RABBI MENACHEM FELDMAN (Chabad.org)
As the Jewish people leave Mount Sinai, after camping at the mountain for just short of a year, the trouble begins.
They have everything they need, they are protected from the elements by the clouds of glory, they drink water from the miraculous well, and they eat the mysterious “food from the heavens,” the manna.
And yet, they begin to complain. As the Torah relates:
But the multitude among them began to have strong cravings. Then even the children of Israel once again began to cry, and they said, “Who will feed us meat? We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free of charge, the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic. But now, our bodies are dried out, for there is nothing at all; we have nothing but manna to look at.” (11:4-6)
Moshe, the most patient and devoted leader, who stood by the people through thick and thin, who did not abandon them even when they committed the cardinal sin of serving the golden calf, throws his hands up in frustration:
Moshe said to the L‑rd, “Why have You treated Your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in Your eyes, that You place the burden of this entire people upon me? Did I conceive this entire people? Did I give birth to them, that You say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as the nurse carries the suckling,’ to the Land You promised their forefathers? Where can I get meat to give all these people? For they are crying on me, saying, ‘Give us meat to eat.’ Alone I cannot carry this entire people, for it is too hard for me. If this is the way You treat me, please kill me, if I have found favor in Your eyes, so that I not see my misfortune.” (11:11-15)
And G‑d listens.
When Moshe initially resisted assuming the leadership of the Jewish people, G‑d spent seven days cajoling him to accept. And here, without the slightest word of protest, G‑d accepts Moshe’s claim that he is incapable of leading the nation all alone:
Then the L‑rd said to Moshe, “Assemble for Me seventy men of the elders of
