Semester 1, Test 1 Numbers 10-11
The Encampment
There are two different opinions as to how the B'nei Yisrael traveled through the desert:
• They traveled in the same way they camped, in the box
• They moved one tribe at a time, in a line
The Upside-down Nun 's
• to represented an inverted destiny (yeud hafukh)
• Hazal explain that all of Sefer be'Midbar is divided into three smaller books
▪ Chapters 1-10
▪ The two verses between the reverse nun's
▪ Chapter 11-the end of be'Midbar
The Sin of the Mithonnenim
א
םיננאתמכ םעה יהיו
,
ינזאב ער
הוהי
;
הוהי עמשיו
,
ופא רחיו
,
רעבתו
-הוהי שא םב
,
ה
ב כאתו
ה!נ "חמה.
1
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.
Question: Why were the B'nei Yisrael complaining? (What does the word thoanah mean?)
Rashi The to distance themselves from the Torah and the B'nei Yisrael wanted to find a pretext (alilahmitzvoth) to complain as an excuse . They complained about the long, hard journey.
The Tabernacle
Moses, Aaaron, and their
families
Qehath Gershon
Merari
Efrayim
Manasseh Benjamin
Reuven, Simon, Gad
Dan, Naftali, Asser
Judah
Ramban The word thoanah refers to the fact that they felt bad for themselves, and
they used that emotion to complain about something.
Seforno
The B'nei Yisrael complained to test God — they wanted to check if God would listen (or respond) to their complaint, or even if there was a God at all.
Question: What was the B'nei Yisrael's sin?
Rashi
They wanted to separated from God and the Torah, so they used the fact that the journey was so long and hard as a way to separate themselves and leave Judaism.
Ramban They didn't serve God with happiness.
Seforno They committed the sin of not testing God.
Nehama Leibowitz explains that these three sins are actually three general types of complaints that everyone, in essence, complains about:
• the pretext: we don't want to be so Jew-y.
• The long road: it's hard being Jewish.
• Testing God: We want God to reveal Himself to us.
Question: Who did the eish ha'sereifah actually kill? • The physically large people
• The rich people
• The evil ones
• The leaders
ב
םעה ע יו
,
!א
-ה !שמ
;
לפתיו
!א ה !שמ
-הוהי
,
שאה ע שתו
.
2
And the people cried unto Moses; and
Moses prayed unto the LORD, and the fire
abated.
ג
םש אר יו
-אוהה םו מה
,
הרעבת
:
יכ
-םב הר"עב
,
שא
הוהי.
3
And the name of that place was called
Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burnt
among them.
Rashi:
• Question: Why did the nation themselves not pray to God—why did they ask Moses to do it instead?
• Answer: They knew that God would listen to Moses, not to them.
The Sin at Kivrtoh ha'Taavah
ד
ובר ב ר !ש "א ף (ספסאהו
,
הו"את
;
וכביו וב (שיו
,
ארשי ינב םג
,
ורמאיו
,
רשב ונ כ "אי ימ
.
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!
ה
ונרכז
,
ת!א
-הגדה
,
ר!ש"א
-כאנ
םיר מב
,
םנח
;
םיא (שקה תא
,
תאו
םיחטב "אה
,
ת !או
-ת !או רי ח !ה
-םי בה
,
ת!או
-םימושה
.
5
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;
ו
השבי ונשפנ התעו
,
כ ןיא
--ית ב
,
!א
-וניניע ןמה
.
6
but now our soul is dried away; there is
nothing at all; we have nought save this
manna to look
to.'--The asafsuf were the first ones to complain, and then the rest of the B'nei Yisrael joined in. The word “asafsuf” is a milah manhah1, a repeating word. Here, the B'nei Yisrael are complaining because:
• they want to return to Egypt
• they want food that isn't the manna
• they want a life were everything is free (hinam)
• they want someone else to do all their work
• they want to see God provide them with everything they need We can see a progression as to how the B'nei Yisrael complained:
The asafsuf Hitavu taavah An emotion
The B'nei Yisrael
va'yivku Still emotional
Va'yomru They take their emotions and put them into action.
