פרשת בהעלותך תשכ"ג - תבערה

And the people were as murmurers, speaking evil in the ears of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and devoured in the uttermost part of the camp.

And Moses heard the people weeping, family by family, every man at the door of his tent; and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; and Moses was displeased.

And the people were as murmurers, speaking evil in the ears of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and devoured in the uttermost part of the camp.

כמתאננים — The term מתאננים denotes [people who seek] “a pretext” — they seek a pretext how to separate themselves from following the Omnipresent. Similarly is stated in the narrative of Samson, (Judges 14:4) “for he sought a pretext (תואנה) [against the Philistines]” (Sifrei Bamidbar 85).

And the people were like mitonenim: Ibn Ezra explained: "It is the same language as 'evil,' like it is used in the phrase 'your evil thoughts' (Jeremiah 4:14)...that is, they spoke evil words." But this is not correct. For why would the Torah hide their sin instead of telling us explicitly, like in every other place? The correct explanation seems to me to be that when they distanced themselves from Mount Sinai, which was almost like a permanent encampment, and then, after their first journey, found themselves in the vast terrifying wilderness, they made themselves uncomfortable. They said, "What will we do, how will we live in this wilderness? What will we eat and drink? How can we handle this oppression? When will we leave [this wilderness]? [Mitonenim, then] is like in the verse "What should a living man complain (yitonen) of? Each of his own sins" (Lamentations 3:39), meaning the pain and suffering one brings upon himself. Similarly, "the child of my pain (oni)," (Genesis 35:18); also in "The fisherman will lament (anu) and mourn" (Isaiah 19:8). Since the text says that the people were in pain and sorrow, it mentions and tells us their sin [explicitly], as they were speaking from the bitterness of their souls like people who are in pain do. And this was wicked in the eyes of God, for they should have followed Him with joy and good spirit from all of the good that God had bestowed upon them. Instead, they were like people being forced, like people in pain, like people who were annoyed at their poor situation. This is also why the Torah tells us a second time (in verse 4) that the Children of Israel returned and cried. Their first sin was that they were annoyed that they lacked enjoyable things in the wilderness. They then repeated this sin instead of receiving message of the fire of God that burned among them [after the first sin].

And the people were as murmurers, speaking evil in the ears of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and devoured in the uttermost part of the camp.

ויהי העם כמתאננים AND THE PEOPLE WERE COMPLAINING — The term העם “the people” always denotes wicked men. Similarly it states, (Exodus 17:4) “what shall I do unto this people (לעם הזה)? [yet a little and they will stone me]”, and it further states, ( 13:10) “This evil people [which refuses to hear my words]”. But when they are worthy men who are spoken of they are called עמי “My people”, as it is said, (Exodus 5:1) “Let My people go”; (Micah 6:3) “O My people, what have I done unto thee” (Sifrei Bamidbar 85).

רע באזני ה׳ means a pretext that was evil in the ears of the Lord, i.e., that they intended that it should reach His ears and that He might show annoyance. They said: “Woe unto us! How weary we have become on this journey: it is now three days that we have had no rest from the wearisomeness of the march!”