Spiritually Inflated Egos[1]

The rabble that was among them craved for lust, and the Bnei Yisrael also wept again. They said, “Who will feed us meat?”^[2]

There is so much about this narrative that is difficult to understand. Their sin was great, but the punishment seems to be excessive. Gluttony is not a capital crime. What exactly was their “beef?” They were thriving on the mohn that descended from Heaven, that is said to be the food of the ministering angels. Boring, it was not. It tasted like anything a person wanted it to. Whatever the reason that they wanted meat, they were not living in a forced veggie environment; they had plenty of cattle of their own that could have supplied their supposed needs. What, exactly, does hisavu ta’avah/craved for lust imply? It gives the impression that they actually had no great desire for meat, but wished to feel that desire!

Most importantly, how trivial could they get? Even if the complaint began with the rabble, the mixed multitude of Egyptians who left Egypt with them, they had experienced so much uplift and connection to Hashem in the magical times after. Even if the shortcomings of the erev rav could be dismissed, their small-mindedness quickly infected the Bnei Yisrael named in our pasuk – the Jewish mainstream. How could that holy generation fall so low?

A short observation of the Sifrei opens up the topic for us. In the wake of the Bnei Yisrael’s crying for meat, Hashem chastises them, “Because you despised Hashem Who is in your midst.”^[3] Why underscore “in your midst?” The Sifrei says, “If I had removed My presence from your midst, you would never have gotten into such matters. (Rashi’s text is even clearer. “Had I not planted My presence among you, you would not have become so haughty as to get involved in such things.”) Chazal teach that the lofty madregah that Hashem propelled them to through bringing His presence close to them included a hazard. Rising to such heights could – and did – lead to gaavah and arrogance! We are people to be reckoned with, they declared! Is this any way to treat us? We deserve more, and better! Including the normal feelings of desire and fulfillment. This was nothing less than insurrection against Hashem’s providential ways.

The specifics of their demand were largely irrelevant. They were only a pretext. “Give us back normal desires! We don’t feel them when we are nurtured by this mohn You have provided.” Moshe understood all too well that they were not asking for satiety, but for hunger! Therefore his strange retort to Hashem is not strange at all. “Where shall I get meat to give to this entire people?”^[4] “Can sheep and cattle be slaughtered for them and suffice for them?”^[5] Moshe did not question Hashem’s ability to miraculously provide anything at all. The Bnei Yisrael had seen a non-stop parade of miracles since their last months in Egypt. There was no room for doubt.

Moshe’s point, however, was that even miracles couldn’t fill the people’s demands. If it were meat that they asked for, it could be found. But that is not what they wanted. They wanted desire and lust.

G-d responded, “Is the hand of Hashem limited?”^[6] He had a solution to the dilemma. He would give them meat, “Until an entire month of days, until it comes out of your nose, and becomes nauseating to you.”^[7] Like so often in life, the things we think we need the most turn into objects of revulsion.

They had wanted the experience of desire. Hashem arranged that this desire became despicable to them. When they called the place Kivros HaTaavah^[8]/the graves of lust, it was not just because of all who died there. Their lust, their taavah itself was buried there.

1. Adapted from Be’er Moshe, by the Ozherover Rebbe zt”l ↑
2. Bamidbar 11:4 ↑
3. Bamidbar 11:20 ↑
4. Bamidbar 11:13 ↑
5. Bamidbar 11:22 ↑
6. Bamidbar 11:23 ↑
7. Bamidbar 11:20 ↑
8. Bamidbar 11:34 ↑

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Date: June 13, 2025

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