Originally from ADR and the Law - 20th Edition

Preview Page

After the exodus from Egypt, Moses and the Jewish people spent 40 years in the Sinai Desert as they made their way to the Promised Land. While in the desert, God instructed Moses to talk to a rock so that water would emerge to assuage the thirst of those in the desert. Yet, Moses was impatient and instead hit the rock with his staff. As punishment, God told Moses that he would not be allowed to complete his journey and enter Israel. Moses, who spent much of his life delivering the Jewish people, desperately wanted to see the land. After discussion, Moses and God settled on this compromise: Moses would be allowed to stand on top of a mountain and God would show him all the beauty of the land. 
This exchange is considered one of the earliest examples of compromise in Judaism. To this day, the traditional Jewish position is that compromise is preferred over litigation as a means to resolve conflicts.  The American legal system has also employed processes in which disputes may be settled in ways other than court-imposed judgment.  Such processes are called alternative dispute resolution (ADR).