Two Minute Torah Podcast

B'haaloteha 5769 by Michelle Kaman

Welcome to another edition of KOACH's Two Minute Torah podcast, a project of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, parsha Beha'alotcha. This is Michelle Kaman, KOACH Field Worker.

Play dough was a big thing in my house growing up. My mom would make it from four, salt, and water, cover the table with a big vinyl table cloth and place a ball onto the table in front of each my sister and myself. Without fail, we would complain about their unequal amounts and drive my mom crazy. We each had to have more than the other.

My sister and I had the same attitude as the Israelites in Baha'alotcha. There they were wandering in the desert with plenty of food to sustain them. Manna, according to Numbers 11:8, “tasted like rich cream,” and some commentaries suggest that it tasted however the consumer wished. So why then did the Israelites complain about their lack of meat? Our ancestors cried out, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat free in Egypt.” Numbers 11: 4,5. And then they have the nerve to add, “Oh, Why did we ever leave Egypt!” This is a classic case of the grass is always greener on the other side. There's an interesting commentary in Etz Hayim, page 828, that says, “Why did the people complain about the manna, when the Torah makes a point of telling us how delicious it was? To feel prosperous, it is not enough for a person to have everything that is needed. One must have more than one's neighbors have. The manna was psychologically unsatisfying because everyone had it in abundance.”

What happens next to the Israelites who complained is drastic. They receive the meat that they wished for in great quantity. Numbers 11:33- “The meat was still between their teeth, nor yet chewed, when the anger of the Lord blazed forth against the people with a very severe plague.” They had to have it all and they were punished for their greediness.

Baha'alotcha teaches us that we need to appreciate the things that we have. We should be grateful and not greedy. Rather than complain, we should say thank you for our ball of dough, our gift of manna, and not look back and wish that we had something else that we thought was better. Was being a slave and having fish in Egypt really so great? I don't think so.