The idyllic Egypt: According to Nehama Leibowitz, the B'nei Yisrael, like everyone else in the world, has a selective memory, or a zikharon seleqtivi — we only remember what we chose to remember, and we bend our memories to help our arguments. We can see the B'nei Yisrael's selective memory here in the various commentaries:
• Ramban: When the B'nei Yisrael were working as slaves to the Egyptians, they would sometimes take food from the fields, etc., and eat it for free. The B'nei Yisrael chose to remember this, as opposed to the fact that the only reason they were able to get this food was that they were slaves and they just so happened to catch their masters' good graces.
• Rashi: The word “hinam” refers to freedom from the mitzvoth, which they believed were holding them back.
The Manna
ז
ןמהו
,
ערזכ
-אוה דג
;
וניעו
,
ח דבה ןיעכ
.
7
Now the manna was like coriander seed, and the
appearance thereof as the appearance of bdellium.
The description of the manna is a good example of the three basic types of complaints (toanoth): Something that we know about and chose to
ignore
The B'nei Yisrael recognize the manna for its qualities
Something that someone already has The B'nei Yisrael already had the manna
It seems that what a person has isn't enough The it seems like they are complaining about B'nei Yisrael say וניניע ןמה- !א ,ית ב, so that something spiritual, not physical.
Question: How does the description of the manna differ in Shemoth and in be'Midbar?
Shemoth be'Midbar
color Bedolah (crystal) Lavan (white
Shape (tzurah) Circular (khi'zroah gad)
Taste (taam) Fried in oil (be'shemenmethugan ) Wafer in honey (be'dvash)tzapihit
texture ---- Rough-edged, thick (mekhuspas) daq,
smell
----There does not seem to be any apparent smell or color to the manna.
ח
ונ "חטו וט
ו םעה וטש
םיחרב
,
הכדמב וכד וא
,
ו שבו
רורפב
,
תוג(ע ותא ושעו
;
היהו
ומעט
,
ן !משה דש םעטכ
.
8
The people went about, and gathered it, and
ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and
seethed it in pots, and made cakes of it; and
the taste of it was as the taste of a cake baked
with oil.
ט
ע טה ת !ד !רבו
-ה!נ "חמה
,
ה י
,
ןמה דרי
,
וי ע
.
9
And when the dew fell upon the camp in the
night, the manna fell upon
it.--י
ה !שמ עמשיו
*
ת !א
-םעה
,
ה !כב
ויתחפשמ
--שיא
,
ו 7הא חת !פ
;
רחיו
-דאמ הוהי ףא
,
יניעבו
ער ה!שמ.
10
And Moses heard the people weeping,
family by family, every man at the door of his
tent; and the anger of the LORD was kindled
greatly; and Moses was displeased.
*Rashi:
family”?
• Answer: to gain support of their complaint, the people who actually wanted to complain told their families in an effort to gain support.
Sifthei Hakhamim (on Rashi above ↑)
• Question: Why did the B'nei Yisrael not complain until now?
• Answer: Each of the original complainants were dispersed amongst the tribes; since the encampment was divided according to tribes, this made it very hard for them to gather a following and formally complain to Moses.
אי
!א ה !שמ ר !מאיו
-הוהי
,
המ
ך !דבע תער "ה
,
אל המ ו
-ית מ
ןח
,ךי!ניעב
:םוש
,ת!א
-א;מ
כ
-ה !ז-ה םע-ה
--י ע
.
11
And Moses said unto the LORD:
'Wherefore hast Thou dealt ill with Thy
servant? and wherefore have I not found
favour in Thy sight, that Thou layest the
burden of all this people upon me?
בי
יתירה יכנא!ה
,כ תא
-םעה
ה !זה
--םא
-יכנא
,והיתד י
:יכ
-ך ! יחב והאש י א רמאת
,
ת !א ןמאה א;י ר !ש "אכ
-ניה
,ע
המד"אה
,ויתב "א תעבשנ ר !ש "א
.
12
Have I conceived all this people? have I
brought them forth, that Thou shouldest say
unto me: Carry them in thy bosom, as a
nursing-father carrieth the sucking child, unto
the land which Thou didst swear unto their
fathers?
גי
רשב י ןיאמ
,
כ תת
-םעה
ה !זה
:יכ
-רמא י ע וכבי
,
הנת
-ה כאנו רשב ונל.
13
Whence should I have flesh to give unto all
this people? for they trouble me with their
weeping, saying: Give us flesh, that we may
eat.
