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והאספסוף אשר בקרבו התאוו תאוה... ואכלתם בשר... לא יום אחד תאכלון ולא יומים...עד חדש ימים עד אשר יצא מאפכם

The rabble that was among them cultivated a craving … and you shall eat meat… not for one day shall you eat, nor two days… until a month of days, until it will come out of your nose. (11:4, 18, 19,20)

An individual who lacks the basic character trait of hakoras hatov, gratitude, is a deficient person. His negativity toward those from whom he benefits engenders a negativity throughout his entire character, eventually leading to a lack of appreciation for all that Hashem does for him. Perhaps referring to an ingrate as deficient is not strong enough. An ingrate is a non-person. Part of humanness is the ability to recognize, acknowledge and appreciate the benefits one receives from others. Without this vital character trait, one is not a mentch, decent human being. Having said this, we refer to the Torah’s account…

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האנכי הריתי את כל העם הזה ...כי תאמר אלו שאהו בחילך כאשר ישא האמן את הינק

Did I conceive the entire people…that You say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom,’ as a nurse carries a suckling? (11:12)

Nowhere in the Torah do we find that Hashem instructed Moshe Rabbeinu to carry Bnei Yisrael in his bosom. Why does Moshe intimate this to be true, that Hashem did, in fact, indicate to Moshe that his responsibility as a leader of the nation went beyond the accepted understanding of walking in front of the nation? He would have to carry them as a parent carries his child. Horav Yeruchem Levovitz, zl, (cited in Im Levavi Asicha) explains that, if a person is created with such ability that he is able to care for others as a father cares for…

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ויהי העם כמתאוננים רע באזני ד'

The people were like those who seek pretexts of evil in the ears of Hashem. (11:1)

Our parsha begins with the Menorah, relates the laws of Pesach Sheini and then, in what appears to be a sad turn of events, records a series of puzzling complaints originally initiated by the eirev rav, mixed multitude, with an added participatory voice from the people. It is not as if the complaints had any positive substance – or any substance at all. For the most part, they complained for the purpose of complaining, something atypical of a happy people who had recently been liberated from crushing servitude. They craved meat – and cried. They claimed they missed the free…

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ויעש כן אהרן

Aharon did so. (8:3)

L’hagid shevacho shel Aharon shelo shinah, to teach the praise of Aharon that he did not deviate (anything from that which Hashem had commanded). In his eulogy for Horav Aharon Kotler, zl, the individual responsible for the transplanting of authentic Torah study (via the Yeshivah Movement which he championed) to America, the Satmar Rav, zl, declared that Rav Aharon embodied the concept of shelo shinah, adamantly refusing to initiate any change in the spiritual structure of the yeshivah from the way it had been, dating back generations. Whatever was good for our forebears would suffice for us. Thus, the approach…

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