The people were as if they were mourning evilly in the ears of Hashem, and Hashem heard and His anger flared up, and the fire of Hashem burned them.... The mixed multitude among them desired lust and then the people of Yisrael, too, began crying. They said, “Who will feed us meat?” (Bemidbar 11:1-4)
The Triple Chumash
The Torah is divided into five books which are the Chamishah Chumshei Torah. However, Chazal indicate that there are actually seven chumashim. About this it is written:
“Wisdom built her home; she hewed out her seven pillars.”
This is because Chumash Bemidbar divides up into three chumashim. The first is from the beginning until Vayehi Binso’a. The second is the passage of Vayehi Binso’a itself. And the third is from the sin of the complainers, the מתאוננים, until the end.
The first chumash describes the camp of the people of Yisrael when they left Egypt. The Torah depicts at length how the Jewish people was positioned around the Mishkan and the Aron. The Shechinah was in the center, and around it was the camp of the Levites, which consisted of the families of Gershon, Kehas, Merari and Moshe Rabbeinu. Further away, around the camp of the Levites, was the camp of the ordinary Jews, which itself consisted of four divisions: Yehudah, Reuven, Efraim and Dan.
The second chumash is, as we said, the passage of Vayehi Binso’a HaAron. It is demarked by two upside-down letters, the letter nun, one at the beginning of the passage and the other at the end. This designates it as a chumash on its own. It is considered a whole chumash even though it contains only two verses.
The third chumash, which speaks of the sins of the Jewish people in the Midbar, begins right after that, with the verses describing the sin of the complainers, and this is what we will now discuss.
Complaining is the Beginning of the End
This passage about the complainers is one is the deepest in the Torah. It is quite an amazing story.
“The people were as if they were mourning evilly in the ears of Hashem, and Hashem heard and His anger flared up, and the fire of Hashem burned them.... The mixed multitude among them desired lust.”
They had a desire for physical pleasures. “And then the people of Yisrael, too, began crying. They said, ‘Who will feed us meat?’”
They mentioned the various foods they used to eat in Egypt, which they missed having in the Midbar. We don’t know the exact translation of all the products they mentioned. They might not be the same ones we know today. But they did mention onions and garlic, and we definitely know what they are.
Then they said: “And now our souls are dry, there is nothing; we have only the Manna to look forward to.”
They complained that they had nothing to eat. There was only the Mon.
The Torah tells us what the Mon was like. It had the color of diamonds, because when light reflects off a diamond, one can see all the colors of the rainbow. Similarly, the Mon had all the flavors in the world. Furthermore, they didn’t actually have to grind it and cook it or bake it. Rashi explains that it tasted as if they cooked or baked it.
But the Jewish people didn’t want Mon. They wanted onions, garlic and meat.
Their desire for meat is itself puzzling. Rashi points out that they brought sheep and cattle with them when they left Egypt, and they did not consume them; they still had vast flocks when they entered Eretz Yisrael. Therefore, says Rashi, they were just looking for something to complain about. They were seeking an excuse to break away from Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
In other words, they had everything, but they were not satisfied. They were looking for something completely different. They wanted meat, onions and garlic. This is so amazing!
And how did Moshe respond to the request of the complainers?
“It was bad in the eyes of Moshe. Moshe said to Hashem, “Why did You deal badly with Your servant and why did I not find favor in Your eyes, that you placed the burden of all this people on me? ...I cannot bear on my own the burden of all this people because it is too heavy for me.”
Moshe Rabbeinu says he is quitting, so to speak. When he saw the Eigel Hazahav he did not quit. He handled the situation. He burned the Eigel, he cried out “Whoever is for Hashem, come to me!” and then he prayed to Hashem to have mercy on them. But here he pulls back. He feels he cannot bear it anymore. He says “Where will I get meat for this whole people?!” It’s too much for him.
And Hashem’s reply doesn’t urge him to carry on as he has until now. Hashem rather tells him to gather seventy elders who will share in bearing the burden of the people.
From here on until the end of Chumash Bemidbar, almost every parshah describes the sins of the Jewish people. Parshas Shelach has the sin of the Spies, Parshas Korach has the controversy instigated by Korach, Parshas Chukas has the story of Moshe hitting the rock, Parshas Balak describes at its end the sin committed by the people of Yisrael with the women of Moav.
From the sin of the complainers on, the Jewish people started moving in a different direction that nearly brought them to total ruin.
This deterioration begins in our parshah. Let’s understand what is at the root of it.
The Challenge of Constant Connection
The people asked for meat. Meat and milk have a common basis. Chazal say that meat is red because it is based on blood. And milk, too, is formed from blood. The blood undergoes a chemical transformation and transforms into milk.
So what’s the difference between meat and milk? Chazal say that when a baby is nourished by milk from its mother, it tastes in the milk the flavors of all the foods that the mother eats. This signifies that milk comes from the mother. But meat is completely different. You take a piece from the flesh of an animal and eat it.
In the first section of Bemidbar, the Torah describes the Jewish people, how they lived around the camp of the Shechinah. It was like one big family with the Shechinah in the center, and Moshe Rabbeinu led them according to the word of Hashem. So to speak, they were nurtured directly from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. When the people wanted to eat, they went to Moshe, and he told them that food comes from Hashem, and then Hashem brought down Mon for them to eat. When Hashem Himself gives the food, it has all the beauty and all the flavors.