די
אל
-ידב יכנא כוא
,
תאש
ת!א
-כ
-ה!זה םעה
:דבכ יכ
,ינ !ממ.
14
I am not able to bear all this people myself
alone, because it is too heavy for me.
וט
םאו
-תא הככ
-יל ה !שע
,
ינגרה
גרה אנ
--םא
-ןח יתא מ
,
ךי!ניעב
;או
-ה!אר!א
,יתערב
.
15
And if Thou deal thus with me, kill me, I
pray Thee, out of hand, if I have found favour
in Thy sight; and let me not look upon my
wretchedness.'
Moses' Response
Question: Why was Moses so mad, anyway?
Rabbi Leibtag: Moses answered everything that he could, but felt that he had failed in leading them effectively. Thus, God gave Moses the 70 sages. The last time that Moses pleaded on behalf of the
an absence of spirituality2, but now they are missing something physical3, which Moses cannot
comprehend. It is this lack of comprehension that led Moses to respond the way he did. Moses was on such a high level of spirituality that he was unable to understand how the B'nei Yisrael could understand why they would complain about something physical.
The Nanny/Baby Imagery
Here, we can see Moses' two different complaints:
• he has not meat to feed the B'nei Yisrael
• he feels that he could effectively lead the B'nei Yisrael
It is important to note that Moses phrases the B'nei Yisrael's complaint as purely about meat — there is never a mention that they might be testing God (as an ulterior motive to the complaint), but God's response (below) shows that God knows what's really going on here. Additionally, this imagery emphasizes Moses' aloneness in his leading the B'nei Yisrael. He seems to occupy the role of the mater, the father, and the nanny. We can also see that this is the first time that Moses actually complains about his own situation — in regards to the sin of the Golden Calf, Moses wants God to simply erase his name from the Torah; here, Moses actually wants help in leading the B'nei Yisrael.₰
Question: What are the B'nei Yisrael really complaining about, anyway?
Nehama Leibowitz: They seem to be complaining about the amount of self-control4 they must exercise
because of the Torah and the mitzvoth. After they received the Torah, the B'nei Yisrael had to exercise tremendous amounts of self-control in every aspect of their lives — food, sex, prayer, everything — that they didn't have to exercise in Egypt, when they were slaves. Moses understood this, which ties into why he was so angry with the B'nei Yisrael after they complained.
זט
!א הוהי ר !מאיו
-ה!שמ
,
הפס!א
-ינ זמ שיא םיעבש יל
ארשי
,
תעדי ר!ש"א
,
יכ
-ינ ז םה
וירטשו םעה
;
!א םתא תח
ו
-דעומ !הא
,
=מע םש וב>יתהו
.
16
And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Gather
unto Me seventy men of the elders of Israel,
whom thou knowest to be the elders of the
people, and officers over them; and bring
them unto the tent of meeting, that they may
stand there with thee.
זי
יתדריו
,
םש ךמע יתרבדו
,
ןמ ית או
-ךי! ע ר !ש "א חורה
,
ם !הי "ע יתמשו
;
ךתא ואשנו
םעה א;מב
,
אלו
-התא א;ת
ך !דב .
17
And I will come down and speak with
thee there; and I will take of the spirit which
is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and
they shall bear the burden of the people with
thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
2 ינחור רסוח
3 ימשג רסוח
God's Response #1: The 70 Sages
Question: Why would the 70 Sages help?
Ramban: Although the 70 Sages couldn't possibly give the B'nei Yisrael meat, but will instead help lead the B'nei Yisrael.
Rashi: This was a response to Moses' second complaint, not his first (that he cannot supply the B'nei Yisrael with food). According to Rashi, there already were 70 Sages, but they were destroyed in the fire at Taveirah (see above for the other possible definitions for ketzeh). They were punished because they ate and drank during the giving of the Torah (Mathan Torah); God waited until now to punish them because he didn't want to spoil a happy occasion.
Question: Why does it say the word “ath”?
Rashi: According to Rashi, the word ath refers to Moses, not to God. This is an interesting interpretation, because Moses is a male, whereas this adjective is in its feminine form, and there are times in the Torah that God is referred to using female adjectives and feminine forms of verbs.
Ramban: The Ramban cannot possibly understand how Rashi can arrive at such an outlandish conclusion. According to the Ramban, the only times that feminine adjectives/verbs are used in connection with God is with God's midath ha'din, his judgment persona. According to the Ramban, Moses is asking God to act with his judgment persona toward the B'nei Yisrael.
