top of page

Shabbos Parashas Beha'alosecha - 5777

Shabbos Parashas Beha'alosecha - 5777

Rabbi Hal Miller

The rabble that was among them cultivated a craving, and the children of Israel also

wept once more, and said, "Who will feed us meat?" [Bamidbar 11:4]

Ramban asks an obvious question. Some of the tribes had an abundance of cattle, sheep,

goats, flocks of various birds, etc. Not everybody eats meat every day. Certainly they had

meat. Who was it who cried this cry, and what did they really want?

A close look at our verse shows that it was the Jews who spoke this question, not the

rabble of non-Jews. Were they put up to this? That is what the first part of the verse seems

to be saying.

Rav Hirsch sees that this is not a matter of nutrition. In the next verse, the people talk about

fruits and vegetables that they claimed they had in abundance in Egypt. These foods are not

as nutritious or necessary as are the proteins of meat, yet they ask to go back to such a diet.

He puts words in the mouths of the people, "what we lack are the tasty stimulating foods that

excite the appetite. The complete monotony makes it unbearable." But since we know that

the manna tasted like whatever you wanted it to taste like, this argument also fails to explain.

Nechama Leibowitz reminds us that this was asked by the people who witnessed G-d's power

in Egypt, who were rescued from slavery, who were saved at the Reed Sea, and who had

been sustained for quite some time in an uninhabitable desert. They knew they had food that

was capable of sustaining them. They had to be asking something other than what the simple

meaning of the words indicates.

Sforno says that our answer comes from Tehillim 78:18, "And they tested G-d in their

hearts by asking for food for their cravings." But what is this food, and what are the cravings?

Ramban tells us that it means physical pleasure. The rabble in particular had been accustomed

to the material in Egypt, and was more interested in returning to that than in being with G-d.

Their cry made sense to the Jews, who knew no better, and were convinced by these non-Jewish

neighbors to join them in lust for the physical. Eventually, this became a lust for the forbidden,

which is the root of rebellion. It wasn't food they wanted, but immersion in the forbidden, the

physical, the sexual, the material pleasures. Thus the question.

Featured Posts
Check back soon
Once posts are published, you’ll see them here.
Recent Posts
Search By Tags
Follow Us
  • Facebook Classic
  • Twitter Classic
  • Google Classic
bottom of page