YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Beha'alotcha
Our Sedra is called "Parshat Ha’mito’n’im," the chapter of the complainers. After the nation has reached a true "high" – we were freed from Egypt, we received the Torah, we built & then dedicated the magnificent Mishkan – it all seems to break down. We go into depression, we find fault with our leaders - and, by extension - with G-d, & we start to practice that time-honored Jewish tradition: Kvetching.
We complain about the conditions of the desert; the lack of water; the shortage of meat; the taste of the miraculous Mahn. Even Miriam & Ahron get into the act when they complain to Moshe about his neglecting his wife Tzipora. We find fault with everyone & everything.
In fact, we don’t even need a specific reason to complain: The chapter (11) begins by simply saying, "The people complained; it was evil in the ears of Hashem; He became angry & He burned the people." Notice that this is BEFORE any specific grievances were lodged! There was just a general mood of discontent that gripped the nation.
Where did/does this dissatisfaction come from?
The answer, I suggest, can be found in two tiny, little words. When grousing about the mahn, the people say: "Our souls are parched, spoiled; ayn kol!" These last two words - "ayn kol" - can mean, "we have nothing." But it can also mean, "We don’t have everything!" And there is the key to it all.
If you believe that everything is coming to you, then the moment you don’t have something – be it a steak done exactly the way you like it, ice in your drink, the temperature a perfect 72(F) - 22(C) degrees (all pretty hard things to get in a desert!) – you forget about all the amazing blessings you DO have, & you focus only on what is missing. And then, invariably, you come up with a million & one faults in your own personal universe.
If this was a problem 2500 years ago, it is perhaps even more of a problem today. Our own souls are often "spoiled," too. We want everything to be perfect, & when it doesn’t quite go that way, we go ballistic, or we fall into moaning, groaning or depression. We suddenly forget all the beautiful gifts which Hashem sends our way every day, every second.
One of a Jew’s greatest tests is whether he will see himself deprived, or Divinely blessed. One attitude leads to a life of bitterness, the other to a life of bracha.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
Sukkot Bug-Free Sukkah: Essential Halachic and Practical Schach Guide
How to inspect, clean, and store bamboo mats and palm branches to protect your mitzvah and holiday meals.
Shoftim TESHUVA IN COURT OF LAW?
Parshat Shoftim-Chodesh Elul
Why does parshat Shoftim always come out during Elul? This innovative and central explanation is an eye-opener regarding many aspects of Judaism.
The Month of Elul TESHUVA IS THE ANSWER
The month of Elul serves as a vital time for self-reflection and personal accountability to prepare for true repentance.
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Realtor’s Fee on Large Commercial Building – part I
(based on ruling 85031 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 85031 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
P'ninat Mishpat Complaints about Contractor’s Work – part II
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
