Parashat B'Haalos'cha

THOUGHTS FOR PARASHAS B'HAALOS'CHA 5755
(by Rav Moshe Friedman, Executive Vice-President of Ner Yisroel Yeshiva of Toronto)

"We remember the fish which we have eaten in Egypt for free." (11:5)

The Eirev Rav succeeded once again in convincing B'nei Yisroel to turn from the righteous path. They caused them to join in this disgraceful act of voicing displeasure with the manna. No doubt the Eirev Rav were cunning, glib and highly sophisticated in their evil work. However, the question arises how could B'nei Yisroel after witnessing what the Eirev Rav accomplished in bringing about the sin of the Golden Calf, a transgression that resulted in catastrophic consequences for which we suffer till this very day; be fooled and misguided by these very same people? When one purchases a product and finds that he was cheated he does not continue to deal with those same people. How could these tzaddikim who received the Torah a year earlier and were so intelligent that Chazal refer to them as the "wise generation", allow themselves to once again be fooled by these same charlatans?

Secondly, the premise of their complaint that they ate fish in Egypt and it also was free borders on the absurd and ridiculous. Many Midrashim state that the fish they were given was old and had a putrid odour. The Ramban zt"l says that fish in Egypt was plentiful and as slaves they were permitted to eat fish according to will. Even according to this opinion, it is preposterous to term this pleasure "free" for at best of times they were engaged in back breaking work and lived in horrendous conditions. Let us not forget that for the last two generations they were at the apex of harsh servitude. Can this be termed "free"? Grammarians also ask why the word "Nochal" (we will eat) was written as opposed to the past tense, "Ochalnu" (we ate)?

In order to grasp the complexities of this subject we must focus on two distinct issues. One, what was the underlying cause that upset the rabble rousers? Two, how were they able to convey to others their erroneous philosophy?

I recall seeing a magnificent thought brought in a sefer called Yalkut HaGeirshuni. It is written in M'gillas Esther, "and the city of Shushan was confused". (1) When the Jews learned of the evil decree that every man woman and child would be killed on the 13th day of Adar they were understandably shocked and pained. To describe the events of the day should not the verse have said the inhabitants of the city were in pain and sorrow, rather than perplexed? The answer is that after partying with the king (who even provided kosher food l'mhadrin) and the elite of the Persian people, the Jewish citizenry of Shushan were convinced that they were an accepted entity of Persian culture with the same rights and privileges as their friends and neighbors. In addition, since the queen was a fine Jewish woman and Mordechai, a member of the Sanhedrin, was a prominent minister in the king's court, this further enhanced their feelings of security and acceptance. Therefore, they felt betrayed and were confused by the startling turn of events.

Perhaps a similar position was being expressed here. They reflected upon the living conditions in Egypt and thought that change for the better was imminent. They remembered how they were allowed to rest on Shabbos and that the tribe of Levi was not included in the servitude. These people were 4th generation slaves. Surely many of their masters and their children voiced sentiments such as "some of my best friends are Jews!". They rightfully recalled how the Jews were assimilating into the Egyptian lifestyle. They were correct in their assumption because we are taught by Chazal that had they remained in Egypt for one more second they would have been absorbed into Egyptian culture forever. This is why they intoned "Nochal", in the future tense, to illustrate this concept, that we were about to eat fish just like the other Egyptians.

In our day and age we too are confronted with misguided liberals who are convinced that the instant we declare peace with our sworn enemies be it the P.L.O., Syria, Jordan, etc., we will all live happily ever after. Some also have a misconception and remember falsely the history of the Middle East and how all peoples in the region lived in harmony like doves prior to the Six Day War and even before Israel was declared a state in 1948.

S'forim explain in various ways that B'nei Yisroel asked for meat with good intentions as opposed to the Eirev Rav. Some say that they wanted free choice in order to overcome their desire and temptation (for food) and thus to elevate themselves to loftier levels. (2) The Eirev Rav when speaking to B'nei Yisroel no doubt spoke piously about noble ideas and sprinkled their words with holy and pure sounding phrases. The B'nei Yisroel should have been cognizant of the trap and not paid any attention to these wicked scoffers. Therefore, they were punished. Many times we are confronted with a decision whether to join in certain noble causes that do beneficial work, yet its leadership do not necessarily believe in Torah and mitzvos as we do. Conceivably, this is what Shlomo Hamelech alluded to when he said "My son do not go in their path". (3) In T'hillim his father, Dovid Hamelech, says that "path" denotes mitzvos, as it is written "I shall run vigorously in the path of your commandments". (4) Said Shlomo Hamelech, "My son, do not participate with them even in doing good deeds."

Footnotes

(1) 3:15.
(2) It says in S'forim that this is what is meant by (11:4) "they craved a craving", that they craved to have a craving in order to break their desires. It also says in S'forim that they thought that the main reason for eating was in order to raise the mundane status of the food to something of holiness ("maaleh nitzotzos") but because the food was from Heaven, that it could not be raised in any manner. Other kabbalistic explanations are found as well.
(3) Mishlei 1:15.
(4) T'hillim 119:32.