פרשת בהעלותך תש"ז - המתאווים

And they said unto Moses: ‘Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to bring us forth out of Egypt?

And Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.

Then said the LORD unto Moses: ‘Behold, I will cause to rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in My law, or not.

Wherefore the people strove with Moses, and said: ‘Give us water that we may drink.’ And Moses said unto them: ‘Why strive ye with me? wherefore do ye try the LORD?’ And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said: ‘Wherefore hast thou brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?’ And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying: ‘What shall I do unto this people? they are almost ready to stone me.’ And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Pass on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thy hand, and go.

And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He proved them;

And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying: ‘What shall I do unto this people? they are almost ready to stone me.’

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).

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).

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!”

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].

דרך שלשת ימים, they walked for a period of three days, not making camp until the end of the third day. Seeing that this had been very strenuous, the people began grumbling, as we know from Numbers 11,1, a phenomenon which also occurred in the last year of their wanderings and is recorded in Numbers 21,4. At that point the mood of the people is described as ותקצר נפש העם בדרך וידבר העם באלוקים ובמשה, “the people’s soul was restive on the journey and they spoke out against G’d and against Moses.”

כמתאוננים, on account of the difficulties of the journey. They did not actually complain in their hearts as they had nothing to complain about. They only voiced complaints as a form of testing G’d.

And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting; and the children of Israel also wept on their part, and said: ‘Would that we were given flesh to eat!

We remember the fish, which we were wont to eat in Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;

אשר נאכל במצרים חנם [WE REMEMBER THE FISH] WHICH WE DID EAT IN EGYPT FOR NOTHING — If you say that they meant that the Egyptians gave them fish for nothing (without payment), then I ask, “But does it not state, (Exodus 5:18): [Go, therefore, now, and work], for there shall no straw be given you”? Now, if they did not give them straw for nothing, would they have given them fish for nothing! — What then is the force of the word חנם? It means: free from (i.e. without us having been burdened with) heavenly commands (Sifrei Bamidbar 87).