This is the type of life that Hashem wanted for the Jewish people. They were to be nourished straight from Him.
Imagine that in our days, a person would come to the Rav, who is a great talmid chacham, and say, “I have a problem. Yesterday was Rosh Hashanah, and before the blowing of the shofar, my little child fell down, and I had to take him to the hospital, because his life was endangered. So I missed the whole mitzvah of shofar. Why should I lose out on the mitzvah of shofar?”
Then the Rav says, “Just wait a minute while I speak to Hashem,” and he comes back with the answer, “If you didn’t hear shofar, you can hear it on Tzom Gedaliah.”
We all know that it doesn’t work that way. A person needs to wait until next year for another chance to fulfill the mitzvah of shofar.
But it wasn’t like that with Moshe Rabbeinu. The first section of Bemidbar contains the passage of Pesach Sheini. There were some individuals who were unable to offer their Korban Pesach at the proper time, as they were ritually impure then, so they came and said: Why should we lose out on the mitzvah of Korban Pesach? Moshe asked them to wait while he asks Hashem, and came back with the answer that Hashem is giving them a second chance. There will be a second Pesach in just a month, and they can offer their korban at that time.
Moshe Rabbeinu brought all questions straight to Hashem, Who provided answers. This is how it is when life is lived directly around Hashem and nourishment comes straight from His table.
But the people felt it was too much for them. They wanted meat, not milk. They don’t want Mon. They don’t want to eat straight from Hashem’s table.
This may be compared to someone who was invited to be the guest of the Chasam Sofer for an extended period, during which he will eat all his meals with the Chasam Sofer himself, sleep in his home, etc. In short, he will be living with the Chasam Sofer. He says, “I want to go home! I could maybe handle one meal, but to live in the presence of the Chasam Sofer all the time is too much for me. I want to relax...”
This is what the Jewish people in the Midbar said: We don’t want Mon, we want other products, we want onions and garlic.
Not because these other products are tastier, but because Mon is angel food, and they didn’t want to live like angels. They didn’t want a life where the Rav is Moshe Rabbeinu and when there is a question, he asks Hashem. A life of direct connection to Hashem. They felt it was too much for them.
They wanted to live a “normal” life like human beings. At 9:00 AM you come to kollel, you learn all day, and at night you can unwind a little bit. So to speak, they said, “Let us live!”
They “desired lust.” They wanted to live a normal, this-worldly life. A slice of meat, onions, garlic and whatnot. Not life with Moshe and Aharon all the time.
Once I tried to offer an excellent bachur as a shidduch to a fine young lady whose father was a simple Jew. The father said to me: I am looking for a young man who is not a bum and also not the gedol hador. I am looking for a simple, regular guy as a son-in-law.
Similarly, the Jewish people were saying, “We want a slice of kosher meat, of course. We don’t want treif, no way! But to live in Hashem’s camp, that He should be our whole life – that’s too much.”
What Goes In Must Come Out
A little later on we find another complaint they had about the Mon. They said: “We are sick of this light bread.”
Rashi explains that the Mon absorbed completely into their bodies and no waste was excreted. They didn’t need to relieve themselves. The people thus complained that it is going to rot inside their innards, because what goes in must come out. They are going to get sick from it.
What did they mean? They had been eating Mon all along, and so far, so good. What were they worried about all of the sudden?
This was another form of the same complaint as before. Mon is food for angels. They complained that they were expected to live like angels. And someone who lives like an angel, in constant proximity to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, is expected to behave like an angel. He has to watch every word that comes out of his mouth. They wanted to live like normal people and not be held to such a high standard.
Seventy Elders to the Rescue
So what did Hashem do? He told Moshe to assemble seventy elders from among the people, and He will take the spirit that until now rested solely on Moshe, and extend it to them, too. Then they will help in bearing the burden of the people.
However, as Rashi comments, there was an arithmetical problem with this plan. There are twelve tribes, and if six elders are selected from each tribe, there will be two extra elders. 6 x 12 = 72. And Hashem said seventy, not seventy-two. Which tribes will accept less than fair representation?
The solution was to draw lots. Seventy-two elders were chosen, and each had to draw a lot. There were two blank lots, and whoever drew a blank lot had to go back home. He was not chosen to be among the elders.
There were two humble people, Eldad and Meidad, who were sure they will not be chosen because, “We are not fitting for this greatness,” to be among the leading elders of the generation. They drew the blank lots. But in truth, they were fitting to be among the chosen elders, and they started prophesying inside the camp, while all the others were with Moshe Rabbeinu at Ohel Mo’ed. What did they prophesize? “Moshe is going to die and Yehoshua will bring the Jewish people into the Land.”
Gershom, son of Moshe, came running and told his father: “Eldad and Meidad are prophesying in the camp” and saying that you will die and Yehoshua will bring the people into Eretz Yisrael!” Yehoshua urged Moshe to take action against Eldad and Meidad, but Moshe said “Are you being a zealot for me?” Moshe was saying that he would be happy if everyone would become prophets.
What was this story all about?
Hashem’s plan for the seventy elders was that they will lead the people according to Torah, but not that they will ever be able to say, like Moshe did, “Wait and I will hear what Hashem commands.”
