the basic story is the same: a large cat "suddenly" sheds its domesticated persona and... well, you don't want to be in its way when that happens
