11 And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. 3 So the name of that place was called Taberah,[a] because the fire of the Lord burned among them.
4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”
7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. 8 The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. 9 When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.
10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. 11 Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 14 I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”
— Numbers 11:1-15, English Standard Version
Sunday Scripture: The People Complain
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“And the rabble that was among them fell to craving; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said: ‘Who shall give us meat to eat?’” (Numbers 11:4). And Moses’ reaction? “And it was evil in the eyes of Moses” (v.10).
Rav Soloveitchik points out that Moses had already endured crises far worse than this one. The gravest had been the sin of the Golden Calf, when God nearly destroyed the nation. Yet Moses never panicked, never despaired, never abandoned his people. On the contrary, he defended them with courage and determination.
So what changed here?
“And Moses said to the Lord: Why have You dealt ill with Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your eyes, that You place the burden of all this people upon me? Did I conceive this entire people? Did I give birth to them, that You should say to me: Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries an infant?” (Numbers 11:11–12).
This sounds like the Moses of the beginning of Exodus — the inexperienced leader who complains: “Lord, why have You done evil to this people? Why did You send me?” (Exodus 5:22). But there, Moses had only just confronted Pharaoh for the first time. Why does the mature Moses suddenly despair now?
Let us analyze the situation. No one committed idolatry in the formal sense. No one murdered, stole, or violated the Torah’s prohibitions. There was no sexual chaos, no rebellion threatening Moses with stoning. On the surface, this was “only” desire — hence the name Kivrot HaTa’avah, “the graves of craving.” One might even call it a modern place: the graves of hedonism.
Unlike the sin of the Golden Calf, Rav Soloveitchik explains, the motivation here was entirely different. At the Golden Calf, the people acted out of fear. “For this Moses, the man who brought us up from Egypt, we do not know what has become of him” (Exodus 32:1). Ramban explains that they sought a replacement leader to guide them. The Kli Yakar adds that the mixed multitude feared that if Moses did not return, they themselves would be expelled from the camp. The people were anxious about uncertainty and abandonment.
But here there is another kind of idolatry — not idol worship itself, but the pagan mentality: the worship of appetite, of endless variety, of desire without boundaries and without satisfaction. “The people rose up all that day and all night and all the next day, and they gathered the quail; even the least gathered ten homers” (Numbers 11:32). By Rambam’s calculation, ten homers amount to over 2,000 liters.
This is not hunger. It is frenzy. No human being could consume such quantities. Rav Soloveitchik argues that one who rejects this principle of the discipline and restraint of desire is ultimately unworthy of entering the Land of Israel.
At that moment Moses understood that the story had reached its turning point. He immediately grasped the implication: “If this is how You deal with me, kill me now, if I have found favor in Your eyes, and let me not see my misery” (Numbers 11:15).
Now let’s wait 38 years untill we can enter the promised land. That generation is not fit and will need to die in the desert.
if you don’t mind, what is the Reform position on Genesis exigesis?
do you also think that Adam and Eve existed as spirits before the world was made and observed Yahweh botching creation? therefore, deciding to incorporate and “helping” God to repair the world?