חי
!או
-ושד תה רמאת םעה
רחמ
,
רשב ם !ת כ "או
--יכ
ימ רמא הוהי ינזאב ם !תיכב
רשב ונ כ "אי
,
יכ
-ונ בוט
םיר מב
;
רשב ם !כ הוהי ןתנו
,
ם!ת כ"או.
18
And say thou unto the people: Sanctify
yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat
flesh; for ye have wept in the ears of the
LORD, saying: Would that we were given
flesh to eat! for it was well with us in Egypt;
therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye
shall eat.
טי
ןו כאת דח !א םוי אל
,
אלו
םימוי
;
םימי השמ "ח אלו
,
אלו
םימי הרש"ע
,
אלו
,
םוי םירש !ע
.
19
Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor
five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;
כ
םימי ש !דח דע
,
ר!ש"א דע
-א י
ם !כפאמ
,
ם !כ היהו
,
ארז
:
ןעי
,
יכ
-ת !א ם !-תסאמ
-ר!ש"א הוהי
ם !כבר ב
,
רמא וינפ וכבתו
,
םיר ממ ונא י ה !ז המ .
20
but a whole month, until it come out at your
nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you; because
that ye have rejected the LORD who is among
you, and have troubled Him with weeping,
saying: Why, now, came we forth out of
Egypt?'
אכ
ר !מאיו
,
ה !שמ
,
שש
י גר ף! !א
,
יכנא ר!ש"א םעה
ובר ב
;
תרמא התאו
,
ןת !א רשב
ם !ה
,
ו כאו
,
םימי ש !דח
.
I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot;
and yet Thou hast said: I will give them flesh,
that they may eat a whole month!
בכ
ם !ה טחשי ר בו ןא "ה
,
ם !ה א מו
;
ת!א םא
-כ
-םיה יגד
ם!ה ףסאי
,
ם !ה א מו
.
22
If flocks and herds be slain for them, will
they suffice them? or if all the fish of the sea
be gathered together for them, will they suffice
them?'
The Selav
• the height of the selav was about up to a normal person's chest.
• There were so many selav that one could walk a day's distance in any given direction and would still find the bird. There were so many selavim that the B'nei Yisrael were able to collect them for two whole days, plus one more night. The selav was so plentiful that it was like a carpet5
over the desert.
גכ
!א הוהי ר !מאיו
-ה !שמ
,
די"ה
ר
ת הוהי
;
ה!ארת התע
ירבד ךר י "ה
,
םא
-אל
.
23
And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Is the
LORD'S hand waxed short? now shalt thou see
whether My word shall come to pass unto thee or
not.
Moses' Doubt
Here, we can see Moses'6 doubt in God's ability to bring the B'nei Yisrael meat. Question: What about God was Moses doubting?
Rashi: Rashi offers to different amoraim with different opinions:
• Rabbi Akiva: Moses doubted whether or not God could actually find enough meat to satisfy the
B'nei Yisrael — God could slaughter all of the animals in the world and still not have enough to satiate the B'nei Yisrael. According to Rabbi Akiva, the reason that Moses was not punished was that he expressed his doubt privately, and not publically.
• Rabbi Shimon: Moses viewed God's plan as fattening the B'nei Yisrael up just to punish them by killing them, and if God doesn't give the B'nei Yisrael meat, then the other nations will look upon God and see Him as a deity who could not help even his own chosen people. According to Rabbi Shimon, Moses is doubting God's ability to bring help the B'nei Yisrael, not God's ability to specifically supply meat.
According to Rashi, it is better that God give them what they want and then kill them, so that it does not look like God cannot provide for his people.
Qli Yaqar: According to the Qli Yaqar, the word “to them” is an extra word. God can do whatever he wants. God understands that nothing He does will ever be enough because the B'nei Yisrael are just
5 חיטש
looking for something to complain about — both Moses and God seem to be very in touch with what the B'nei Yisrael are feeling.
דכ
ה !שמ א יו
--!א רבדיו
-םעה
,
הוהי ירבד תא
;
םיעבש ףס ?א!יו
שיא
,
םעה ינ זמ
,
םתא דמ"עיו
,
!האה תביבס.
