What was wrong with the manna?

Imagine a poor person who had no access to any source of food. This person’s situation was so dire that not only was he feeling hunger pains, but he had also fallen into a state of despair about where his next meal or any meal after that might be coming from. But…then someone came along and gave him food to eat, and it wasn’t for just one day that he received this gift, his benefactor actually provided him with food every day for a year. The appropriate response for someone who is essentially rescued from starvation would be to feel a tremendous sense of gratitude for the kindness he was shown. He should be thanking his benefactor profusely, right? 

Well, in Parshat Behaalotecha, the Israelites are in this exact same situation, and instead of showing gratitude to God for sustaining them, they react in a way that’s not only disrespectful, but also completely illogical. 

Rejecting God’s benevolence

Let’s just recap the story to see what I mean: The Israelites are trekking through the desert where they have no access to food, and where God is providing manna for them to eat. Yet, despite God’s kindness, the people start to complain, saying “מִי יַאֲכִלֵנוּ בָּשָׂר” – If only we had meat (Number 11:4). How could the people be so ungrateful and disrespectful? They had no food and no access to food, and God is giving them manna to keep them alive, but that’s not good enough. When you read these words, it seems like they feel they should get whatever they want. But why don’t they want the manna? 

Dissatisfaction warps the mind

Not only are they acting inappropriately and disrespectfully by complaining, but it seems like their dissatisfaction with the manna is so strong that it’s actually warping their memory about Egypt, because look at what they say next: זָכַרְנוּ אֶת־הַדָּגָה אֲשֶׁר־נֹאכַל בְּמִצְרַיִם חִנָּם – We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for free…” (Numbers 11:6). And later the people are quoted as saying, “כִּי־טוֹב לָנוּ בְּמִצְרָיִם” – “It was good for us in Egypt” (Numbers 11:18). It was terrible in Egypt! Have they simply forgotten the torturous slavery and their children who were thrown in the Nile? Why are they looking at their time in Egypt through such rose colored glasses now? 

Check out this video to get a fascinating glimpse into what really lies behind the Israelites’ complaints. In the video, Rabbi Fohrman looks at an earlier precedent in Biblical history when humanity rejected food that God provided directly to them. The parallels between these two instances are striking and will open your eyes to a new way to understand Parshat Behaalotecha and human desire in general. Subscribe now to see the powerful insights Aleph Beta’s methodology reveals and be inspired by the beauty of Torah.

Parshat Behaalotecha in a Nutshell

Parshat Behaalotecha contains a collection of various vignettes and laws. The parsha begins with the law of lighting the menorah in the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and then describes the consecration rituals for the Levites. The laws of Pesach Sheni, the “make up” date for Passover, are given in this parsha. Next, Behaalotecha discusses the Israelites’ travel procedures, including the Divine signs dictating their travels, the chatzrotrot (trumpets) which communicated the call for the people to travel, and the order in which the Israelites broke camp. 

Moshe invites his father-in-law, Yitro, to join the nation, and then the Israelites march onward with the Aron (Ark) leading the way. At this point, if you were to look into the Sefer Torah, you would find two inverted Hebrew letter nuns. This signifies what the Sages term, “a new book in the Torah.” This transition point is significant because after this, the fate of this generation of Israelites begins to slide downhill. 

Complainers arise, evoking a Divine response. The people express their dissatisfaction with the manna, the heavenly bread which sustained the nation throughout their travels in the desert. Moshe reacts with despair over having to deal with the entire nation himself. God instructs him to appoint 70 elders who will help to shoulder some of the burden. Two of those elders, Eldad and Meidad, publicly prophesize in the camp. God ultimately responds to the people’s complaints and sends swarms of quail to cover the ground and while the people are still chewing on their meat, God kills the complainers. 

The parsha ends with the story of Miriam and Aharon challenging Moshe’s special prophetic status. God confirms Moshe’s unique level of prophecy. As a result of the incident, Miriam is afflicted with tzara'at (biblical skin disease).