Parashas Behaalos'cha

In this week’s parashah, the Torah tells us how a group of people, “the rabble” decided that the mann Hashem was providing was not good enough; they craved a richer menu, like the one they imagined they ate in Egypt during the time they were there (of course, don’t bother confusing them with the fact that they were enslaved and barely being fed).

The Torah then digresses (11:7-9) to describe the properties of the mann: וְהַמָּן כִּזְרַע גַּד הוּא וְעֵינוֹ כְּעֵין הַבְּדֹלַח: שָׁטוּ הָעָם וְלָקְטוּ וְטָחֲנוּ בָרֵחַיִם אוֹ דָכוּ בַּמְּדֹכָה וּבִשְּׁלוּ בַּפָּרוּר וְעָשׂוּ אֹתוֹ עֻגוֹת וְהָיָה טַעְמוֹ כְּטַעַם לְשַׁד הַשָּׁמֶן: וּבְרֶדֶת הַטַּל עַל־הַמַּחֲנֶה לָיְלָה יֵרֵד הַמָּן עָלָיו:, And the mann was like corriander seed, and its appearance was like that of crystal. The nation would go about and gather it, and they ground it in a mill or crushed it with a mortar and they would cook it in a pot and make it into cakes, and it’s taste was like that of dough kneaded with oil. And when the dew would fall on the encampment at night, the mann would descend on it.

Ibn Ezra points out that the Torah is explaining the absurdity of the complaint: The people were being provided with food that was easy to come by (it fell all over and was white), clean (it fell on the dew), convenient to take home (the seeds were small), easy to prepare in a variety of ways and tasty.

The most obvious lesson to us it to appreciate the countless blessings Hashem showers upon us, and to notice and thank Him for the many “hidden details” within those blessings.

There is another important lesson as well: When we do something for another person, we should make sure to do it in a way that it most helpful to that person, anticipating their needs and addressing each aspect of how we can help them most completely.

The Torah tells us that Hashem even went beyond the functional:וְעֵינוֹ כְּעֵין הַבְּדֹלַח, its appearance was like that of crystal, inviting and enticing. We should learn from His example, to do chessed with chessed, to truly live וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ in the fullest way possible.

In this zechus, we will certainly again merit to experience, visibly, Hashem’s boundless love for Klal Yisrael.

Gut Shabbos.