24
And Moses went out, and told the people the
words of the LORD; and he gathered seventy
men of the elders of the people, and set them
round about the Tent.
הכ
ןנע !ב הוהי ד !ריו
,
רבדיו
וי א
,
ןמ ! איו
-ר !ש "א חו-רה
וי ע
,ע ןתיו
-שיא םיעבש
םינ זה
;יהיו
,ם !הי "ע חונכ
חורה
,
ואבנתיו
,
ופסי אלו
.
25
And the LORD came down in the cloud, and
spoke unto him, and took of the spirit that was
upon him, and put it upon the seventy elders;
and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested
upon them, they prophesied, but they did so no
more.
וכ
ינש ור "אשיו
-ה!נ "חמב םישנ "א
ינשה םשו דד !א דח !אה םש
חורה ם !ה "ע חנתו דדימ
,
המהו
םיב (תכב
,
וא י אלו
,
ה ?האה
;
ואבנתיו
,
ה!נ "חמב
.
26
But there remained two men in the camp, the
name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the
other Medad; and the spirit rested upon them;
and they were of them that were recorded, but
had not gone out unto the Tent; and they
prophesied in the camp.
זכ
רענה ץריו
,
ה !שמ דגיו
רמאיו
:
דדימו דד !א
,
ה!נ "חמב םיאבנתמ.
27
And there ran a young man, and told Moses,
and said: 'Eldad and Medad are prophesying in
the camp.'
חכ
ןב ע (שוהי ןעיו
-ןונ
,
תרשמ
ויר (חבמ ה !שמ
--רמאיו
:ינד "א
ה!שמ
,םא כ
.
28
And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of
Moses from his youth up, answered and said:
'My lord Moses, shut them in.'
טכ
ה !שמ ו ר !מאיו
,
אנ מה
י התא
;
כ ןתי ימו
-הוהי םע
,םיאיבנ
--יכ
-ת !א הוהי ן-תי
-וחור
,
ם !הי "ע.
29
And Moses said unto him: 'Art thou jealous
for my sake? would that all the LORD'S people
were prophets, that the LORD would put His
spirit upon them!'
ל
ה !שמ ףסאיו
,
!א
-ה!נ"חמה
--אוה
,ארשי ינ זו
.
30
the elders of Israel.
And Moses withdrew into the camp, he and
אל
הוהי תאמ עסנ חורו
,
ןמ םיו ש
-םיה
,
ע שטיו
-= !ר !דכו הכ םוי -= !ר !דכ ה!נ "חמה
הכ םוי
,
ה!נ "חמה תוביבס
--םיתמאכו
,
ע
-ץ !ראה ינפ
.
LORD, and brought across quails from the sea,
and let them fall by the camp, about a day's
journey on this side, and a day's journey on the
other side, round about the camp, and about two
cubits above the face of the earth.
בל
כ םעה ם יו
-אוהה םויה
כו
-תר 7חמה םוי כו ה ילה
,
ת !א ופסאיו
-ו ;ה
--טיעממה
,
םירמ 7ח הרש"ע ףסא
;
וחטשיו
חוטש ם!ה
,
ה!נ "חמה תוביבס
.
32
And the people rose up all that day, and all
the night, and all the next day, and gathered the
quails; he that gathered least gathered ten heaps;
and they spread them all abroad for themselves
round about the camp.
The Number Problem
Rashi explains that the two people that received prophecies were from the 72 chosen to become the Sages. Moses created a lottery with 72 sheets of paper:
• 70 slips reading “Congrats! YOU BECOME A SAGE!” <confetti!>
• 2 slips reading “Maybe next time, mate.”
However, only 68 of the prospective sages actually received the confetti-filled slips, which left four slips of paper in the bag.
Because it says “the lad”, we know that it refers to Gershon, Moses' son.
“My master, Moses, imprison them!” (“Throw the little laddies in the brig”)
Question: What merited Eldad and Meidad being imprisoned? In other words, how did they act rebelliously?
Rashi: Place them in the jail/dungeon, because they acted rebelliously and did not listen to Moses (who could be considered like a king).
Ramban: In Moses' time, it was customary to never relay a prophecy directly to the public (which was why Moses told Joshua his prophecy, who then relayed it to the rest of the B'nei Yisrael). Thus, they acted rebelliously by relaying the prophecy directly to the people.
