5752

With this pasuk we are introduced to a rare form of ingratitude. Horav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch Z”l points out that Bnei Yisrael’s discontent turned directly against Hashem. They did not doubt the authenticity of Moshe’s mission, but rather they felt that Hashem’s guidance was inadequate. In complaining about the manna, the miracle food from heaven, they were undoubtedly not complaining about a lack of nourishment. Their grievance lay in the fact that they weren’t eating “natural” food in the ordinary human way. The effortless, albeit miraculous, way of receiving bodily sustenance had become monotonous and tiresome.   Instead of appreciating…