Parashat B'haalot'cha/Behaalotecha/Behaalotcha (whatever), 2019/5779 thought

See Numbers 8:1–12:16

Copied from my comment to Conservadox's latest post, Dvar Torah- Behalotecha

[See specifically
Chapter 11, especially verse 5, quoted below.]

"I’m surprised to see that I’ve never posted about this (and will try to remember to do so), but what about the rest of the Israelites’ complaint:

ה זָכַרְנוּ, אֶת-הַדָּגָה, אֲשֶׁר-נֹאכַל בְּמִצְרַיִם, חִנָּם; אֵת הַקִּשֻּׁאִים, וְאֵת הָאֲבַטִּחִים, וְאֶת-הֶחָצִיר וְאֶת-הַבְּצָלִים, וְאֶת-הַשּׁוּמִים. 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;


Give the poor Israelites a break–they were complaining about malnutrition. Not only does a human not live on bread alone, they also don’t live on just bread and the occasional bit of meat alone, either. What they wanted was not just quails, but also fish, vegetables and fruit, or, in other words, a healthy diet."