Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto’s talks are known throughout the Jewish world. They combine chassidic teachings and philosophy, along with tips for a better life. We have collected pearls from his teachings that are relevant to our daily lives. This week he comments on the Torah section of Behalotcha.
Moses said, "Six hundred thousand people on foot are the people in whose midst I am, and You say, 'I will give them meat, and they will eat it for a full month?’" (Num. 11:21).
The Chatam Sofer asks an obvious question: God tells Moses that it is necessary to give meat to the Israelites and Moses asks G-d how it is possible to give meat to six hundred thousand people. Could it be that Moses doubted God's ability to provide food for the Israelites? God is beyond all human reason and understanding. It is simple and evident that God is omnipotent in every way. God feeds and sustains the entire world from “the eggs of lice to the horns of rams.” If so, why was Moses asking God if He can give food to a mere 600,00 people?
The Chatam Sofer also asks: why does Moses describe the people as "people on foot" and not simply six hundred thousand “people”?
When God gave manna to the Israelites, the holy Torah says, "Gather of it each one according to his eating capacity, an omer for each head." (Exodus 16:16).
When a person is God-fearing, desires to do God’s Will and doesn’t go after his lusts, he is referred to as a “head”. But if the person is slave to his lusts, he is referred to as a “foot”. He has lost his lofty, high status as a “head” and is now at the bottom, in his feet.
Based on this, we can understand what is stated in the Midrash (Kohelet Rabbah 1:13). “One who has one portion wants two hundred.” If a person has a million, he wants two million; if he has ten million, he wants twenty million. A person never stops with what he has. If he receives something from someone, he wants more and will even concoct accusations concerning what he did get: “How come he only gave me this?” and “How come he gave me less than he was supposed to?” There is no end to his complaints.
What Moses was saying to God is that the moment the Israelites have their lust for meat fulfilled, they will want more. If they are craving now, there will be no end to it. “You, Master of the universe, created the world so that one who has one portion, wants two hundred. They want meat now which shows that from getting manna for their ”head” they now want meat for “their feet.” Even if you give it to them now, it will not be enough and they will want more. How is it possible to satisfy all their lusts and everything they want? Can even You, the Almighty, give them enough?
We have to know that God created the world with limits and we can't go beyond the reality He created. A person can own an airplane and he won’t be satisfied - he wants two airplanes. If he has two airplanes, he wants four airplanes. If he has a ship, he wants another one.
Once, people knew there were limits in the world to what they could do and have. Today there are rich people in the world who can have and do everything, and they are not satisfied with anything.
Some time ago we were visited by a man who said to us, "Rabbi, I have everything, I have a plane and I have a ship and now I want to go to the moon." He paid forty million dollars and spent three years preparing his body to fly to the moon on his sixtieth birthday. This person has nothing else to do in life. Today he has already exhausted all the lusts that the world has to offer.
Just think - a few decades ago, who had a house, who had a mobile phone and who even traveled from place to place? Today people have a house in New York and a house in Miami and a house in the Land of Israel, and still they are not satisfied.
Moses told God that their lusting has brought about their fall from the level of a “head” to a “foot.” They want meat and who knows in which direction these lusts will go and where they will eventually end up. Lusts cannot be satisfied. The Chatam Sofer says that this was Moses's claim. Who can satisfy and provide their lusts? Now that they have fallen from the head to the feet, as soon as they get one portion, they will want two hundred.
The Chatam Sofer is pointing out a great principle about human nature. A man who gives his wife all that the world has to offer, little by little she will no longer appreciate it and will demand more. She will say to him, “What have you done for me? You did nothing. I deserved better.” Or a person who buys something for his child. If only the child would know how much the father does for him! But the child does not understand and thinks that the father “owes” him. The father comes back worn out from work, said a thoughtless word, and the child is offended. He breaks down and cries, goes to the psychologist at the school and complains that his parents are yelling at him and beating him and doing who knows what to him.
Moses asked God, How are You going to provide the meat that they started asking you for? Didn’t You say that whoever has a portion wants two hundred and then there is no end to it? It is true that God can do everything, but there are also limits that God established in His world. If the Israelites begin to eat meat, they will lose the manna, drop from the level of the “head” because of their lusting, and to justify this they will find all the reasons why they are right and in the end will lose everything. Moses therefore said to God that in the limits He established in the world, He cannot fulfill their desires because humans will not be satisfied with what He gives them and will want more.
We must remember these things every time we want more than what God has given us. We should be happy with our portion and also keep in mind that if we focus on what we want instead of what we got, we will never be satisfied. And the reverse is true too - “Who is the rich man? One who is happy with his portion.” (Ethics of Our Fathers)
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel